Standard Disclaimer Applies

17-Aug-2011 Update: I once adored Matt/Sora, way back when I began watching Digimon. This fanfic was one of my first, thus it holds a special place in my heart despite its drastic plot holes and various other issues. If I ever have time, I would like to edit and rewrite it.

Warning: Character death(s) and horror-goodness –honestly, it has been so long since I read this that I cannot remember entirely what it entails. Heh.

Enjoy!

-o-o-o-o-

"It's really hot in here!"

"What?"

"It's really hot in here!"

"I can't hear you!"

"What?"

Sora laughed and shook her head. Mimi laughed, too, and turned her attention back to the band that was playing on the stage. The two of them were on the second row and close enough to the speakers that Sora felt as if the bass was setting her heart beat. She was there because Mimi had asked her to come along; well, that and the fact that it was Matt's band and she hadn't seen him in a long time.

On stage, Matt sang a song that one would expect to hear at a club. It was the type that people liked to dance to. Sora thought the beat was okay, but she couldn't keep up with Matt was saying. He was singing way too fast.

Everyone was tightly packed and the constant screaming and jumping up and down was starting to create a lot of body heat. Then the heater was on full blast since it was only about 10° F outside. Sora was wearing a spaghetti strap shirt with baggy Capri's with her hair pulled back into two braids and a Gillagin-type hat. Sweat dripped from her head and she was hardly doing a thing. Mimi was wearing a tube top, some shorts and her hair was down. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and waving her hands in the air madly, making her sweat even more than Sora.

It wasn't that Sora didn't like Matt's band. She just wasn't into the whole scream-till-I'm-hoarse idea. Sure after each song she'd clap and once she whistled, but that was about it. Glancing at her watch, Sora sighed. There was only one song left before she could go home to her delightfully comfy bed.

Mimi knew Sora was bored. She never really liked girlish stuff like concerts, make-up, manicures, and shopping. But then, she didn't really need make-up. It made Mimi sick that Sora could be so pretty without make-up. And she had the perfect fingernails; her clothes were always cool though she hardly shopped. How does she do it?

Noticing Sora glance at her watch, Mimi laughed to herself. She could see the desperation to get out of the big, hot room in Sora's eyes. She's probably daydreaming of her monster soft bed. Knowing that there was about one song left, Mimi gave in to Sora. She tapped Sora on the shoulder and pointed towards the exit door. Sora looked at her strangely, knowing Mimi wanted to stay. But Mimi figured that it was polite enough for Sora to come with her. She again pointed towards the exit door and ushered Sora in that direction.

As soon as they were outside, Sora deeply breathed in the cold fresh air. Goosebumps ran up and down her when the icy air touched her arms. She and Mimi both threw their long coats over themselves and zipped them up. They still didn't have anything protecting their legs, but at least the core of their body was warm.

"I said that it was really hot in there," Sora said, referring to what she had been screaming earlier. Mimi looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah, too bad it's not out here. I think my toes are already numb," Mimi's voice was raspy from yelling. Sora laughed at her.

"So why did you want to leave? I know that you love staying for the whole thing," Sora asked. She caught a glimpse of herself in one of the mirrors that had been thrown out. Mimi obviously saw the mirror, too, because she stopped to look at her reflection.

"Well, I saw that you wanted to leave and stuff," Mimi sighed. Her hair was messy and she had dark rings under her eyes. She glanced towards Sora to see if she looked the same. Nope, not Sora. She still looks like a million bucks.

Inside the band finished their last song and was saying their goodnights. Sora patiently waited for Mimi to stop looking in the mirror. Their car was on the other side of the building, meaning they'd have to walk in the freezing cold. The wind was slightly blowing, making it even colder. Sora securely wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm.

"Okay. I'm ready. Let's go," Mimi said at last. They started to walk off but stopped when they heard a door open and some loud voices. Turning, they saw the band leaving the building and noisy fans.

Sora started to yell hi, but Mimi seized her arm and jerked her behind the side of the building. She signaled for Sora to be quiet and peeked around the corner.

"Look. It's Matt," Mimi whispered. Sora gave her a 'duh' look.

"Uh… yeah! What's wrong with that?" Sora whispered back.

"We can't let him see us."

"Why not?"

"Because then he'll think we came here to see him."

"Uh, Mimi… we did," Sora laughed softly.

Mimi smiled at her. "I know, but I don't want him to know that."

Sora shook her head at Mimi. She could be so unpredictable sometimes. That's what kept Sora her best friend, she never knew what Mimi would do. I wonder if she thinks Matt is a hottie like everyone else who was at this concert. Sora thought, remembering the girls who had made giant posters with 'Matt… I LOVE YOU' written on them.

"Can I ask what you two ladies are doing?"

"AH!" Sora and Mimi screeched together. They both whirled around to face a very large man with 'Security' marked on his shirt. Matt and the rest of his band heard them scream and ran around the corner. Mimi and Sora both blushed enormously.

"We, uh, well…" Mimi stammered.

"We left through those doors earlier and were going to our car when we saw the band come out," Sora said for her. Mimi shook her head in agreement.

"Mimi? Sora?" Matt said walking towards them. He studied them and his face lit up. "It is you! How are you two doing?"

He ran and gave them both hugs, motioning for the security guy to leave. Mimi graciously gave him a hug back, but Sora stiffened as soon as his arms wrapped around her. She never had gotten used to getting hugs from guys, even when they were good friends of hers.

"Nothing really. We thought we'd pop in and see your concert," Mimi gushed. Matt smiled, making her melt.

"Cool. How'd you like it?" Matt's eyes sparkled and studied both of the girls. They both had big coats on so he couldn't really see what they were wearing, but he knew Sora definitely wasn't wearing her usual cover-alls since she was freezing.

"It was great! I loved the third song," Mimi knew that Matt was looking her up and down, but didn't object. She had always had a big crush on him. Sora, on the other hand, was completely uncomfortable.

"How about you Sora?"

"It was… loud."

Matt and his band laughed at her reply. Mimi giggled, not quite understanding what was so humorous. She had kind of thought that Sora's answer was rude.

"You must have been near a speaker…" Matt said.

"Yeah. The second row one in fact," Sora nodded.

"Oh, gee, that one works the best," one of Matt's band members laughed. He checked his watch and patted Matt on the shoulder. "We have to jet now, dude."

"Uh, can I catch up with you guys later. I haven't seen them in a long time," Matt was practically begging. It was true, though. He hadn't seen either girl in over four years.

"Sure. Wish I knew chicks like-" Matt's friend started but Sora glared at him.

"Excuse me? I don't prefer to be referred as a 'chick'" Sora objected. Matt's friend apologized and then the group, except for Matt, left.

"Well Sora, at least I know you didn't lose everything that I knew about you. You had me worried wearing something so… girlish," Matt said slyly. Sora stuck her tongue out at him and Mimi laughed.

"Yeah, I had to brake an arm to get her to." Earlier, Mimi had gotten on her knees and pleaded for Sora to go to the concert with her. When Sora said okay she had to again plead for her to wear something that wasn't old baggy jeans and a sweatshirt.

Sora smiled at the thought or Mimi breaking anybody's arm. That would never happen, but then Mimi would never be put in the position to. She glanced at hr watch again. "Matt, I'd love to stay and chat, but it's really late."

"What time is it?" Mimi shrieked.

Sora stared at her in shock. "It's about 1 AM."

"Ohmygosh! My dad is going to kill me!" Mimi started to sprint to the parking lot. Sora was still frozen in shock.

"Mimi! What about me?"

Mimi stopped and looked at Sora uneasily. Then she remembered Matt. "Matt! You have a car, right? Can you give Sora a ride home?"

Matt was also shocked at Mimi's sudden worry. "Uh, I don't-"

"Thank you!"

Mimi took off again and as soon as she was around the other side of the building she slowed to a walk, smiling to herself. She didn't have to be home till 2. As much as she really liked Matt, she noticed the way he looked at Sora, the same way he'd looked at her in the digital world. Mimi had gotten the idea to all of the sudden when Matt mentioned Sora's girlish looks. She also had another idea start to unfold in her mind. Mimi smirked at the idea.

She tried to quicken her pace, but it was hard since her legs were so deadened from the arctic air. When she made it to her car, she had to breath on her hands to make them flexible enough to get her keys out of her purse.

"Is the… is the concert over with?"

Mimi nearly had a heart attack. She hadn't heard anyone coming up behind her. She put on a smiley disposition and turned around. There was a girl about her age with dark black hair behind her.

"Yes it is. Are you here to pick some one up?" Mimi tried to smile and sound friendly, but she was slightly upset that she had to stand in the cold even longer. Plus she was hoarse so her voice was scratchy and her mouth was frozen in place.

"That's too bad. I really wanted to see the beginning. Sorry to bother you," the girl said and walked off. Mimi watched her leave uneasily.

Who in their right mind thinks that the beginning of a concert would start at 1 in the morning? Mimi glared at the girl's back for making her even colder and dug around in her purse for her car keys.

"Dang it. Where are they?" she said flustered. She finally found them and unlocked her car. She got in and went to close her door, but something was in the way. She opened her door to see what looked like a human hand blocked the bottom half of her door. "Oh my gosh."

Leaping from the car, Mimi stared at the hand that was behind her driver-side seat. She was breathing deeply and closed her eyes. She hoped that when she opened them the hand would just go away. But it didn't.

"This better not be some sort of sick joke," Mimi grumbled. She took a deep breath and swiftly popped the driver seat forward. She jumped back just as swiftly and realized she had closed her eyes again.

Taking another deep breath, Mimi opened one eye. She couldn't see around the seat and opened the other eye. Her hand shot up to her mouth and she gasped at what lay before her.

"Tina…"

In front of Mimi was her friend Tina from school. She looked around to see if there was anyone to help her. Then the realization hit her.

"Oh ha ha ha. That's not funny. You really did get me back for that," Mimi laughed. Prior to that week, Mimi had pulled a funny joke on Tina. She had sworn to get Mimi back, and this was pretty good. Mimi stopped laughing and looked at Tina's motionless body. "Okay Tina. You got me back. This isn't funny."

Tina still didn't move. Mimi rolled her eyes and leaned forward to touch Tina's shoulder. It was icy cold. She jerked her hand back in shock. That's when she noticed the little trickle of blood dripping off the side of the car. Mimi's heart started pounding rapidly in her chest.

"Oh my Lord," Mimi felt as if she was going to throw up. She turned to look away, just in time to come face to face with the ax blade.

A couple minutes after Mimi left, Matt and Sora both were still standing still in surprise. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Does she always act like that?" Matt asked.

"You should know. We DID spend a lot of time together in the digital world," Sora said. She truly knew what Mimi was doing when she saw the twinkle in her eye. Mimi always teased that Matt liked Sora.

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago," Matt said, agitated.

"Well, then… yes. She does that a lot."

Matt peered at Sora, who shifted her gaze to avoid his eyes. He recognized the fact that she was being a bit distant. He didn't want to push it any further so he waited for her to start talking again.

Sora noticed that Matt was just standing there looking at her; making little shivers go down her back. He had always had such a strong unnerving stare. That was what kept Sora next to Tai the whole time; that and Matt was always so unfriendly. But he was being friendly now.

The wind blew, making extra shivers go down Sora's back. "Uh, so can we leave now?

"Yeah," Matt searched his pockets for his cars keys. "Wait. I don't have my keys. I think they're inside. Want to come with me to get them?"

"Yes!" Sora happily obliged since she was so cold. They jogged back to the concert hall's doors. Matt grabbed the door handle and jerked.

"Uh… they're locked," Sora said.

"Uh, yeah. I kind-of noticed Sora," Matt replied dryly. He banged on the door. "JAMES! Hey James! Let us in!"

"Who's James?"

"The security guy that works here."

They waited for five minutes and when nobody answered Matt once again started to bang on the door. Sora felt her toes start to tingle with numbness. Her legs were freezing and her fingers felt like ice sickles. She bounced up and down to get a little warm.

"Matt, I feel like my toes have been in a freezer. Are you sure your keys aren't in your pocket?" Sora's teeth chattered, making it hard to hear her.

"Yes I'm sure," Matt searched his pockets again just in case. Then he stopped. "Oh I remember. They're on top of my guitar."

"That's going to do a lot of good," Sora said, exasperated.

"Yeah, well, why don't you just walk home," Matt said so icily that Sora was almost frozen in place by his words.

"Fine then. I will," Sora had had about enough of sub-zero temperature. She reeled around on her heels to walk away, but Matt grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry Sora. I didn't mean it," he said softly.

"I just want to go home," Sora choked. She wanted to cry but it was so cold they froze in her eyes. She was thinking of how much trouble she'd be in when she finally got home. Her dad would probably send out a search squad in a few minutes.

"I promise I'll get you home…" Matt hesitated, "eventually."

Sora had to laugh. It even warmed her up a bit. She leaned against the concert hall wall and sighed. The sky was cloudy so there weren't any stars shining through. Matt leaned against the wall beside her and also looked at the sky.

"They say it's going to snow tonight. I really hope not," Matt said, thinking of having to sit in the snow all night.

"Oh great, I'm going-" Sora began, but to her and Matt's surprise, some one opened the concert hall door. They both jumped off the wall.

"Oh, hey Matt. Need in?" a big, buff guy stood in the doorway. He smiled at Sora when he saw her. "Who's this? She definitely isn't Janice. Don't think I've met this girlfriend yet."

"I'm not his girlfriend. I'm just a friend," Sora tensely said. The guy laughed.

"This is Sora. Sora, this is James," Matt said when they were inside. It was still really hot so Sora took her giant coat off. Mat stared at her. "I never thought of you as a spaghetti strap girl."

"Surprise, surprise," Sora mumbled.

"I just need to get my keys and then I'll be on my way," Matt walked to the back room where all the equipment was.

"You're not thinking of driving in this weather are you?" James worriedly asked. Matt yelled yes from the back room. "You can't! It's already sleeting and in a few minutes it will start to snow!"

"But is wasn't when we were out there," Sora was breathing hard, knowing that her parents were most likely going crazy by now.

"No, over on the main roads. And it's moving this way," James said. Matt walked up and sighed.

"Well, how do I get home?"

"You don't until morning, if it's let up."

"My dad is going to go fanatical!"

"Call him," Matt handed Sora his cell phone. She quickly dialed her number and waited for some one to pick up.

"Hello?" the voice was her mom's. She sounded worried.

"Mom? It's me. I can't get home because of the snow," Sora said.

"Oh dear. Well, where are you?"

"In the concert hall still."

"Can you stay there till morning? I can pick you up then."

Sora knew her mom probably thought she was with Mimi. It was best not to tell her that she was with Matt. Even though Sora was always stand offish towards guys, her parents still had this extreme worry whenever she was near one.

"Uh… I guess so," Sora said slowly. Matt and James were on the other side of the room talking about guitars when she hung up. She walked over to them and handed the phone back to Matt. "Can we just stay here till morning? My parents can come get me then."

"Sure! At least I'll have some company!" James complied. He had already gotten bored whenever he had been the only person inside before Matt and Sora.

Matt and James started their conversation up again and Sora decided to look around. She walked onto the stage and looked around the big concert hall. It was so different from the stage point of view. There were designs on the roof that Sora hadn't seen before.

Matt looked at Sora standing in the middle of the stage. She was looking up at the designs on the roof. He had noticed them during his fourth song. James had left to storm the kitchen for something to eat, leaving Matt alone with Sora. Matt had no idea what to say to her. She had always kept him on edge. In the digiworld Matt had liked her a whole lot, but she was always with Tai.

Thinking of Tai, whom Matt hadn't seen in a long time, he wondered if Sora still talked with him. He walked out on the stage behind her. She didn't seem to hear him, so he waited for her to turn around. When she did at last, she jumped at the sight of Matt so close behind her.

"Oh, you scared me," she said, putting a hand to her heart.

"Sorry. I was just wondering if you and Tai still talk. I haven't seen him in a while," Matt smiled at her. She smiled and looked away.

"Yeah, we talked a lot after the digiworld," Sora remembered how close her and Tai had become. "We even dated once."

"Oh really? What stopped you?" Matt asked. Then he added, "Not to intruded or anything."

"Well, Tai is too much of a friend. It was just weird. What about you? I mean, did you and him, or anybody else for that matter, keep in touch?" Sora wanted to get off the subject of her and Tai.

"Of course TK and I kept in touch, we are brothers. Our parents are back together now, you know. Izzy and I still chat online, and every now and then I see Joe," Matt tried to think of anyone else. "Tai and I kept in touch for… about a year, but I haven't seen him since. I see Kari a lot because TK and her are together. Tonight was the first time I've seen you and Mimi in a long time."

"Yeah, I saw you once on TV, but that was about it. I haven't seen Joe, Izzy, or TK in a while. I've seen Kari a lot, too, because she and Mimi always shop together. Mimi and I are best friends now so of course I see her a lot," Sora said.

"I wonder where James is," Matt said out of the blue. Sora looked around.

"Where did he go?"

"To find something to eat."

Sora thought for a while and jumped off the stage. She walked up and down the isles. Matt sat down on the edge of the stage and watched her. He laughed as she tripped over a chair. Giving him a dirty look, Sora stood up and dusted some popcorn kernels off her Capri's.

"Way to go, grace," Matt teased. Sora stuck her tongue out at him and continued to walk up the isles.

"So what's it like knowing that tons of guys want to be like you and tons of girls would love to be with you?" Sora yelled from the back of the hall. Matt slipped of the stage and shrugged.

"Most guys call me gay. Most girls are silly and not very bright," Matt walked up the isle to right in front of Sora.

"Oh. Who's Janice?"

Matt paused. He looked at Sora blankly. "A really dumb girl I used to date."

"Why'd you break up?" Sora asked. Then she added with a smile, "Not meaning to intrude."

Matt smiled back at her. "Janice and I just weren't meant to be together. I really thought I was in love with her. Then one day I thought myself 'Why her? She's about as smart and funny as an armadillo.' And the next day we broke up. Just in time, too. She had been cheating on me."

"Not very honest. Hm… Tai was honest, he was just so… I don't know… friendly. He and I are just too big of friends," Sora had seen Tai a couple days earlier and he was still just as big of a friend to her and Mimi as he was in the digiworld. She laughed at a memory. Matt looked at her anxious to know what was so funny. "Plus, Tai wouldn't go through that wall to save me."

Matt laughed, too. Their voices echoed through the hall. Sora skipped down the isle back to the stage. She hopped onto it and pretended to dance ballet. Matt grinned and walked to the edge of the stage.

Sora stopped dancing to look at Matt. "So was there anyone else after Janice?"

"Nope," Matt's smile left his face and he sighed, depressed. He turned around and leaned against the stage. Sora walked over and sat on the edge beside him. He looked up at her. "Anyone after Tai?"

"Nah. No one has ever been so sweet and charming that I could possibly like, much to both my parent's relief," Sora said. Matt knew Sora's parents were way protective of her. Sora looked at the ceiling again. The hall was so big that the roof seemed as far away as the stars. "So, anyone in mind?"

"Not really. There is this one girl, but she's kind of distant towards me," Matt looked straight into Sora's eyes. He was talking about her. She looked away and slid off the stage, walking to some chairs. Sora didn't know Matt meant her, but the way he looked at her was unsettling.

"What time is it anyway?"

"About 2 now."

Sora sat down in one of the chairs and Matt continued to lean against the stage. They heard one of the back stage doors open and a little later James walked onto the stage. He was carrying a box.

"I couldn't find anything to eat, but I found some stuff we could use to sleep with," James said, dropping the box on the stage. He pulled out some couch pillows and slid them towards Matt. "I didn't think we needed blankets because it's so hot in here."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Matt grabbed one of the pillows and looked at it. It was pink with little flowers on it. He tossed it to Sora. "There you go."

"Yippee, my favorite color," Sora said sarcastically. James laughed on the stage and tossed Matt a plain blue pillow. He twirled it around a bit and James left again.

"I guess it's time to sleep then," Matt sighed. He really wanted to talk some more, but Sora didn't look up to it. But she was. She also wanted to talk some more, after all, she hadn't seen Matt in so long.

"I'm not that tired, but if you are then go ahead. I think I'll look around some more," Sora set the pillow on the chair next to her and got up. She walked to the back hall doors that lead to the concession stand. Surely there was some food there.

"Wait for me!" Matt ran to catch up with her.

"You're not afraid of being alone, are you?" Sora asked, smiling.

"Uh… YEAH!" Matt snorted. "I don't want to be alone in a very large room."

Sora laughed and pushed the hall doors open. They walked into the vacant concession area and scanned the shelves. The maintenance had already locked the food away, but the coke machine still worked. Matt grabbed some cups and started to fill them up while Sora used the restroom.

In the middle of filling one cup of Root Beer and the other of Sprite, Matt managed to knock over an already filled Coke from earlier that some one had forgotten to get rid of. (A/N: I don't own any kind of root beer, coke, sprite or any other drink in this story!) He cursed loudly, it echoing through the front hall, and looked around for some paper towels.

Sora was washing her hands when she heard what sounded like a squeak. The first thought that came to her mind was 'mouse' and she looked around for one. But instead of a cute little white mouse, Sora found a giant, black rat. It squeaked again and started to scuttle towards her. Screaming, Sora ran from the restroom.

Hearing Sora scream, Matt forgot about the coke. He looked up towards the hallway that led to the restrooms and a little later Sora came running towards him He wanted to laugh, but when she came around the corner, Matt noticed she was headed straight for the coke.

"Wait! Sora look out-" Matt didn't have any time to say more because slipped in the coke. She fell down and slid across the floor into Matt, knocking his feet from under him. He came crashing down on top of her. Pushing himself a little ways off of Sora with his hands, Matt finished his sentence. "For the coke I spilt."

Matt's hands slipped and he fell back onto Sora. She groaned. "Good Lord, Matt. You don't weigh very much but you're still pretty heavy."

"Sorry, but I didn't know you'd decide to play slip-n-slide," Matt got up, still sliding around in the coke. He helped Sora up after he thought he'd gotten a good grip on the ground.

"Well, I didn't know you were throwing Dr. Pepper every-" Sora slipped, falling into Matt and knocking them both back onto the ground, only opposite with Sora now on top.

"It's Coke," Matt said matter-of-factly, "and you don't exactly weigh as much as a feather either."

Sora put both elbows on Matt's chest and placed her chin in her hands. "Are you calling me fat?"

Matt tried to laugh, but every time he did his head hurt so he stopped. "I think you cracked my skull."

"Oh my gosh," Sora got off of Matt and sat beside him. He lay on the floor looking at the ceiling. Sora lifted his head up and rested it in her lap. "Are you sure, because I don't see any blood?"

Matt smiled at her joke and closed his eyes. This what he had been dreaming about ever since he saw Sora and Mimi standing in front of the big security guy outside. Well, maybe not laying in a puddle of Coke, but being close to Sora. She was making it even better by running her hands through his hair.

"Matt?"

"Mmm?"

"I think we need to clean this up," Sora stopped her hands and slid his head off her lap. She slowly got up, having to use the concession counter to keep her balance. Matt put his hands behinds his head and looked up at her.

"I don't want to get up, though. It feels so nice to lay down," Matt whined. Sora rolled her eyes and pulled him up.

"Don't you feel gross covered in sticky coke?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

They started wiping the floors with wet paper towels to get the stickiness off, and then mopped up the water with dry towels. Sora looked at the clean floor and smiled. Her mom always got onto her for never cleaning and here she was. Matt, on the other hand, hands smelt like a mixture of coke and some other gross smell. He went to the sink in the back room and washed his hands while Sora finished getting their drinks.

"Sprite, please," Matt walked out of the back room. Sora handed him the Sprite, trying to drink the Root Beer down since it was filled up so high. Matt gave her a disappointed look. "If you spill that after all that nasty cleaning we had to do…"

"Oh come on. It wasn't hard. But then, you probably have a maid or some one clean for you, right?" Sora pretended to drop the Root Beer, making Matt jump. He spilt a little of the Sprite on his shirt. "What were you saying Matt? Don't spill my drink?"

"Shut up," he muttered and grabbed a paper towel to wipe his shirt. "I'm going back in to the concert hall. It is kind of creepy up here."

Sora began to realize how eerie the silence of the front hall really was. She took another sip of her drink before dashing to catch up with Matt, who had already gone through the hall doors. He sneered at her being the big, bad girl and yet not wanting to be alone herself. Sora rolled her eyes and looked at the stage.

"What is James doing back there?" Sora gestured towards the back curtain of the stage that was bouncing around. Matt shrugged and sat down in a chair. He waited for the curtain to stop moving before saying anything.

"James? Hey, what are you doing?" Matt waited for a reply. A muffled voice came from behind the curtain. "What? We can't hear you."

James popped his head from behind the red curtain. "I said, I'm trying to get these blankets out. The heater broke and it's going to get cold in here."

"That sucks," Sora sipped on her Root Beer. Matt jumped up on stage to help James. He disappeared behind the curtain, leaving Sora by herself. She looked around the concert hall once again. Everything was just as it had been before. Sora sighed and went to look at her watch, but when she turned her arm the watch was gone. "Oh dang. I took it off when I… stupid rat."

Sora set her drink by the chair and got up. She searched her pockets just in case she had put her watch in one of them. No, I distinctly remember putting it on the side of the sink. Stomping up the isle, Sora heard something to the left of her. She turned gradually towards that way only to see a couple birds nesting in the tall rafters. They must have come in through one of the ventilation shafts to get out of the cold weather.

"This place is starting to spook me," Sora muttered before continuing to walk up the isle. She pushed the hall doors open. They seemed heavier, but Sora figured it was because she was tired.

She sauntered to the restroom. The lights were out and her hand fumbled along the wall for the switch. She was only half awake so it took her at least five minutes to find it. At last she found it and the lights flickered for a little while before coming completely on. Sora found herself exhausted from what little she had done and leaned against the wall.

I'm so tired. Glancing towards the sink, Sora saw her watch. "Ah ha. There you are. Oh my… that's gross."

While ambling towards the sink, she saw the rat that had popped out before. It was lying dead beside the bathroom. It smelled awful and Sora had to cover her nose with her hands to even get close to the sink. She didn't know that such a small animal could make such an awful smell. Grabbing her watch, Sora hurriedly left the restroom, not bothering to turn out the lights.

In the front hall, Sora hastily put her watch back on so not to lose it again. It was hard, considering she usually had some one else put it on for her. As she fumbled with the watch, she got the impression she was being watched. She stopped and looked around the hall.

To make things worse, the lights started to waver off an on. Sora threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Great! This is the last thing I need."

She noticed that the lights in the front parlor weren't affected since they were on a different power source. She walked that way, still trying to get her watch on. Once she got into the front parlor, she stopped in aw.

"Wow," Sora murmured. In the parlor were the front doors to the place. Since they were glass, Sora could see outside. The snow had basically taken over. The only reason it wasn't piled against the doors was because there was a little foyer-thing covering the walkway.

Sora went back to concentrating on her watch. It was cold in the parlor, being cut off from the rest of the building. Her fingers were already starting to lose feeling. She dropped the watch in aggravation.

"Goodness, how long does it take to put a watch on?" Sora asked herself. She bent over and picked the watch up right as something or someone banged on one of the front doors. Sora screamed and again dropped the watch. It slid into a corner on the far wall.

Sora froze in place at what she saw in front of her. It took her a little while to realize that the ghostly face behind the glass door was indeed human. A girl with long black hair stood outside and she was screaming something at Sora. She looked cold.

Jogging to the door, Sora had some altered thoughts. She wanted to let the girl in, but something told her not to. But Sora's compassionate feelings took over and she pushed on the door. It was iced up, making Sora having to push harder. Eventually, it gave way and Sora let the girl in. She was shivering and rubbed her arms.

"Thanks. It's really cold out there," the girl said through shaky teeth.

"Your welcome. What's your name?" Sora asked. The girl didn't have time to answer. Matt was yelling in the front hall for Sora. "I'm in here Matt. The front parlor!"

Matt ran into the parlor. He stopped when he saw the girl. "Janice… what are you doing here?"

"I came to see your concert and… stuff. And my friends left me because they were so drunk. I've been wandering around for a long time. I'm about to freeze," Janice did look like a block of ice to Sora. She smiled at Janice and put a reassuring arm around her.

"Well, now you'll be warm. I'm sure there's some hot cocoa makings in the concession stand," Sora said happily. Matt gave her a 'stop with the cheeriness' look. Sora smiled brightly at him. "We'll warm you up, right Matt?"

"Sure," Matt grumbled. He frowned at Sora as she led Janice into the front hall. Janice didn't even bother to look at him. He followed them, closing the front parlor door to keep the warmth. "More the merrier."

Sora sat Janice down in one of the chairs that were lined along the wall. She happily skipped behind the counter to make the cocoa. Matt sauntered in and watched as Sora acted as if she knew nothing of Matt and Janice's past.

"Uh… Sora, I'll be back with James. Okay?" Matt said quietly. He felt Janice's eyes now scanning him. Sora didn't seem to hear him. "Okay? Sora, are you-"

"Yes. I'm sorry. I'm very tired," Sora apologized. She stopped what she was doing to weakly smile at Matt. Despite her optimism act, Sora felt as if she was about to collapse from lack of sleep.

Matt smiled warmly back at her. "Well, you need to get some sleep. I'll go get the bed sort-of things ready."

"Mm-k," Sora said. She didn't bother to look at him and kept working on the cocoa. Matt nodded and went into the concert hall. Janice watched him leave sadly. She looked at Sora, who was spilling cocoa all over the concession counter.

"So, are you and Matt like… you know… together?"

Sora laughed at her question. "No, no. Matt and I are friends."

"Good friends?" Janice wasn't meaning to really interfere, but she still had a very big crush on Matt. She knew she had been cheating on him and everything, but as soon as he walked out of her life she knew that cheating on him was the biggest mistake she'd ever made.

"No. Not really. We knew each other a long time ago. Tonight is the first time I've seen him in a long time," Sora said, remembering those nights long ago in the digital world. She sighed and poured water into the coffee maker "We're actually more of acquaintances."

"Oh," Janice exhaled heavily. Sora leaned over the concession counter, grinning.

"You still like him?"

Janice looked at her nervously. "If you haven't seen him in a long time, then how'd you know we ever went out?"

"We caught up, quickly," Sora said. Janice frowned.

"I didn't think he'd be so open about it. I can't believe I was so stupid," Janice shook her head in disgust. "He's so cute and sweet."

"HA!"

Sora placed both hands over her mouth instantly. Janice looked at her in surprise. Sora blushed at being so rude. She opened her mouth again to apologize, but she just couldn't say the words. Janice chuckled, making Sora smile. Before long they were laughing hard. Sora wanted to stop, but it was like she couldn't. She figured it was just because she was so tired.

Outside, in the freezing cold, Mimi could only move her eyes. She was astonished that they were still even there. The ax had taken her whole right arm completely off. She had been able to dodge her head out of the way. The pain had been tremendous at first, but then it became numb, partially because of the cold.

The snow that had rested around her was stained red with the blood. Whoever it was obviously thought that she had had enough because they dropped the ax right beside her and left. They left her to die. All Mimi had been able to do was watch as the person walked away.

Now Mimi's entire body was shutting down from the cold. She wanted to help Sora and Matt. She had this inner feeling that they were next. But she couldn't move. In a very short time, Mimi knew she'd die of hypothermia. She had no feelings left and her eyelids were heavy with weariness.

The last thought in Mimi's mind was to close her eyes and sleep. She tried to shut her eyes, but they were frozen in place. But that didn't start the darkness that overcame her and her mind did go into a bottomless slumber, leaving her body where it lay in the snow.

Inside, Sora poured cups of hot cocoa, completely oblivious to the danger that lay ahead of her. She handed a cup to Janice, who was already warmer from being inside. They talked about stupid things like why there was little ball inside of a whistle and why books came in different sizes. They laughed about everything, both fatigued.

Matt walked back into the front hall right as they were laughing about how people's dogs always matched them. It kind of flamed Matt that Sora was being so friendly to the girl that annoyed him most. Sora simply smiled at Matt. Like Mimi had thought earlier, Sora still looked like a million bucks even though she hadn't had any sleep.

Looking around the front hall for a clock, Matt sighed. Why don't these places ever have a clock? Then he remembered Sora had a watch. He walked over to the counter where Sora was leaning. He had to wave a hand in front of Sora to get hr attention.

"Sora? What time is it?" Matt asked. Sora stopped laughing and looked at her wrist. She hit herself in the head with the palm of her hand.

"Oh yeah. I forgot. I dropped it in the front parlor whenever Janice scared me."

"I scared you?" Janice asked with a smile. She and Sora started laughing.

"Okay, that's funny, but Sora, I think you need some sleep," Matt said. Then he added over his shoulder, "You too Janice."

Janice frowned at Matt's tone. It bothered her that he was treating her like an insect. Just because they broke up didn't mean they didn't have to be friends. She rolled her eyes as Matt led Sora from behind the counter. Yeah, sure. Just friends my butt."

"I've got to get my watch," Sora pulled away from Matt and wandered towards the front parlor door. Her depth perception was getting worse with each step.

"Do you need any help?" Matt worriedly asked. Sora waved him off.

"Why would I need help getting a watch," Sora muttered. Her steps were wavy, almost as if she were drunk.

Pushing the parlor door open was pretty hard for Sora to do, but she managed. She shivered in the parlor air. It was very cold and she hugged her arms tightly. Sora stood for a couple minutes, trying to remember where her watch had gone. She finally remembered and walked to the wall. She bent down to pick her watch up, but it was in two pieces.

"Aw man," Sora groaned and fell to the floor. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Sora drifted into sleep almost instantly.

In the front hall, Matt waited patiently for Sora to return. Janice had gone into the concert hall, leaving him there alone. He offered to go with her, but she mumbled something about him needing to wait for his new love. Matt now leaned against the concession counter.

Sora was in a weird dream. She was sitting across from Matt at a little tea table, but the table and chairs were floating in the air. Matt was saying something to her, but she couldn't understand him. Then Mimi appeared beside her.

"Sora…" Mimi began to mumble something and Sora leaned closer to hear her. Mimi looked so fretful and as if she had been awake for years. There were dark rings under her eyes, her face pale, and her lips blue. She kept muttering something and when Sora leaned in to hear her, she fell off the chair and was plummeting to the ground.

But then she was already on the ground and Matt was once more with her. He smiled at her and started to walk off. Sora cried out for him to stop, but he kept walking. He turned around and Mimi appeared beside him. She still looked awful and Matt didn't even seem to notice that she was there. He walked on and Mimi walked to Sora. She was still mumbling what she had been in the air. Sora strained to hear her.

At last, Mimi tilted forward to whisper in Sora's ear. "Wake up Sora!"

Sora awoke from her dream with a start. Mimi's voice had been so urgent, and apparently Sora had heard her in time. In front of her stood a darkened figure and in their hand was a…

"KNIFE!' Sora screeched and leapt from her spot of the ground. The person swung the knife around, barely missing Sora's side. She tried to scream, but her throat was dry and scratchy.

Making a run for the parlor door, Sora slid on a piece of her watch. She landed hard and rolled over just as the knife came crashing down right beside her head. It hit the floor and bounced out of the assaulter's hand. Whoever it was pinned Sora to the ground and reached for the knife.

"Oh no you don't" Sora growled. She kicked the person in the stomach, causing them to grunt and fall off of her backwards. She scrambled up and raced again for the door.

Sora ran through the door and right into Matt. She screamed and jumped back. Oh yeah, now my voice works! Sora moved closer to Matt, tears now streaming down her cheeks.

"Sora! Sora, what's wrong?" Matt tried to calm her down and hugged her tightly. She collapsed into his arms and cried. "Sora, please."

"Somebody…" Sora whispered, "Somebody tried to kill me."

Matt stood in silence as Sora cried into his shoulder. He lifted her up straight and looked her in the eye. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I say! Some one came at me with a knife in the parlor!" Sora pushed Matt away. What did he think she meant? What was it with people not understanding her? SOME ONE TRIED TO KILL HER!

"Kill you? Knife?" Matt said stupidly.

"YES! Good gosh! It's not that hard to understand!" Sora said exasperated.

"Is this a trick?"

Sora burst into tears again since Matt didn't believe her. "Matt. We have to get out of her. Now…"

At that moment, James came running through the front hall doors. He was beside Sora in a second; helping Matt hold her up since she'd gone limp again. "What's the matter? What's wrong?"

"Sora was attacked in the front parlor," Matt said. James looked at him funny and Matt sighed. "James, is there anyone else here?"

"No, not that I know of." James and Matt comforted Sora until she stopped crying. "Are you sure you were attacked?"

Sora wanted to hit him, but didn't have enough energy. But maybe he was right. She was really tired. Possibly she had still been dreaming, but it felt so real. The terror had been real; the weight of the person when they jumped on her had felt real.

"It was real. It was real. It was real," Sora repeated over and over again. Matt and James looked at each other.

"I think we'd better go into the concert hall. It's warmer in there anyway," James said. He lifted Sora into his arms and began to carry her. Janice came through the doors just as he and Matt were about to.

"What's going on? I heard yelling." Janice noticed Sora's red cheeks and puffy eyes and gasped. "What happened?"

"Sora says she was attacked," Matt informed. Janice looked at him strangely. Mat sighed. "Yeah I know. Weird, since we are the only people here."

"Damn it Matt!" Sora screeched and forced James to let her down. Her legs still felt weak, but with the help of James she was able to stand. "I could have died it I hadn't hurt whoever it was."

"And how exactly did you hurt them?"

"I kicked him in the stomach."

"How do you know it was a him?"

That question caught Sora off guard and she had to think for a little while. "I… I don't know if it was a he or a she. The person was just really strong."

Matt nodded and went through the doors. Janice followed him, leaving Sora with James. He waited for Sora to go through before him, being a polite person, but she just stood where she was.

"Sora, I can't provide a lot of protection, but maybe you should stick near me from now on," James said compassionately. Sora was happy that at least someone wanted her to be okay.

"I will. I don't Matt cares," Sora glowered at the thought of Matt. He was doubtlessly already making out with Janice again. The thought of that disgusted Sora sand she went into the concert hall, followed closely by James.

Matt was leaning against the stage and Janice was sitting in a chair. He watched Sora and James walk down the isle. Sora avoided his eyes, not wanting him to see her anger. James sat in a chair beside Janice and Sora stood at the end of the isle in front of Matt.

"I'm sorry for not believing you, but it's just weird," Matt apologized. The last thing he wanted was to make Sora mad at him. Sora didn't respond and everyone sat in silence, each thinking of what happened.

Janice didn't know very much, since she had only come in after everything had happened. She'd been in one of the bathrooms in the back area of the stage when she heard a scream. By the time she came out onto the stage, James was already running through the doors in the back that led to the front hall. She started to follow him, but fell over something. Since she was standing on the edge of the stage she'd went over the side and landed on a chair, hitting her stomach real hard. She cried out, but not very loud. Slowly getting up, she heard some one yelling. So after she picked the chair back up, she checked to make sure she was okay. There was already a bruise forming on her stomach. But she needed to get in the front hall and rushed up the isle. Now she could still feel the bruise throbbing under her shirt.

James had been fixing some of the stage light's cords when he heard some yell 'knife.' He didn't think much about it, since after all he was stuck in a concert hall with three teenagers. But when he heard a scream about five minutes after that, it caught his attention. It had been a scream of pure terror. So he climbed down from the light stand, which hung over the chairs. He rushed through the doors, hearing some one else approach from behind him. He figured it was Janice and that she'd heard the scream and kept going. When he reached Matt and Sora he felt relieved that they were okay. He glanced to the doors, expecting to see Janice, but she didn't come through so he just shrugged it off and went to help Sora, who was crying.

Matt was looking around the front hall, waiting for Sora to come back. She was taking forever so he decided to look at the pictures that hung on the walls. They were boring, mostly just pictures of flowers and other crap. He heard someone, who he figured was Sora, scream something, but it was muffled by the sound resistant walls. He shrugged and figured she was cursing over something. A little later, her heard the sound of something hitting the floor, something aluminum, metal, or steel. It made his curiosity rise a little and he wondered what Sora could possibly have been doing.

As he started to walk to the doors, Sora came busting through them, running straight into him. She screamed, scaring him along with herself. When she realized that it was he, she quickly moved back closer to him. That was perfectly all right with Matt, since that was what he wanted, to be close to Sora. But she was crying. It surprised him when she said some one with a knife had attacked her. A few minutes later James was there, and a little after that Janice came.

What else was there to say? Mat tried to think of something that might help him. Sora said that she kicked the person to get away. She must have kicked them pretty hard to keep them from grabbing her again. Maybe it had been real. Sora was so sleepy before and now she seemed wide-awake.

Matt was still lost in thought whenever Sora and Janice started to talk. Janice wanted to know what happened.

"You were attacked?" Janice asked. She had only met Sora a little while earlier, and Sora seemed nice, but when you're attacked when there's no one there to attack you… "Are you sure you weren't dreaming? You said you were tired."

"Of course I'm sure! I'm very sure! Mimi told me to get up…" Sora stopped when she realized what she had started to say. Matt snapped to attention.

"Mimi? She's here?"

Sora hesitated. "Well, I kind of had a dream before I was attacked."

"Kind of?"

"Well, in my dream Mimi was telling me to get up. She was telling me to wake up and when I did… there was the attacker," Sora said slowly. Three confused, disbelieving faces looked at her, boiling her anger even more. "Look, I know what I saw. It was real."

"I'm sure it was…" Janice mumbled. Sora glared at her irately, not considerate of how Matt could have possibly liked Janice.

"Yeah, well, maybe it was you!" Sora yelled. "You didn't get there till a little later!"

"I ran into some trouble of my own, thank-you-very-much," Janice said in a matter of fact way.

"Like hiding the knife and that big black cloak?" Sora lunged at Janice, knocking her and the chair over onto the floor. James grabbed Sora and yanked her off of Janice, holding her to keep her from jumping on Janice again. Matt rushed to Janice's side and helped her up. Sora looked fiercely at him. "Sure, help your true love kill me."

Matt gave her a dirty look and rolled his eyes as hugged him closer to her to make Sora madder. She looked at Sora triumphantly. "He may not be my true love, or me his, but at least I had him at one time."

"I never wanted him! You can have him as long as you want!" Sora screeched. She was still fighting James to let her go. Matt pulled away from Janice.

"Stop fighting! Both of you, you're acting like children," Matt barked. Sora stopped struggling, but James still didn't let her go. "Listen, I've been thinking. If you kicked the person, then you must of kicked them pretty hard. They just might still have a red mark or a bruise of some sort."

Janice had turned to where she was facing a different direction. When Matt said bruise, she knew that he'd check everyone just in case. She still had the bruise from falling off the stage.

"I don't think Janice or James did anything, but just in case…"

James understood what Matt was implying and let Sora go. He lifted up the bottom of his shirt to show he had nothing to hide. Matt nodded and turned to Janice. "You're next."

"What if I don't want to?" Janice protested.

"Janice, come on. Please just cooperate," Matt begged. He was getting tired of her.

"I don't want people to see my stomach, is that so wrong?" Janice whined.

"Yes, it is," Sora mumbled.

Matt gave her a 'don't say anything else' look. "Janice, you wear bikinis all the time. I don't think lifting your shirt up so we can see your stomach is such a bad thing."

"Besides, I'm sure Matt has already seen every part of you anyway," Sora mumbled again. Matt shot her a look that could kill.

"Actually, we never did anything like that. Not everyone got as close as you and Tai," Matt growled at her.

"Excuse me? I've never done anything like that in my life. I haven't even dreamed of it, you sick pervert," Sora snapped.

"Me the pervert? You're the one who brought it up!" Matt snapped back at her. Sora gawked at him, as if to say 'Me? But I'm innocent.' "You're the one who said Janice and I… did stuff. Which we didn't."

"Unfortunately," Janice added. Matt glared at her. She smiled sweetly back at him.

"It's called sex Matt," Sora said, referring to him saying 'stuff.'

"I know that," Matt snarled. "I was just trying to be polite."

"Kind of like you're being right now?" Sora said icily.

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!"

James sighed, driven mad by consistent fighting. First he had to deal with two teenagers. Now he had to deal with three, two of which were girls –one who had previously dated the guy. Have you ever tried talking to a teenage girl? It's like being locked in the trunk of a car with a wolverine. And to top that off, they were all fighting.

"You kids can be so agitating some times it's amazing," James said. The three hung their heads and listened for him to go on. "Now Janice, just show us your stomach."

Janice knew that she'd be accused instantly if she showed them. But, if she refused any longer, then they'd probably wrestle her to the floor to see and when they did they'd really accuse her. So it was best to just show them.

"Okay, but know this. I fell off the stage and that's why it took so long to get into the front hall." Janice took a deep breath and lifted the bottom half of her shirt up. The other three gasped and Janice waited for Sora to bust out and accuse her again.

"It wasn't her."

Everyone gaped at Sora. She seemed perfectly calm and stern about her answer. Both Matt and James were getting ready to hold back Sora once they saw the bruise on Janice, but she was just standing where she was.

"The reason I know is because I kneed the person. She'd have a bigger bruise and it wouldn't be as bad as that one is. Besides, that's on her left side and I kneed the person on the right," Sora explained. Matt and James nodded at her answer and Janice sighed with relief that she wouldn't be accused. "How'd you fall off the stage?"

"I don't really know. I was close to the edge and slipped or tripped on something," Janice pointed to about where she'd fallen.

"But there's nothing up there," Matt said. He jumped onto the stage and looked around. Something gleaming in the light caught his eye, but it wasn't on the stage. It was lying in the isle near where Janice had pointed. He jumped off the stage and picked it up. "Here's a piece of a watch."

Sora walked over to him and looked at the object. It looked exactly like the same piece of her watch that she slid on in the parlor. But that was impossible for it to be in two places at once. "That looks like the same thing I slipped on in the parlor."

"Whoa, wait. So you slipped in the parlor?" Matt asked. "Maybe you should tell us everything that happened.

Sora began to tell the other three what had happened, starting with her weird dream and going to where she'd ran into Matt. James said he heard her yell knife since he was on the light stand and the wall separating the parlor and concert hall had a big gaping hole in it from the last earthquake, thus letting sound in and out. The hall's owners had talked about fixing it, but never got around to it.

Now Matt looked up at the light stand elevated above them. He saw where James had been working on the cords. Following the cords across the ceiling with his eyes, Matt noticed the heating wires.

"Hey, look!" Matt pointed towards the wires. "Have those been cut?"

"I can't tell; they're too high up." James squinted to try to see better. He shrugged and began walking to a ladder on the wall that led to the catwalk. It also hung high above the stage and chairs. It had been put there just for maintenance on the wires, cords, lights, and other electric things. So it wasn't hard for James to get to the wires.

It wouldn't be hard for someone else to climb up there and cut the wires either… Matt thought. He turned back to Sora. She and Janice were both watching James climb up the ladder.

"I have this bad feeling," Matt said. Sora looked at him, then at James, and then back to him.

"I know what you mean. It's kind of scary, him being up so high, but he knows what he's doing," she said. Matt nodded and looked around the hall.

At the back of the room he saw what looked like a dark figure. It moved quickly and easily through two doors that led to storage rooms. Within a few seconds whoever it was had disappeared. Matt blinked a couple times, not knowing how to react. Then the figure seemed to peek out from behind one of the doors. Matt couldn't see the face, but he felt the eyes of the person burning into him, expecting him to say something. So Matt did.

"Hey! You!" Matt started walking quickly to the person. They disappeared behind the doors again. Matt started jogging. "Come back here! Who are you?"

"Matt! Wait, come back," Janice cried. She shoved past Sora and started to run after Matt. Sora watched them leave, baffled.

"Where are they going?" Sora asked herself. Janice caught up with Matt and they both left through the storage doors.

She shrugged and looked around the hall. Since the heat was broke, she began to realize how cold it was getting. Sora felt as if she were being watched. She took in the feeling of being left completely alone.

"James is still in here," Sora said and looked up. James was gone. Her eyes frantically searched for James. "James? James? JAMES?"

Sora felt her heart beat quicken and ran to the ladder on the wall that went to the catwalk. She started to climb as fast as she could. About half way up she looked down and a different fear struck her heart. Not only was she alone, but also she was also afraid of heights. But I've got to find James.

Reaching the top, Sora sat against the railing on the catwalk, catching her breath. She was really high up and kept telling herself not to look down. She saw the cut wires only a few feet from her. Slowly getting up, Sora weakly walked to the wires. The catwalk swayed under her.

"Oh please, oh please, oh please…" Sora kept repeating. She took a deep breath and kept walking.

On the other side of the catwalk was a door that led to room that controlled the lights. It had to be up high so they could tell how good the lights looked and if there was something wrong with a certain light. Sora kept calling for James, but he never replied. She eventually made it to the door and took another deep breath.

Gradually she opened the door. It was freezing inside the room and Sora felt that the chill was also coming from something else. But that was a mental problem and Sora shook it away. She stepped completely inside and looked around.

"James?" Sora whispered weakly. Her hand fumbled along the wall for the light switch. "James, please be in here."

Sora's hand finally found the light switch and she flicked it up. The light wavered a while before coming completely on. Sora blinked to get used to the now lit room. She looked around it and came across another door that was straight in front of her. She walked across the room and opened it.

"AHHHH!" Sora jumped back as James's lifeless body fell onto her. His blood went all over her shirt and hands. She pushed him off of her and backed up towards the other door. Her foot hit the catwalk and Sora turned to run.

Her left foot caught on a piece of the catwalk that was broken and she fell down. Sora tried to get up, but her shoelace was still caught. Pain ran through her jaw and she rubbed her face with her hand. There was a scratch, but it wasn't going to bleed. Although she did have blood on her hands and realized that she probably rubbed it all over her face. Forgetting about her face, Sora tried to free her shoelace.

While that was going on, Matt and Janice never found the man. They searched all the back rooms, but there was no one there. Janice said that Matt was going crazy and kept insisting they go back. Sure that he'd seen someone, Matt kept looking. The only place they hadn't looked was up the stairs that led to the light room. Matt started to go up them when he heard Janice scream behind him.

"What? What is it?" Matt rushed back to her. She was looking out the doors that led back into the concert hall. Matt looked over her shoulder to see the same dark cloaked person climbing up the ladder on the wall that led to the catwalk. A scream right above him made him look up. Sora came rushing out of a room and started to run across the catwalk. "SORA!"

She fell down and Matt's heart stopped when he saw that she was covered in blood. He looked at the ladder again and saw that the person had made it to the top and was stepping onto the catwalk.

"Matt… he has a knife," Janice whispered beside him. Matt noticed the knife, too. The person was heading straight for Sora, who was messing with something on her foot, most likely her shoelace.

"SORA! Look out!" Matt yelled. She looked down at him and then slowly turned to look behind her.

"AH! Help me Matt!" Sora jumped to her feet and tried to run, but fell down again. The person walked closer and closer to her.

Matt knew he couldn't reach her going up her ladder. He tried to think of how he could possibly help Sora. He remembered the stairs going to the light room. Matt grabbed Janice and ran through the storage doors. He made a right for the stairs.

On the catwalk, Sora frantically struggled to free herself. She started to cry as the person got closer and closer to her. When they were about ten feet from her, Sora finally got her shoelace free. She leaped to her feet again, only to be knocked down by the person. The knife came within 2 inches from her face.

"AH! Somebody!" Sora screamed. She started to fight for her life. The person grasped her wrists and fought to keep control of her. The knife swung back and forth in front of Sora's eyes. "That's it! I've had enough!"

Sora freed one of her wrists and swung her fist around into the person's face. They cried out and fell backwards off of her, but never let go of the knife. Sora had a perfect opportunity to get the knife out of their hand, but she got up and ran instead. She raced into the light room. James's dead body was still where it had fallen, and Sora felt a lump in her throat. She tried her hardest not to throw up.

"Sora!"

Sora looked up to see Matt in the doorway. She ran to his open waiting arms and they went down the stairs. Janice was waiting for them at the bottom. They all ran into through the storage doors into the concert hall and looked at the catwalk. The person was gone.

"Matt, James is dead," Sora murmured. Her voice wavered and her entire body was shaking. Matt hugged her closer to him.

"Are you hurt? There's so much blood on you…" Matt said, examining her.

"No, its James's. He's dead," Sora shook her head to get rid of the image of James's dead body in the corner.

"How'd it get on you?" Janice asked. Sora started to shake even more at the thought of how he fell out of the other room.

"You can tell us that later. Right now we have to get to a phone." Matt took the other two into the front hall and searched around. He kept Sora close to him and searched around for a phone.

"There's one," Janice said, pointing to a pay phone in the corner.

"Great," Matt searched his pockets, "I'm out of change."

"Here," Sora reached into her pocket and handed Matt some quarters. He put them in and quickly dialed 911.

"Hello? I need help! We're being attacked. The West Minister Concert-" Matt stopped talking and looked at Sora. He hung up the phone. "He cut the line."

"What are we going to do?" Janice screamed. She burst into tears and Matt put an arm around her for comfort.

"We have to get out of here," Matt said. He looked around the room for something to help him. "Wait, we can go out the front."

Matt started to head for the front parlor. Janice and Sora stared at him. Sora took one step towards him. "Matt, it's freezing outside."

"Would you rather be cold or dead?" Matt replied. He walked back to Sora and took her hand. "Please, I know it's crazy, but it may be the only thing we have."

Sora nodded uneasily and she followed him through the parlor doors. Janice didn't want to be left alone so she also went with them. It was cold in the front parlor and dark. Matt flicked a light on and the three stared amazed at the front door. Snow was piled against the doors and had even cracked on of them. A little snow fell through the cracks onto the floor inside.

"Okay. Now what do we do?" Janice asked. Her voice expressed her fear.

"Why don't you just stay here?"

Matt, Sora and Janice screamed and all whirled around to face the person behind them. The person was tall and the knife still gleamed in his right hand. Sora and Janice both started crying and Matt stepped in front of them. It was the brave thing to do, even though he felt like taking off at a dead run. It seemed ironic that he'd faced giant monsters in the digital world and survived and now here he was facing just another normal human like himself.

The person held the knife up, letting the light catch it perfectly. Matt felt all confidence drop as he realized there was nothing he could do to protect himself, Sora, or Janice.

Sora noticed that Matt's breath was getting shorter and that he started to blink a lot. She remembered him doing that a lot whenever there was nothing they could do to help someone. Especially when Puppetmon had TK. Her eyes searched the room for something that would help them. In the far corner were a fire hose, fire hydrant, and an ax. Sora had always wondered what the ax was for, but now she didn't care.

Matt saw Sora run to something in his peripheral vision. He backed against Janice and pushed her closer to the wall. The person also saw Sora and started to move towards her. Sora slammed her fist into the little glass window that kept her from the ax. It shattered and she yanked the ax out of the thing and whirled around with the ax protectively. Matt and Janice ran to her. The person continued to walk towards them. Sora kept the ax in front of her. Her entire body was shaking with fear.

The person reached inside of his cloak. Sora cursed loudly when she figured out what he was getting. A gun. Keeping the as close to her, Sora started to move towards the door that led to the stairs for the balcony seats. "Come on! He's got a gun!"

Sora said this just as the person pulled a gun out of the cloak. He leveled it at them and fired. Sora felt the bullet wiz past her arm. She jumped sideways and pushed her way through the doors, closely followed by Matt and Janice. They ran as fast as the could up the stairs, the whole time Sora was thinking of how unsafe it was to run with an ax in her hand.

They made it to the top in seconds. Matt shut the doors behind him, grabbing a mop to put between the handles so the person after them couldn't get through. The three sighed with relief.

"We can't just stay up here like sitting ducks. We have to do something," Sora said. She still kept the ax close to her.

"What can we do? The phone lines are cut," Janice bawled. "And if he doesn't kill us then we'll freeze to death!"

Janice was right. The concert hall was already starting to get colder. Matt nodded in agreement. "But we still don't know if it's a he. It could still be a she."

"Oh Lord Matt! This is not a time to argue over the sex of the person!" Sora griped. Matt shrugged and looked around the balcony.

His face turned to pure terror. The catwalk went to the light room, which was right above the balcony, and a metal ladder was off the side of it hanging over the balcony seats. They weren't safe here either. The person was probably already on their way through the light room.

"We have to find a place to hide until the police come," Matt started to usher the other two away from the metal ladder.

"How do we know they'll come? They probably thought that was some prank call that a teenager made!" Janice started to cry again. Sora really felt like slapping her.

"Do you ever look on the optimistic side of things? I swear you find something wrong with everything!" Sora was about to say more, but the sound of a gun going off stopped her.

Janice screamed as the bullet missed them and ricochet off of a metal bar that helped the handicap. Sora turned around just as the gun was shot again. Her body jerked to the right and she felt her right shoulder start to go numb. Blood started to pour out of the hole created by the bullet. It had gone straight through her.

Matt had dropped to the floor as soon as he'd heard the first shot. The ricochet hit something right above him. Sora and Janice were still standing up and he was about to yell at them to get down when the second shot was fired. He saw Sora jerk to the right and knew she'd been hit.

"Sora!" Matt caught her as she fell to the floor beside him. She looked at him, still in shock that she'd been shot. "Hold on Sora."

Janice had seen Matt drop to the floor and ducked whenever the ricochet hit, but stood back up. She watched Sora turn around to face the shooter and get hit. She was surprised whenever she felts herself in pain. The bullet had gone through Sora and then through her stomach. The pain was so overwhelming and as Sora was falling into Matt's arms, she fell back against the wall.

"Janice! NO!" Matt cried as soon as he saw that Janice had been hit, too. He looked towards the light room to see the person climbing down the ladder.

Janice slid down the wall, leaving a trail of blood. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't. Matt watched in panic as blood dribbled down her chin from being push up her throat by internal bleeding and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

"No, Janice. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." For the first time that night Matt began to cry. He wasn't on good terms with Janice, but he didn't want her to die.

"Matt we have to get away from here," Sora whispered. Matt immediately turned his attention to her. Janice was a friend of his, but now she was dead and he had to protect Sora.

Janice meant a lot to him and it was hard for him to look away from her and haul Sora to her feet. He couldn't do anything for Janice or James now, but he had to keep Sora alive. It was hard enough to keep going and ignore the fact that he'd have to forget about Janice until he and Sora were safe and the murderer apprehended. (A/N: Okay, I don't really know how to explain this in the story so I'll just tell you. Matt feels bad for just leaving Janice there dead, but he knows that if he doesn't leave then he and Sora will be dead. So it's hard for him to not be distressed for her at that moment and put all the crying off for later)

Sora was drifting in and out of consciousness. Her shoulder had been hit, but the amount of blood she was losing was starting to make her feel weaker and weaker. Matt hauled Sora to her feet. By the time he'd made it back to the balcony door and pulled the mop out, the shooter had dropped off the ladder into the chairs below. He looked straight at Matt and for an instant it was as if they understood what the other wanted. But then Matt bolted through the door, dragging Sora along with him.

"Matt, don't pull so much. You're making my arm hurt," Sora gasped.

"Sorry Sora, but I can't," Matt said; although, he did loosen his grip a little. They flew down the stairs and back into the parlor. Matt knew he only had a few minutes before the murderer either climbed back up the ladder and came down the other stairs or followed them down into the parlor. "Where can we go?"

"I don't know," Sora replied. She wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. The pain in her arm was getting worse.

Matt looked at the doors that led outside. Snow had packed against them and even broken the glass on one of the doors. It would be impossible to go that way; they'd have to tunnel through the snow. Plus it was freezing outside and neither one of them had enough clothes on. Matt tried to think, but nothing came to mind. He heard some one, whom he guessed was the murderer, coming down the stairs at a walk, almost a mocking sort of walk. It was as if the murderer didn't have to rush because he knew he'd kill Matt and Sora. What ever I do, I'd better do it now!

Lunging for the door that led into the front hall, Matt heard the murdered come through the parlor doors. He jerked Sora around, causing her to cry out, and pushed her through the door. A bullet hit the door frame right beside Matt as he ran through.

At the sound of another gunshot, Sora impulsively came aware of her surroundings. She saw Matt frantically running to where she was. He grabbed her unhurt arm and started to pull her to the concert hall, which she willingly followed.

They ran down the isle to the stage. Matt searched for something that might help them. The only thing they'd had was the ax, but Sora dropped it when they were on the balcony.

"Matt, the catwalk! There's a window in the light room," Sora looked at Matt intently, hoping he'd catch on. Though, the thought of James lingered in her mind.

"But that's too high. We'd have to-"

Another bullet hit the stage right beside them. Sora and Matt immediately started to climb up the ladder to the catwalk. It was the only chance they had. Sora was in front of Matt and having a hard time climbing with one arm. Several gunshots hit around them. Matt was thankful that whoever it was had a bad aim.

"How many bullets does he have? Isn't that a pistol?" Sora yelled down to Matt. He nodded in agreement. The person had been firing a whole lot.

But the person was obviously out since a loud curse came from him/her and he/she started running violently towards the ladder. Matt and Sora were barely up it since Sora was taking so long. The person started to gain on them easily. Matt started climbing faster until he was almost on top of Sora. He grabbed her around the waist and helped her climb. With Matt's help Sora was able to reach the top in no time at all. They looked down to see the person still climbing.

Sora jumped to her feet and started to run across the catwalk with Matt close behind her. Each step made her arm hurt worse. She mad it to the light room door and snatched the doorknob. It was locked.

"On no…" Sora murmured. She fell to her knees in shock. Matt stepped around her and started to kick the door.

An evil laugh came from behind them. Matt spun around to see the person slowly walking towards them. He was reloading his gun and laughing at the two of them. When he was about twenty feet away he stopped.

"Who are you? Why are you trying to kill us?" Matt demanded. The person stopped laughing and raised the gun at Sora. She gasped and ducked behind Matt's leg.

The person gave a shout in frustration. "Just let me kill you!"

Matt could tell by the voice that it was a girl. He just didn't know whom it belonged to. There was something at the back of his mind that told him he knew this girl.

"What do you want?" Matt growled furiously.

"Gee, Matt, can't you tell?" the girl pulled the hood away from her face. She stared at Matt with evil eyes.

"Christy? But why?" Matt gaped at her. Christy had been the very first girl he'd gone out with. They were together for quite some time, but he'd broken up with her because she seemed screwy. Now he knew she was. What is this? Return of the ex-girlfriends night?

"Oh come on Matt! Don't you get it?" Christy screamed. She rolled her eyes when Matt still looked confused. "You left me for that cheating brat Janice-"

"I didn't even know Janice until about three months after I broke up with you!" Matt griped.

"SHUT UP! Do you want to hear this or not?" Christy shook her gun at him. Matt crossed his arms and waited for her to go on. "I called that brat and told her that you wanted to see her again. She actually believed me. I was only planning to kill her in the parking lot, but when I saw you talking to this whore and her pink haired friend I knew they had to die, too. It was so convenient for me, too. Some one else killed another girl and stuffed her in the back of the pink girl's car. It was so easy to kill her. So when the police find out who killed that other girl, then they'll get blamed and not me. Isn't that great? I get away with everything! Anyway, so then I had to kill that big guy, which wasn't easy. He was pretty strong, but I've been working out myself. Then it was Janice, and now her. I can't believe that you like her. She's so… pitiful. And my stomach really hurts badly. Why did you leave me, Matt? We were so perfect for each other."

Christy walked slowly towards Matt, still keeping her gun level at him. She came about two feet in front of Matt. "You're so cute."

Running her fingers down Matt's arm, Christy eyed Sora evilly. Sora was shaking with fear and felt a lump in her throat. Christy backed away from Matt and pointed her gun at Sora. Matt moved completely in front her Sora and glared at Christy.

"I can't let you do this," Matt snarled. Christy looked at him in disbelief.

"How dare you talk to me like that? I'm the one with a gun, remember?" Christy pointed at herself with the gun. "Just move out of the way!"

"No Christy… I wont," Matt didn't budge from his spot in front of Sora.

"Christy…" Sora whispered. Both Christy and Matt looked at her. She stood up and stepped from behind Matt. "Please don't kill me. If you want Matt, then you can have him. I don't like him at all!"

Christy looked at her strangely and Matt looked at her in shock. He frowned with disappointment. Okay, this sucks. The girl I like doesn't care for me at all and the girl I hate is obsessed with me! Matt sighed and looked back at Janice. She was smiling.

"That's great!" Christy said, but her face turned from cheery to pure sin. "But I still can't let you live."

Sora's faced dropped and she shook with terror. Christy aimed the gun at her again and cocked it. Matt realized he could have jumped her since she hadn't had it cocked before. Sora was frozen in fear and Matt moved in front of her again.

"Well, even if Sora could care less about me, I still can't let you kill her," he felt himself start to shake also. This was going to be how he died.

"That's sweet," Christy said sarcastically. She aimed her gun at Matt now. "Too bad you pick her."

The sound of a gunshot rang through Matt's ears. He expected to feel immediate pain, but instead felt nothing. He realized he'd closed his eyes and opened them slowly. Christy was lying on the catwalk, dead.

"Matt! Look!" Sora pointed towards the concert hall below. There stood three police man and more were filing in.

Sora and Matt both turned around at the sound of the light room door opening. Some more police filed onto the catwalk. Matt leaped with joy. I'm glad they're a better shot than Christy was. Thinking of Christy, Matt gradually turned around to look at her. Blood was trickling through the grate bottom of the catwalk onto the chairs below. He turned away in disgust. Despite her attempts to kill him and Sora, he still felt bad.

"We had a call for help and came to check thing out. We figured that it was because you were stuck in here from the snow and began to bulldoze it away," a policeman said, while escorting Matt and Sora through the light room. They all turned away from James's dead body. "But when we heard some gunshots go off we knew it was more serious."

"We're glad you came," Sora said. Her entire body felt weak as they walked down the flight of stairs to the storage rooms. There, some medics put her on a stretcher and took her to an ambulance.

Matt asked to go along with them in the ambulance, but the police needed to question him. So he waved goodbye to Sora as the medics closed the ambulance doors and drove away.

For the next hour the police questioned Matt and took pictures of the crime scenes. Matt looked away in disgust as they carried Janice's body bag into a morgue truck. He was finally able to get his car keys from his jacket and drive to the hospital nearly an hour and half later. The roads had been bulldozed and sand had been put down.

Matt arrived at the hospital thirty minutes later. It usually was a ten minute drive, but he had to go slow because the roads were still slick. At the front desk a nurse gave him the room number that Sora was in. He thanked hr and walked down the hall. When he stepped in the doorway, Sora's parents and a couple of other people were in the room. Sora was sleeping peacefully on the bed.

Mrs. Takenouchi walked to Matt and hugged him. "Thank you so much. Sora told us that you saved her several times."

Mr. Takenouchi shook hands with Matt and then moved back to Sora's bedside. Matt looked at her and realized how tired he was. The only people he recognized in the room were Sora's parents. He dropped into a chair by Sora's bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Matt stretched and rubbed his eyes. Light streamed through the hospital windows into his eyes. He yawned and for a minute didn't know where he was. But it came to him pretty quickly and he looked at a clock on the wall. It was five thirty in the afternoon.

"It's about time you woke up."

Matt turned to see Sora sitting up in her bed. She smiled warmly at him, making him blush a little. All around the room were 'get well' balloons and flowers. Beside Sora's bed were several cards.

"You'd think that I'd sleep longer since I was the one shot," Sora teased.

"All this in just a few hours?" Matt couldn't believe how much stuff there was.

"Just a few hours? Matt, you slept all day yesterday and most of today! There was plenty of time for people to bring this stuff," Sora laughed.

Matt couldn't believe that he'd been aloud to sleep in the hospital room. Usually if you weren't of immediate family and it wasn't visiting hours, then you weren't allowed to even be inside the room.

"Your parents were real worried about you, but they didn't want to wake you up," Sora said softly.

"Where are they now?"

"They all went out to eat. They'll be back in about an hour. They just left."

Matt nodded and looked out the window. Most of the snow had melted and cars busily went back and forth on the highway. He sighed and tried to not think of Janice, James, Mimi and Christy. But he couldn't and soon tears forced their way out.

"Matt…" Sora could tell that Matt was sad. He looked at her, his eyes puffy and red. She felt herself start to cry. "Oh Matt, I'm so sorry."

Matt got up and walked to Sora's bed. He sat down and looked straight into Sora's eyes. They both hugged each other tightly for comfort. After about thirty minutes of crying and hugging, they finally pulled apart.

"Sora, I'm sorry for everything that happened," Matt apologized.

"It's not your fault. I don't blame you," Sora said tenderly. Matt took her hand and kissed it gently.

"You shouldn't have had to see those things," Matt shook his head with disgust. "I can't believe that happened."

Sora sat in silence for some time, thinking. She laughed at the memory of sliding through coke. Matt looked at her curiously. She smiled at him. "I was just thinking of all that coke. I felt so sticky afterwards, but it went away after a while."

"Yeah, me too," Matt laughed. It felt good to have something to laugh at.

"TK said that he'd bring you some clothes whenever they come back," Sora motioned towards Matt's dirty blood and coke stained shirt. He grinned at her, this time making her blush. But her face filled with concern. "Matt, whenever I said that Christy could just take you because I didn't care, well, I didn't mean for it to sound so cold. I just wanted to distract her and maybe get her to trust me so we could trick her."

Matt blinked at her a couple times. "That explains a lot. You really made me feel bad."

The hurt in Matt's voice made Sora cringe. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Sora. Don't worry about it," Matt gave her another hug. "So when do you get to go home?"

"Today, actually. In a few hours. They had to keep me to make sure there was no infection or that my shoulder blade wasn't shattered by the bullet," Sora showed him the bandaged area on her shoulder. "It still hurts, but not much. I can move my arm easier now."

"That's good." Matt wanted to say something else to her, but his family and friends started to parade into the room. They all ran over to Matt and gave him hugs and kisses.

"Oh sweetie! I was so worried about you!" Mrs. Ishida exclaimed. She hugged Matt firmly and wouldn't let go.

"Mom… I can't breath…" Matt gasped. She released him, only for his dad to start hugging him. TK handed him some clothes and Matt went into the bathroom to change. When he came out everyone had taken all the chairs. So he sat beside Sora.

"Well, Sora, You can go home now if you'd like." A doctor stood in the doorway. "Mr. Takenouchi, if you'll please come sign some papers."

An hour later they were walking out the hospital doors to the parking lot. Everyone was carrying something from Sora's room. They all piled it into the Takenouchi's car. There wasn't enough room for Sora and her mom to get in.

"Well, I'm going over to my shop anyway," Mrs. Takenouchi said. She waved good bye and headed for the bus stop.

"I can give Sora a ride home," Matt suggested.

"Well, Matt you've done enough for us. You don't have to do anything else," Mr. Takenouchi didn't want Matt to feel as if he had to do everything for Sora. He'd already saved her life.

"No, I don't mind. Really," Matt just wanted to spend some more time alone with Sora. He'd been so thrilled whenever she was outside of the concert hall. That was going to be his chance to really get to know her. But everything had gone wrong.

"Okay. Thank you Matt," Mr. Takenouchi agreed. He stepped into his car and started to pull away.

Matt and Sora walked to Matt's car in silence. He unlocked the doors and they both climbed in. Soon they were on their way to Sora's house. Matt sighed with depression.

"Sora, I promise that I'll never got out with another crazy person and then somehow manage to get you in it, too."

Sora laughed at the suggestion. "I don't know… crazy people are attracted to you."

"Well, you're not crazy," Matt said. He had a certain little twinkle in his eye. Sora smiled to herself.

They made it to Sora's house in a few minutes. Her dad was carrying things from the car inside. Sora sighed at the thought of having to leave. She almost felt that she wouldn't be safe anywhere away from Matt.

"Mimi's funeral is going to be in a few days," Sora choked out. She knew that she was going to miss Mimi so much. They were best friends.

"I know. You're mom told me earlier," Matt said quietly. They sat in silence for a while. Sora's dad got everything inside by the time either one of them spoke.

"Matt, I should probably go now. I'm sure your parents are wondering what's taking so long," Sora said. She started to get out of the car.

"Yeah, I guess. But Sora," Matt grabbed her hand and pulled her back inside. He leaned over and kissed her. "I've been wanting to do that ever since I saw you."

Sora smiled and blushed. She looked away and started to get out of the car again. "I'll see you later, okay?"

They waved goodbye and Sora started to close the door. Something popped into Matt's mind. "Wait! Sora!"

She stopped and leaned in the car to look at him.

"I told you that I'd get you home eventually."