Nemesis

Nemesis Part 2/3
A Short Story by Ellipsis the Great
Summary: They say that if you go to Lethe Mansion, you either end up with amnesia…or you disappear forever…
DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts and everything affiliated with it belongs to SquareEnix and Disney. All I own is the plot…
Rated: M just in case.
Theme: 2. Wedding

When Roxas woke up, he was immediately aware of the absence of Axel’s familiar heat beside him. Groaning at the lack of warmth, he groped about for his boyfriend for a moment before blearily creaking his eyes open. He yawned and sat up, peering around the mostly dark room. Scratching himself, he stood and made his way out of the room, carefully avoiding Hayner’s still-sleeping form.
Roxas yawned, and was about to enter the kitchen when he heard an odd noise in the living room. It sounded like chattering teeth, as if someone was freezing cold—but the house was actually pretty warm.
“Axel?” He murmured as he ventured into the living room, wondering (not for the first time) why the only light switch for this room was the one beside the door to the front porch.
Something moved, and in the darkness he could just make out the figure on the couch, shivering as it rocked back and forth, mumbling nonsensically.
“Axel,” And it was Axel on the couch; even in the dark he could see the older man’s wild red hair. “Quit dicking around, you asshole.”
He finally reached the other side of the room and flicked the lights on, jumping a mile high when the man on the couch screamed bloody murder.
“The fuck happened?” Hayner yelped as he stumbled out of the guest room. Pence was close behind him, coming from his room, and Olette trailed along after them from the second guest room.
“I don’t know!” Roxas exclaimed, staring at Axel, who had returned to rocking and muttering.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry…” He could finally understand the words coming from his jittery boyfriend’s mouth. “I didn’t mean to forget I didn’t mean to forget I didn’t mean to forget I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry please leave me alone leave me alone leave me alone I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry…”
“Axel.” Roxas growled. “This isn’t funny.” He grabbed Axel’s arm, jerking away when another of those screams erupted from his boyfriend’s mouth.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!” Axel sobbed, curling up into himself.
“Axel, seriously.” Roxas tried again, this time just touching the redhead gently on the arm.
Axel started, as if he hadn’t known someone else was in the room with him, and looked up at Roxas, eyes wide and full of nothing—absolutely nothing—except fear.
“Oh my God! Look at his neck!” Olette screeched, hands flying up to cover her mouth.
The three (lucid) boys did, gasping at the deep, ragged rope marks going around Axel’s neck. When they looked back up at his face, he was crying.
His tears were bloody.
Olette ran into the bathroom and vomited.
“Axel, what happened to you?” Roxas asked shakily.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry please don’t hurt me anymore. Please, please leave me alone!”
“Axel, we aren’t going to hurt you. I just want to know what happened! Who did this to you?”
“I don’t remember. I’m so sorry, I don’t remember.” Axel said, curling up again.
“I’m going to call an ambulance.” Pence said, sounding as sick as Olette was.
Roxas nodded without actually answering and crouched by Axel’s side. “Axel…Axel, please, talk to me. What happened?”
“Who’s Axel? I don’t remember. I don’t know what happened to him. Just leave me alone, please!” Sobs shook Axel’s body.
“Holy shit.” Hayner said shakily. “Did he…did he go to Lethe Mansion?”
“Axel, if you’re just fucking around about that stupid ghost story, this isn’t funny!” Roxas said.
Axel started crying harder.
“Goddammit.” Roxas cursed, standing up again and running a hand through his hair.
As Axel started rocking again, though, something fell out of the pocket of his jacket.
“Pence’s camera?” Roxas mused, picking it up. “Hmm…ah, hell, he did go to the mansion. Look at this…gates, door, inside, inside…that’s all, though.”
“No, look.” Hayner took the camera and fiddled with some of the buttons. “There’s a video.”
“He must’ve made it on accident—he can hardly figure out how to take pictures with this thing; forget making a video with it.” Roxas said as the video started up. It was black (probably Axel had accidentally pressed a button while the camera was in his pocket), but they could still hear noises.
There was a wispy sound, almost like a voice but not quite loud enough to be one.
“Wh-who are you?” Axel’s voice asked.
The weird sound again.
“I-I’m not Sora.”
“Fssssh.”
“N-no. I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you are.”
“Fsssssh.”
“I never knew you, lady.”
“Fssssssssh—y, why, WHY?!”
Hayner and Roxas jumped as they could suddenly hear a woman’s voice from within the wispy noises. On the couch, Axel froze.
“I’ll make you remember me! I’ll MAKE YOU!”
Axel screamed, tearing wildly at his throat as his legs kicked out, like he was trying to escape something. Roxas dropped the camera, both he and Hayner staring at it as the shadowy figure of a girl—or some grotesque semblance of a girl—broke slowly out of it, crawling toward Axel.
“What the fuck?” Roxas shouted.
The girl-thing looked at them, eyes bluer than blue and so ghoulish that Roxas nearly wet himself. Hayner was motionless beside him from fear. Axel kept screaming, getting louder and louder as the thing’s attention returned to him.
“Remember me! Remember me! REMEMBER ME!” The girl-thing shrieked at him, and suddenly flew forward, grabbing the still screaming man and pulling him back into the camera so quickly Roxas and Hayner didn’t have any time to even think about moving. Blood spurted upward—not too much but enough to leave a pretty wide radius of spray on the carpet.
“OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod.” Hayner yelled.
“What—holy shit!” Pence said as he reentered the room. Olette, thankfully, hadn’t come back out of the bathroom yet. They could still hear her retching.
“Pence, call the police. I’m going to Lethe Mansion.” Roxas said, grabbing a jacket.
“Dude, you can’t!” Hayner said, grabbing his arm.
Roxas gave him one of those looks. The ones that could make a person feel like an idiot at only a passing glance, much less what they made a person feel when it was directed right at them.
“…Can’t go alone.” Hayner amended lamely. “I’ll go with you.”
Roxas nodded and headed toward the door, opening it.
“Roxas, Hayner…” They looked at Olette, who looked pale and shaky as she finally returned from the bathroom. “Be careful you guys. Okay? This is…this is all really weird.”
“We will, ‘Lette.” Hayner assured her with a small wave, then both he and Roxas stepped out of the doorway and into the cold night air.

END PART 2