Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Painting ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter Four

All last night Seifer kept hearing noises. At first he just thought it was the people outside doing there usual nightly things like, the guy three houses down was on the boats and he often left really early in the morning to go with two other men and they talked as though it were daylight outside.

Then there's Miss Araya, she sometimes lets her cats back in after they've been out all night but ends up talking with another of there neighbors doing the same.

Only his thoughts were put into suspicion when he noticed that every voice heard was made from a child and not an adult. Two children infact, a male and female. He got up from his bed and walked to the window shouting. "Shut up! Some people are trying to sleep." Slamming the window closed, Seifer walked back to bed and climbed in.

Covering his head with the pillow, he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. The next morning when the two of them went downstairs their mouths dropped to the floor. "What the hell happened in here?" Irvine wondered outloud.

The entire livingroom was trashed! Lamps were knocked over and books were strewn about on the floor. The couch cushions were lifted from the chair and some of them dropped to the floor. Seifer and Irvine were both thinking of blaiming it on Lasso but that wouldn't explain how the tv got turned on.

The channel was on a system 'sign off' with the rainbow colored bars and that high pitched wailing sound. "Damn it." Seifer said snapping his fingers together as though he had suddenly thought of something. "It must have been those damn teenagers I shouted at last night."

"What teenagers?" Asked Irvine, following Seifer's path to the phone with his eyes. "These ignorant ass kids that were up all hours of the night talking to each other." His fingers dailed for the police. "They must have gotten in somehow and trashed the place." He listening to the phone ring on their end before it was picked up.

"Pittsburgh police department. How may I help you?" A woman said with an afficiancy to her tone.

"Uh yeah, I'd like to report a break in at my house, Ewalt St on 43rd house 426." Seifer looked around him as though he were trying to scout for anything that could be missing.

"Is the breakin happening right now?" The woman asked. Seifer made a face as though that was a dumb thing to ask. "No, it happened last night."

"We'll send an officer right away." She said before hanging up.

"I can't believe this shit." Seifer murmered starting to clean up. Irvine bent down picking up some things to put away as well. The two of them went around the room cleaning up when Seifer remembered he hadn't checked on Relm since last night. "Can you finish cleaning up while I go check on Relm?" He asked already heading towards the stairs.

With a salute. "Sure thing." Irvine replied. Seifer climbed the stairs two at a time and walked down the hall to his sick nieces room. "Hey Relm." He said quietly. "Are you feeling any better?" He took a few steps into the room and saw that the girl was still sleeping and didn't infact look any better than she had last night, she almost looked worse!

Her eyes were red shaded and her cheeks were hot with fever. Relms nose was running a little so Seifer grabbed a tissue wiping it away. The little girl stirred in the bed making a groggy sound before rolling over on her side. Sympathetically, Seifer kissed her on the cheek and ran a hand through her hair, he really didn't wanna wake her up but he had to.

"Come on kid." He picked up her arm placing it over his shoulders. "We gotta get you to the bathroom." Relm groaned in protest trying to lean her weight back down on the bed but Seifer picked her up and carried her. "You can go back to sleep right after, okay?"

Her arm dangled back and forth as he walked her to the bathroom, trying to keep her from sliding out of his grip was almost impossible. Even for a little girl, sleeping figures aren't aware of just how much they weigh.

Seifer flipped the light switch on with his shoulder then he placed Relm down infront of the toilet with her back to it. "Okay kid, you take it from here." He said. With a sniffle she swayed back and forth to steady herself as she tugged her pajama pants down. Seifer picked her up from under her arms and sat her down on the toilet.

Turning the water on he waited for her to finish going to the bathroom. When her hands appeared under the water he squoze some soap into her hand from the little bottle and helped her wash them.

Once she was finished he washed his own hands while she supported herself against his hip by forehead to rest. "Alright, lets get you back into bed and I'll make you some uhhh, oatmeal I guess."

Relm ran a hand underneath her nose and raised her arms up like an infant wanting to be picked up. Seifer complied to her unspoken request and hoisted her into the air. Walking back to the room he saw Lasso waking up. "You keep an eye on the brat and I'll bring you some kibble, deal?" Seifer said after making sure Relm was comfortable.

Lasso wagged his tail from side to side and scooted forward still laying low against the floor. Even from the distance Seifer could see how nasty the revealed flesh from missing patches of fur had been. 'I wish I knew how those got there.' He thought.

Turning to the door, he spun back around to the bed and grabbed the soup bowl from the side table then walked out. Relms sleepy gaze followed him and she reached out a shaky hand for him. Lasso walked over to the bed licking the hand that was uncovered from the blanket and he ran his head underneath her palm for a pat as well.

A low whimper came when he felt the girl falling back asleep and he jumped up on the bed resting at the foot of it. Downstairs.

Irvine had finished putting everything back where it had come from and reported that nothing was missing to the officer that had shown up in the mean time. "There you are." Said Irvine when Seifer appeared downstairs. "Are you the one that filed the break in report?" The cop asked.

"Yeah, but since nothing's missing I guess I'll let it go." Seifer shrugged. 'That and I didn't exactly see who had done it.' He added in thought. The cop looked annoyed for being called out for nothing, but he informed them to call if it happened again. "I'm gonna make Relm something to eat. Can you give her, her medicine?"

The two of them walked into the kitchen and Irvine grabbed a spoon from the drawer then went to the refrigerator grabbing the bottle of purple medicine. "How many spoonfuls?" Irvine looked on the side panel for age.

"One should do it. I checked last night." Seifer started the stove and grabbed some packets of oatmeal. Irvine walked upstairs and into Relms room. Waking up, she turned her head hearing the sound of the door.

"Medicine time." The brunette announced. "It's grape, so don't worry about the taste." He helped Relm sit herself up against the headboard then he uncaped the bottle, with some effort, and poured it over onto the spoon. "Open up." The little girl parted her mouth as far as it would go and swallowed the liquid down coughing from the last few drops that got stuck in her throat.

Irvine leaned her forward a bit and patted her back until she stopped. When he helped her back down on the bed she grabbed a handful of his shirt before he could move away. "Don't go." She said faintly.

Irvine smiled taking her hand sitting down on the chair that was beside him. "Alright. I can uhh tell ya some jokes." A smile appeared on her face, though small it was still there. "You can go then." She coughed out a laugh and Irvine laughed too.

Relms joy soon faded into a frown and she looked at Irvine seriously. "I'm scared." She said simply. The brunette cocked his head and blinked. "Scared? Of what, me?" He pointed with his free hand at himself. "I ain't nothin to fear."

Relm shook her head. "Oh.... is it Lasso, cause he's to lazy to scare somebody." She shook her head again. "Then what's got ya spooked little lady?" He asked.

"It's..... the little girl and boy." Irvine wondered what in the world she was talking about he didn't see anybody. Maybe the people that broke in came upstairs. He leaned down hugging her saying. "Don't worry, your uncle and me'll stay up all night and ain't nobody gonna get to you."

The door pushed opened some more and Seifer walked in. "Here you go, do you feel like eating?" He asked. Relm nodded, hungry from last night because her soup had been knocked over by... them. The soup had since dried up and the bowl was placed back on the side table as though she had eaten it.

Scooting up to a sitting position she placed the bowl down on her lap and began to eat. "Seifer," Irvine said grabbing the blonde by his wrist steering him out of the room. "I'll be right back, don't worry."

He closed the door and walked a little ways up the hall. "Listen, Relms scared shitless of this girl and boy." Seifer made a face as though asking. 'What girl and boy.'

"The ones that broke in, I think they came upstairs and scared her." Irvine explained from the best of what he knew. "Why didn't she yell for us?" Asked Seifer.

"Voice was too hoarse, I guess." Irvine shrugged his hands. Seifer's face scrunched in anger and he balled up his fist saying. "Those assholes. If they come back tonight, I'm gonna have a little surprise waiting for them."

"Ditto." Affirmed Irvine. The phone was ringing downstairs and Seifer hesistated before deciding to go get it. "That's probably work, I forgot I had to go in today." He said as he went downstairs. "Can you watch Relm today for me, til I get back?"

"That's what boyfriends are for." He shouted down the hall before returning to Relms room. She was still sitting where they had left her, eating the oatmeal. "Your uncles going to work. So I'm gonna stay here and watch you today, that alright with you?" Irvine asked.

Relm nodded and continued to eat. Irvine grabbed a puzzles book and started mentally doing them in his head talking to her while she ate.

Downstairs Seifer had picked up the phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Buuuurn that painting, it's eviiil." A woman said on the other end.

"What? Who is this?" Asked Seifer. "Burn that painting, you must listen to me." The woman said again.

"Listen lady, what ever your trying to sell me I'm not buying it. Happy Halloween. Ha ha." He mocked and hung up. Turning away from the phone he gasped and took a step back. The painting was right behind him! It was sitting on a stand in the middle of the room. Seifer sighed and shook his head.

"How did I miss that until now." He walked over to the stand and picked it up. Walking over to the wall that it was originally placed on, Seifer rehung the painting and walked into the downstairs bathroom. Rocking, one of the corners fell from the nail it was placed on the other dropping it onto the couch.

Seifer dressed for work then came out of the bathroom. When he walked into the livingroom he saw that the painting had fallen from the nails and the womans words suddenly ran through his head. "Buuuurn that painting, it's eviiil."

He gazed at it, wondering if it were true. I mean Relms sudden sickness didn't exactly make any sense, and neither did Lasso's missing fur or that bloody hand print that was on the couch last night. No. He smiled rubbing his eyes. "That's ridiculous, there's no such thing as ghost and super natural shit."

He reached for the painting sticking it back on the wall, as he walked away from it, it fell forward again. Seifer was beginning to get impatient now. He grabbed the painting again and stuck it up on the wall, waiting right infront of it to see if it would try again to fall it remained where it was. "That's better."

Seifer left the livingroom and called upstairs that he was leaving. Irvine yelled a reply and the blonde left the house. The painting shook gently then fell back onto the couch, a low giggle sounded in the still room then nothing more.