My Bloody Valentine
Chapter Four
By: Firia
Slayers (c) TV Tokyo and some other people. The title comes from a WeiB song, which belongs to Koyasu and Project Weib. This story takes place after Slayers TRY.
I woke up today
to find myself in the other place
with a trail of my footprints
from where I ran away
~~Even Deeper (Nine Inch Nails)
She sighed and listened to her manager drone on. Over the past few weeks she had shown the property her company owned on "Wolf Pack Island" to numerous prospective buyers. Every one of them had declined to buy the property. Some even continued to persist with the ridiculous rumors that the area was haunted. She scowled at the remembrance of one man claiming he saw a pair of purple eyes watching him from the shadows while she took him on a tour of the structure.
Sure, it would undeniably take a great deal of time and money to restore. But surely the fact that the property was, in all actuality, an ancient ruin, would make it well worth the effort.
"And furthermore, there's absolutely no interest in it. Your request to have the structure repaired is denied. Do you even know how much it would cost to repair some of the weather damage? Much less the rest of the problems..." Her manager continued.
"But it's an important part of history! Everyone who lives on the island knows about it. Noone alive even remembers it as being anything other than ruins ... that alone should spark enough interest in restoration..." She countered.
"Filia. Be reasonable. There is NOONE interested in the property. Or at least in the restoration of the ruins on it." He cut off her protests with a glare. He adjusted his glasses and sighed.
She looked at him questioningly.
"We had one buyer interested in tearing down the ruins. They're planning to build a restaurant. We've decided to accept his offer." He continued slowly.
"Rick, please hear me out on this!" She jumped from her chair and stood in front of him. "I really can't condone the idea of tearing down ancient ruins for a restaurant." After a moment of thought she added, "Maybe... I could buy the property. There's that small house on the edge of the land that's in generally good condition. I could move there. I'd rather leave the ruins alone than let them be destroyed!" She stared at him, waiting for his reply.
He laughed. "You're a stubborn woman. But I know the salary we pay you. You couldn't afford to buy that land."
"I could get a loan." She challenged. What the HELL was she saying? She didn't have the slightest idea of why she was so intent on keeping the property. It was completely insane. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She wanted to preserve the ruins, and she had been thinking of moving from her tiny apartment anyway. It was a perfectly logical idea.
"Well, Filia, since you're so intent on buying the property, we'll see what we can do."
---
It had been painful, those first few steps towards sunlight. But he had to move towards it. Even from deep within the hidden sublevels of Zelas' former home, he had heard it.
Her voice.
He suddenly remembered Xelloss, his only visitor (and an unwelcome one, at that) idly mentioning something about "humans coming to play", and he had paid it no mind. Not long after, he had detected movement and voices coming from the upper levels of the building. Still, he paid it no heed. He was content to stay in the darkness forever. He had lost the will to live so long ago. Too guilt stricken to live, too terrified of dying to kill himself. So he had decide to waste away. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.
Of course, feeding off of his own negative emotions meant that he neither stepped forwards nor backwards. He simply remained frozen in time.
There it was again. Like a siren's song, he was draw towards it. He slowly made his way up the spiral staircase and fumbled around for the latch that would open the hidden doorway to the upper level.
The sunlight burned his eyes, even though he knew the windows in Zelas' personal quarters were small and barely let in light. He blinked and waited for his eyes to adjust.
As if on cue, he heard voices just outside the room. The ornate handle on the door turned and the heavy oak door creaked open slowly.
"This is the master bedroom. As you can see, this room is one of the best preserved in the entire building. There's a connected bath, but it will have to be equipped with modern plumbing, of course." That familiar voice. His heart was racing wildly. He remained still, against the wall. Hidden behind debris of what had once been some part of Zelas' furniture.
There was no mistaking it. It was definitely Filia. He was too dumbfounded to do anything more than stare at her. The humans that followed her into the room looked around nervously and murmured to each other. Suddenly, one of the humans shrieked and pointed towards a corner of the room.
"Mr. Stuart, whatever is the matter with you?!" Filia asked, a look of shock evident on her face.
"Something's there! Purple eyes are watching us!" The man screamed and ran from the room. The other human and Filia ran out after him. As soon as the door slammed shut, he heard a snicker come from the corner the man had been pointing to.
"So interesting, ne Val-kun?" Xelloss' voice rang out cheerfully as he stepped from shadows.
Valgarv said nothing and let his gaze fall on the door. He didn't know how or why, but she had been there moments ago.
"So tell me Val, do you believe in reincarnation?" Xelloss asked in an amused tone.
---
TBC...
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