Revive

Home

The roar from Fenrir hushed as they slowed to the front of the house. The burnt home towered over all four of them, intimidating as the house let off creaks and moans. The garden consisted of a neat, simple lawn and an occasional daisy popping up from the grass. Just behind the house, an oak tree peaked around, its branches clawing at the walls and curling all around itself. The brilliant green of the leaves brightened the house, making it also feel out of place, as if it doesn't belong in near this dark, depressing mansion. Cloud glued his eyes to the tire hanging on the tree by a thick rope.

"Haunted house, huh? Scary," Denzel teased, as he tickled Marlene, making her squeal. They chase each other around the front of the house, laughing.

"Looks like a house fire did this," Tifa whispered to Cloud, tracing her finger on the burnt part of the fence. "Denzel, stay close to everyone, okay? Let's have a peek,"

Before Denzel could take a step, Cloud wielded his sword and displayed it defensively in front of the trio. "We're not going in there,"

Tifa stares in shock, looking from the sword to Cloud. She simply grabs the blade and pushes it away from their path. "Cloud, it will only be a minute and besides the house is safe, otherwise it would have collapsed by now,"

"But what if there is someone in there," Marlene asks, now taking Cloud's side.

"No one lives here. It's abandoned. Stop being scaredy cats, you two,"

Denzel and Tifa walk in through the charred door and gasped at what they saw inside. Marlene looked at Cloud and shrugged, taking the stone path to the door, now hot on Tifa's trail. Cloud shook his head and followed on.

When he opened the door, memories flooded back. Banners, presents, people, cake ... Mum, dad, agonising screams, the smell off burning skin...

"Whoever lived here, must've been loaded," Tifa comments as she marvels at the chandelier. Though it it was blackened, the coppery colour shone underneath. The chandelier now hung by thick cables, which dangled from the half eaten ceiling.

Denzel ran to an empty hallway and stood at the entrance, grinning like a mad man. "Echo!" He shouted, hearing his voice rebound off the cracking walls. Marlene giggled as she heard the echo vibrate throughout the main room. Cloud stayed at the entrance, on guard. She smiled at him and ran to the large double doors. Tifa followed her inside and Cloud fumbled after, leaving Denzel running around the main room.

The creak of the door revealed round, splintered dining tables, layered on the floor. Part of the roof had crumbled down and the wooden planks now decomposed, releasing a strange aroma into the room. Glass vases, cups and sculptures -- or what remained of them -- shone on the ground. The floor was burnt, the gloss only remaining under some bits of the fallen roof.

"It looks like it was set for a restaurant, Tifa," Marlene says.

"You're right," Tifa said, looking at a small metal sculpture from the crumbled floor. It resembled an angel. "The people who lived here were damn rich, " she said, tucking the sculpture into her pocket.

Cloud looked around the room, then to the main entrance where Denzel was playing and thought about his past life. He never realised how privileged he was to be one of those guys who had such a fancy life style.

Cloud remembered when his father held many meetings in the house. Every night after dinner, he'd wear his best suit and usher Cloud to his bedroom before the conference started. Cloud recalled himself peaking through the crack of the door when it got really late, staring at his father motioning to charts and maps, and the pictures of his family hung on the wall above him. Then the room was filled with applause, but by then, Cloud's mother would catch him peaking in and take him to bed.