Blood & Sympathy (FFVII: Vincent x OC)

Ch12 - Nightmares

The sun was hot. Its heat ruthlessly hit against the slowly dying greenery. Whatever was left of life, surely was being wiped away day by day. It was no doubt that Shinra had made excessive use of Mako. The Lifestream. Jocasta knew that she probably should share that same hate for Shinra as her new comrades did. But she didn't feel that same hate she felt for Hojo.

She looked at her hand as her fingers clenched into a fist. Sure, she helped, but he was the one who turned her into the monster she now was. She could hear that voice inside her head. Her own demon's voice whispering things she better chose to ignore. But she couldn't sleep. She wasn't going to allow herself to sleep. She'd be seeing things again. Nightmares.

She'd spent endless nights trying not to give in to the exhaustion. Tried so hard not to keep her eyes closed long enough to allow sleep take her. She was so done with the nightmares. So, done with science. Once upon a time, she too would sacrifice everything for science. She'd sacrificed a part of her own humanity for that thrill, that rush of adrenaline in her veins, that was science.

But Hojo was the one who pulled the trigger. He was the one that pushed her to the edges of insanity. Turned against her and experimented on her even though she'd shared her most valuable discoveries.

Jocasta smiled. For no reason really. Maybe she thought of what she was planning to do to him. Hojo. How blissfully tight his flesh would wield to the cold steel of her Sais. She wanted to feel his hot crimson blood splashing against her clothes and bathing her hands in it.

Her head fell back against the metal of the vehicle. Night had arrived. Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith were sitting at the front, driving restlessly over the wastelands of Gaia. Barret's snoring was unbearable, but thankfully, Red was sleeping quietly in peace. At some point, she felt grateful for Barret's snoring. It kept her awake. Though she couldn't understand how Red even got to fall asleep beside his loud buddy. Yuffie falling asleep in an instant wasn't surprising at all. The young ninja would have all the energy to get on her nerves by the morning.

Vincent was sitting across her. One hand propped against his bent knee as his back rested back on the metal. His gaze focused somewhere she couldn't tell, but he sure wasn't there. So many thoughts echoed in his mind he was practically drowning in them, and she could pretty much say from that unreadable expression on his face. His eyes were a darker shade of red than she'd remembered. His voice was deeper than before. It seemed like his own demon had its own effects on him.

"I don't see anything funny,"

Her eyes snapped back up at him. He'd probably noticed that smirk on her face that had curved over her lips without her noticing.

"Don't mind me," She said "Just thinking about all the terrible things I can do to Hojo once I get my hands on him,"

Vincent chuckled, obviously he was sharing that feeling. His crimson eyes found her "You should sleep,"

She wrapped her hands around her middle as the cold breeze penetrated her clothes. A hand found her cloak and she tucked it closer to her. She always felt cold when she was tired. And Vincent was right. She was exhausted. But, alas, she couldn't sleep. She wouldn't dare to.

Jocasta shook her head "I can't,"

Vincent looked at her with clear confusion in his eyes. At some point, he just hoped that what had happened to him, hadn't happened to her as well.

"Too many nightmares," she said in an attempt to quench his curiosity, but that confused gleam on his eyes didn't leave just yet.

"What happened to you?" He asked.