|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:51 pm
Julian gave a shuddering sigh.
"No, not a good idea. The Piper's, well, he's a ******** drug lord. I'm not going to risk her by going after him - I told you because I'm scared for you and Rabid and Ike. There's too many things that could happen."
He swallowed painfully, tearing at his hair again. The trembling was starting to return, and he didn't bother to hide it.
"She did awful things. And they're coming back to bite her in the a**."
The creature could hear the bird whistle for it - whistling meant food. Trotting out into the open, it made a beeline for the meat and started sniffing at it. It caught the scent of the squirrel and looked up with it's second pair of eyes, blinking in mild interest. It could smell the squirrel's companion, and the one that smelled of death - and the twits trying to hide behind the trees. Those ones irritated it - they had no business hiding in its territory.
Looking totally ecstatic at the sight of the indifferent creature, Len pointed needlessly at him and laughed.
"Ike, meet Chase."
---
One of the Brigade stared at the gigantic animal in horror, tapping the boss frantically on the shoulder.
"Sir? The animal?"
The boss left off his aiming and gave an indifferent grunt.
"Leave it. And leave me be - I'm trying to inflict bodily trauma."
The Brigader withdrew, and the boss returned to his aiming. So simple...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:58 pm
"Oh, great!" Liam's palm flew to his forehead.
It was mildly amusing, the things that could snap you out of a high. Hatred happened to be one of them.
He knew quite well that attacking an overly powerful man with a posse the size of Gaia wasn't smart, no matter how many minions you had. Hell, his Captain's best friend had been a drug lord...
...wait...
"Somethin' ain't right..." he peered around, looking for something amiss.
It was! Ike struggled to keep down an excited squeal. He bent slightly to the creature's height and grinned, keeping his head low in submission.
Just in case.
"Hi, Chase."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:10 pm
Going into hunting mode, Julian's eyes swept the area for a threat.
"What? What is it?" He could NOT handle a false alarm if Liam was toying with him.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Lenore said, watching Chase tear at the food and cracking one of the embedded bones with his teeth.
---
The trigger was highly sensitive to pressure. The weapon was in top condition - after all he'd only used it once before. And yet, the b***h had walked away. He would be more careful with this target.
Jeremy watched his boss with impassive eyes, motioning for the Brigaders to start moving in on the two children.
"Jean Michel, sir, we've got a meeting in twenty minutes. Perhaps it would be best if you slaughtered them now." He said in a monotone as he examined his PDA. Jean Michel gave an exaggerated sigh and nodded.
"Spoilsport."
He adjusted his position a little more, and placed his finger lightly on the trigger.
"The Piper bids good day to you."
The shots from the gun were like explosions, ripping through the air and into the target.
---
"Liam, I'm serious, what-ah."
Julian staggered back, looking surprised. There was a hole in his stomach.
"Wha..."
BOOM.
He staggered further, the surprise turning to blank shock. His body was full of holes. His blood splattered thick on the snow, and he looked up at Liam with dulled eyes.
"I..."
He fell to his knees as another bullet ripped through his abdomen, collapsing on his side into the snow.
Startled by the strange loud sounds, Lenore looked over at Julian.
"OH!"
There was red stuff on the ground. Lots of it.
"JULIAN!"
She started to run back, forgetting Chase and Ike. So determined to get back to Julian, she didn't even see the black gloved hand that reached out to grab her by the throat.
Chase gave a grunting growl and looked around in surprise. He could smell blood. Spooked, he gave the squirrel a last curious look before taking up his food and fleeing back into the woods.
What a crappy day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:20 pm
"I don't kn--" Liam gave a cry of surprise at the gun shots. What the Hell?! But they...he...it made no sense!
"AH, s**t! JULIAN!"
He was reminded of his says on the battlefield, watching helplessly as his friends died, bleeding and screaming on the ground. It was quite a bit worse with Julian. Even if he could heal, they shared a soul...
Working on instinct, Liam pulled his rifle into tangibility, loading and cocking it in less than 4 seconds.
"Where the Hell are you..." he murmured, the drugs still messing with his eyesight. What good was a blinded sniper?
"Come on!"
Ike, pushed into a frenzy by the sudden chaos. He tried to call after Chase as he retreated, but soon gave up. Len...Len...where was Len?! He crouched to the ground, slipping quickly into attack mode.
He saw a glint of silver.
Giving an animalistic roar, he leaped forward, trying to get at whomever or whatever had Len. He wasn't going to lose her again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:29 pm
The Brigader held the bird-girl in a choke hold, ready to snap her neck. She struggled and gasped for breath, clawing at his arms and her wings inflicting deep cuts.
"Hold still, you little - GAH!"
The Brigader fell, his knees shot out. Jean Michel kicked snow in the fallen man's face and grabbed the frightened girl by the hair, ditching the rifle in favor of his skinning knife and his revolver. Holding the knife at the girl's throat and the gun to her head, he jerked his head at the squirrel-child.
"Frederick, the boy, if you please."
The Brigader who'd been tending to his fallen comrade jumped up and seized the feral boy, holding him in a similar choke hold with his gun pressed against the boy's temple.
"Sir."
Jean Michel smiled and laughed with unfettered joy, leaning against one of the thick trees to shelter from the second man's weapon.
"Unless you want the children to be strangled with their own innards, I suggest you put the gun away," he called out, rather pleased with his spur-of-the-moment threat. He whistled for Jeremy, nodding towards the boy's PDA.
"Be sure to write that one down, I want to remember it. Gruesome, yet effective."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:33 pm
Ike struggled against his captor's grip, regardless of any danger he was putting himself into. They were not going to get Len.
Liam, finally spotting the movement, placed the rifle under his chin for a moment. He was tempted to try a shot through the tree, but that wouldn't work. Hell, he only had one bullet. He gave a defeated sigh and dropped the gun, raising his hands up by his face. He cringed at the cracking sound made as his gun hit the ground. They were going to pay for that.
"What the Hell?!" he asked, frustrated. Sure, so either the kids died, Julian died, or they all died.
Wow. ******** good day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:48 pm
The Brigaders swarmed out from the forest, weapons raised and aimed at Liam. Jean Michel strolled out leisurely, dragging Lenore along and ignoring her terrified gasp as she saw Julian's motionless body.
"Ah, Liam Faar! Such a pleasure to finally have a face to go with the name. I saw you with Lethe at the movies - tell me, is she your b***h now?" He said conversationally, wincing as Lenore slashed at him with her wings. He paused and pressed the jagged edge of the knife into her throat - not enough to break the skin, but hard enough to get the point across.
"Every time you cut me, one of my men will shoot your mummy's brother. How would you like to be responsible for his death?" He hissed, jerking the knife slightly to scrape at her skin.
Lenore bit back a cry and held as still as she could. Why wasn't Julian moving?!
Satisfied, Jean Michel beckoned for the Brigader holding Malachi forward. Eyeing the squirrel child with something like disgust, he rested his finger on the trigger of his gun and mimed squeezing it.
"And if you keep wiggling about, I'll shoot Lenore's pretty little face off."
Turning back to Liam, Jean Michel smiled widely.
"So. What to do, what to do... should I kill them here, perhaps? Gut this pretty little girl-" he jerked the knife again, "Or perhaps just go for irony? Lethe would appreciate it if I put out Lenore's little eye - they could match, then."
He looked Ike over again, smiling.
"Or perhaps the boy. I wonder, Mister Faar.... do you value their lives more than your own? I doubt you muchly care for the girl... oh, wouldn't dear Charlotte be upset if she found her little son skinned and broken...? Would you do anything to save them, my dear boy?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 10:00 pm
"Len...Len, stay still," Ike ceased his struggling. He didn't want anyone to die needlessly...even Julian. Especially Julian.
Just kill them.
"It's not that easy..."
Liam simmered. So they knew their names. It was a bit creepy, but certainly not life-threatening. That wasn't what bothered him.
"The same can be said for you..." he paused for a bit of mind invasion, "Jean Michel, is it? I haven't the slightest idea of your last name, so we'll stick with that."
He took a step forward.
"I care very much for both of the children, and I suggest you let them go," he said, his tone menacing, "You have no idea what I can do."
He peered toward Julian.
"You have no idea what he can do. Shoot me. Go ahead. Try."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 10:10 pm
The pleasant look slid off Jean Michel's face, and he stared Liam down unblinking.
"Do not try to play hero, boy. I may find that my hand could slip-" he twitched the hand holding the knife, "-and may just slit her throat open."
He glanced down at Julian, who was gasping for breath and spitting up blood as his body frantically tried to heal the damage dealt to it.
"Ah, yes. The little possessed boy. You will have to forgive me if I am not exactly threatened." He said dryly, jerking his head at one of the Brigaders and motioning towards Julian.
The Brigader nodded and fired at Julian, making his body jerk and shudder as a new hole was ripped through him.
"To think, such a pathetic creature served We-Who-Watch... pitiful. They have poor taste."
Lenore gave a cry of anguish as Julian lay bleeding his life out on the ground.
"STOP IT!" She screamed.
Jean Michel jumped in surprise, and hit Lenore hard on the side of the head with the butt of his revolver. She jerked, eyes wide, and gave a noiseless cry of pain before going slack in his arms, unconscious. Dropping her and spitting on her, he snapped his fingers at Jeremy.
"Take her to the car. Use a strong sedative - I'm not wrestling a screaming bird all the way back to the island."
The boy gathered up the girl in his arms and trudged off. Jean Michel gave an airy sigh and sheathed his knife, though he kept the revolver drawn.
"I'm going to entrust you with a job, my dear boy. Would you be so kind as to deliver a message to Lethe?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 10:14 pm
Oh. Well. That complicated things.
"God damn it...NO!"
Liam inhaled deeply and took a few steps forward. Guns were guns and Ike could heal if they tried any crap. Everyone was safe. Now they had Len...they had her...and it was entirely his fault...
"What the Hell d'you want me to tell her, Sir?" he sneered.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 10:24 pm
Jean Michel grinned.
"Tell her... ah, well. Tell her I'll see her soon, of course."
He turned on his heel and began walking away. The Brigader holding Ike threw the boy roughly to the ground, sneering at Liam. The others followed their boss obediently, silent and neutral-faced. Only one dared to speak up.
"Sir, what about Ethan?"
Jean Michel gave an uncaring shrug.
"What about him? Leave him for the shadow eater - I've got no use for cripples."
Hesitating, Jean Michel turned 'round again to look at Liam.
"If I were you, I would make sure you keep a close eye on Clematis and the other little cauldron-mutants - children die quite easily." He paused, reholstering his revolver. "You will deliver the message to Lethe when she comes home tonight at six o'clock - I will know if you have not. If you do not deliver it, I will cut the girl's eyes out."
With a jovial wave, Jean Michel disappeared back into the woods with the Brigaders, leaving Ike, Liam and the half-dead Julian behind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 8:06 am
"Maybe yours do," Liam mumbled before breaking his stare and rushing to Julian's side, examining his wounds from a distance with morbid fascination. Poor...what was his name? Ethan.
Gods, Jean Michel was an a**.
"Liam! LIAM!" Ike pulled himself from the ground and rushed to the men, "Liam! They have Len! We have to go get her."
"It's not that easy," Liam shook his head, "That man is very...very powerful. We'd all die. No acceptions."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:13 am
"Did I even do anything to deserve that?"
Julian was in bad shape. His exhausted and starving body was healing, but with excruciating slowness. Half-conscious, he looked up at Liam with a pained, wry expression.
"Ouch."
He lifted his head slowly, unfocused eyes wandering around.
"Len?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:32 am
"Not that I'm aware of," Liam sighed and pulled a vial of blood from his pocket, "Rabid's. Just drink it. It'll speed up the healing process." He peered around again, as if hoping that they had decided to leave Lenore behind for one reason or another.
He had no such luck.
"They took her!" Ike cried in agony, tearing at his hair, "They took her!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:42 am
Taking the vial and swallowing its contents, Julian gave an awful shudder and cried out in pain as his body's sluggish healing process got a kickstart. It was over quickly, mercifully. Coughing and sitting up slowly, he winced and stood unsteadily.
"Why? Why take her? Why not just kill her?" He mused to himself, glaring out into the trees. He was going to rip Jean Michel's spine out with his bare hands the next time they met.
Still panting for breath a bit and wrapping his arms around his abdomen, Julian coughed and retched up a little blood.
"Dammit. ******** bastards..." He spat, wiping the blood away with the back of his hand. Now that he was healed, he was pissed off. Time to kill something. A faint moan of pain from the stand of trees where the bastards had emerged caught his ear, and Julian gave a savage smile.
"Looks like they left one behind."
Abandoning Ike and Liam, he marched towards the sound, claws growing long. Lunch time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
