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 Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:34 am
Crow smiled thinly.
"Alright, then."
Leaning against the doorframe again, she stared out at the floor blankly.
"We have to go out to the desert tomorrow."
Julian gave her a startled look, knowing full well what she meant.
"There? Why?"
The thin smile returned, making Crow's face look old and exhausted.
"To get supplies."
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:55 am
The Cell
"Oww..."
Lenore woke up on the floor in a cold place, bound hand and foot. She was blindfolded as well - this scared her more than anything.
"Mum? Julian?"
She could hear someone breathing - it was terrifying, knowing they were there.
"Mommy?"
There was a creaking sound of leather, and padded footsteps. Lenore cringed as they drew closer to her.
"Who's there?"
"Jeremy."
The voice was a monotone, mechanical and neutral.
"Are you going to kill me?"
"Not today. I brought you food."
Lenore blinked, her eyes stinging, as the blindfold was removed and light blinded her. Forcing herself to keep them open, she looked around. It was a cement room, with a single bulb lighting it. There were many dark brown stains on the floor, and long streaks on the walls. Upon closer inspection, Lenore realized they were bloody handprints.
"Why are you keeping me here?"
Jeremy, setting down the covered plate and glass of water, shrugged.
"The Piper wanted you. So he took you. That's how it works." He replied neutrally, bending down and untying Lenore's bonds. Discarding them off to the side, he took a flashing collar out of his pocket and fastened it securely around the girl's neck.
"This is a detainment collar. If you try to take it off, it will electrocute you."
Lenore glared at Jeremy.
"Like what they use for dogs?"
Jeremy shrugged again.
"The ones they use for dogs don't kill them. This one will." He said, his face betraying nothing.
Lenore gulped and looked down at the food, taking the cover off warily. It was a bowl of bird seed.
"What's this?"
"Your food. I suggest you eat it all - Piper doesn't often remember to feed his guests."
He picked up the discarded ropes and stood, leaving the room without another word. As he closed the door, the sound of many locks being put back in place could be heard.
Scooping up a handful of seed, Lenore sat crosslegged on the bloodstained floor and sighed. Reaching up to touch her vial pendant, she gave a cry as she realized it wasn't there. Her bracelet was gone as well - the only things she could take comfort in were gone.
"Oh no!"
Looking around for them frantically, she cursed as she couldn't find them. Sitting down again, she burst into tears.
"Somebody help me! Help me!"
Down the hall, she could hear a drill. She pretended not to hear the begging that accompanied it. Deciding to busy herself, she patted herself down looking for her lost jewelry. Maybe she still had them somewhere...
"Huh?"
Sticking her hand into a pocket, Lenore blinked in confusion as she drew out a pendant shaped like a bird. It took a second to recognize it - Ike had given it to her, just a few days ago.
Sighing and clutching it very tightly, Lenore curled up in a corner of the room and held the pendant close, trying to ignore the sounds of muffled screaming.
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:44 am
Into the Desert
"This is such a bad idea."
Crow looked at Julian in amusement.
"I assure you, I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get there myself."
Julian shook his head, wringing his hands slightly.
"What is so important out there that you have to go back? To that place?"
Crow shrugged, looking worn out as she sat at Rabid's table.
"You'll see."
It was early morning. Crow and Julian hadn't slept, but had spent the night in whispering argument so as not to annoy the others. Ethan was wide awake as well, taking shambling, experimental steps to make sure he could move properly. Giving Crow a curious look, he shuffled over and sat across from her.
"Tell me, what is this desert you mention? These...supplies? What are you planning?" He asked, hoping he wasn't prying.
Crow gave Ethan a small smile. She couldn't help but like the kid.
"Wheeler's an idiot, but that doesn't mean he's not dangerous. I'm not going to go see him and not be prepared." She said, with a finality in her tone that discouraged any more questions for the time being.
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:49 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:35 am
Crow laughed coarsely.
"He's a spineless b*****d, really. He always sides with the bigger bully on the playground - which means getting anything out of him might be a little difficult, depending on how he's swinging."
Sitting back in the chair and rubbing her tired eyes for a moment, she sighed.
"Shoulda expected this sooner."
Julian bit his lip hard to keep from speaking, though an unreadable expression twitched across his face. Crow didn't notice it. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and looking at everyone with a worried expression.
"I want you to know something. When we go to see him, I'm going to have to do things I swear to God I wouldn't dream of doing now. I'm going to have to say things. I want you to know - it isn't by choice. I'm not Lethe anymore," she said, fairly spitting out the name.
"Please, don't hate me for what I have to do."
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:43 am
"I couldn't if you wanted me to," Rabid shook her head, eyes momentarily flickering to the bathroom floor with its bloodstained grout, "You have to do what you have to do."
"When, exactly, are we planning on leaving?" Liam asked, tiptoeing over the bodies splayed about the room and looking as if he'd been awake for hours, "The kids will want to come, no doubt."
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:02 pm
"The sooner the better. Where we're going takes a bit of time to get to - it's outside the walls of the city. Where the desert starts. It's, well, it was an apartment complex." Crow said, pushing away from the table and getting up. Julian and Ethan followed suit, both looking worried.
"What's so important out there?" Julian asked again, a little more forcefully this time. Crow flinched slightly at his tone.
"Not now. You'll see when we get there."
The worry gave way to annoyance.
"What is it? Guns? Explosives?"
Crow gave him a venomous look.
"I'll tell you when I'm damn well ready. Drop it." She snapped.
Ethan shuffled off to find his flak jacket, head ducked low as the siblings argued. Glancing at Liam with a helpless expression, he flinched as the two started yelling.
"You keeping things from us is what got us in this mess to begin with!"
"Drop it, you damn fool! Why is it so ******** difficult to wait an hour to find out?"
"Because we've got a right to know what's going on! You know everything - you're the ******** drug pusher!"
Crow shoved him, looking furious.
"I wouldn't BE a drug pusher if you hadn't left me here to die in the first place! If you had just let me hide in Rijan, none of this would have happened!"
Julian drew back, looking at her as though she'd hit him.
"Left you here to..."
Crow looked horrified at what she'd said. She reached out, but he recoiled and turned away, looking angry and hurt. Swallowing with difficulty and looking ashamed, she made for the door.
"We have to get going. He won't let her live for long, whether he wants me or not."
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:08 pm
Rabid smacked Julian's shoulder, feeling worse for Crow than for him.
"Cut the s**t," she whispered, "No arguments. I don't care who left who where or what who did before I met them."
She obediently followed Crow, completely comfortable with not knowing much of anything, but immediately feeling horrendously guilty for having hit Julian.
Liam sighed and walked behind Rabid, motioning for Ethan to follow.
"C'mon, kid. It's just family issues."
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:17 pm
Looking stung, Julian followed with resentment. Once this mess was over, and if everyone was still alive, she and him were going to have a long, long discussion.
"How're we getting there?" He said in a controlled voice, not bothering to look at her. Crow winced slightly and kept up her quick pace as she lead them outside.
"I got a car to get home last night. If it's still here, we're gonna take that."
Leading them to where she'd parked it, Julian's angry mood was shattered as he laughed incredulously.
"A Benz. You took a Benz home."
Crow managed to look a little amused and pleased with herself.
"I'll put it back." She said, smiling slightly. "Eventually."
Leaning against the stolen car, she spread her arms out and waved everyone inside.
"Hop in, kids. We've got a long drive."
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:21 pm
"You are a bad person," Rabid laughed. Sure, stealing cars went against everything she believed in...but it was a Benz. She got in obediently.
Liam sighed heavily and slid in beside Rabid. He loathed fights about as much as he loathed dying. Maybe a little more. Regardless, this whole fiasco was his fault, and he had to go along for the ride.
No pun intended.
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:38 pm
Crow started the car up, recovering the mess of wires she'd messed around with the night before.
"So freaking easy. Something this expensive, you'd think they'd protect it a little better."
Shifting into drive and mashing the gas pedal, Crow steered expertly as the car roared off towards the city. Julian gave a curse of shock as he was thrown around, frantically trying to buckle himself in.
"Crow, what the hell! Way, WAY too fast!"
Crow, unable to hear him over the roar of the engine, nodded.
"Yeah, it is fast!" She replied, looking like she was enjoying herself. The car traveled down the backroads at a ridiculous speed, tires squealing and spinning each time she took a turn.
Ethan, sitting in the back, was watching the scenery fly by through his tinted window with pleasure.
"Lovely view."
"OH JESUS!"
Crow had taken another sharp turn, slamming the brakes hard at a stop sign. Glancing over at Julian, she gave him a puzzled look.
"What? Cripes, Nahal, you look ready to have a stroke."
Clutching at the door and the seat with white-knuckled hands, Julian turned to look at her slowly.
"Who taught you to drive, dare I ask?"
Mashing the pedal again, Crow shook her head.
"I've been teaching myself for a couple months - still gotta work on parking. And braking - sometimes I get the pedals mixed up."
---
As the car tore into the desert, kicking up sand clouds, it spun in a wide circle as it braked. As it finally stopped, the passenger side door was kicked open and Julian fell out. As Ethan and Crow rushed out of the car to gawk at him, he gave them dirty looks.
"I think my organs melted into one another," he said, looking very carsick.
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:48 pm
Liam, successfully covering up a fit of hysterical laughter, stumbled out of the car and peered down at Julian.
"You're such a wuss."
Rabid, dizzied, kind of wafted out of the car and hovered vaguely with everyone else. She still felt guilty. She was still nervous. But she'd be damned if that hadn't be one of the most enjoyable rides of her life.
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 1:01 pm
"No, I'm just used to things that travel above the ground, not on it. There's a difference," Julian snapped as Ethan hoisted him up.
Looking around, Ethan pointed out at the shapeless mass of black, burnt ruins near by.
"Is that where we are supposed to go?"
Crow's pleasant mood was killed instantly. Looking at the ruins with something like fear, she nodded mutely and went towards them.
"Follow me. Don't go anywhere else but where I go."
The burnt out building seemed to defy gravity by still standing. As she pushed the front door open, it fell off its hinges and seemed to disintigrate into ash.
"Home sweet home."
Beckoning the others to follow, she went inside. It was dark and cold inside, and deadly silent. Julian raised his hand above his head, a flicker of flame offering some light. Crow glanced at him grateful for the foresight and grabbed his hand as she walked. Wandering through the hall, past door after door, she finally found the right one.
"We have to go down to the basement."
Kicking the door open, she nudged Julian forward.
"We need a lot of light."
The flame grew brighter to accomodate the inky dark, and Crow went down the stairs.
"Hurry."
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 1:07 pm
Rabid clung to Liam, crushing his head into her as she followed the group. Great. It was dark and creepy and destroyed...and oh-so-many other lovely things that scared the Hell out of her.
Liam politely ignored the fact that he was being suffocated, but eased Rabid's hands off of his head and grabbed them.
"Calm the Hell down," he sighed and followed Crow quickly.
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 1:37 pm
Ethan stuck close behind Liam, looking apprehensive.
"There is something very wrong with this place," he said, avoiding touching the pipes that stuck out everywhere from the walls. Up front, Crow laughed dryly.
"You have no idea."
Jumping the last two steps onto the cracked concrete floor, she took off into the dark.
"Crow, wait! Where -" Julian said, starting to chase after her. He accidentally kicked something, and lowered the light down to see what it was.
"Holy s**t."
The floor was covered in bones. Skulls of varying size, some human, some animal, littered the floor. The skull Julian had kicked rolled to a stop a few feet in front of him, its cobwebby eyesockets glaring up at him.
"Don't look at the floor. Just follow me."
Crow was busy jimmying the padlock on another door open. As the tumblers clicked open, she tore the lock off and threw it over her shoulder. The door creaked open and Crow ushered Julian inside. She rummaged around for a second, then clicked on a flashlight.
"Put that out," she said to Julian. The fire flickered away obediently, plunging most of the basement back into darkness. Squinting at what the thin flashlight beam illuminated, Julian glanced at Crow.
"What is all this?"
Somewhere in the dark, Crow sighed and started ripping a box open.
"This is where I keep stuff I shoulda just burned with the rest of this place."
As if to accentuate her words, a sound of a gun being cocked echoed out into the basement.
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