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 Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:56 pm
Remi sighed as she walked up the stairs toward Stephan's apartment. It had only been a couple days since Marc had left with Thorn and Hadrian on their business trip, but already she was feeling restless. That last run-in with Thorn was still on her mind, still feeling his hands digging into her throat and behind her ears where he'd gripped her jaw. The first hadn't left any marks, but the latter bruised. Tiny, insignificant ones that you couldn't see unless she turned her head all the way to the side, but still bruises none the less. Every time she absentmindedly scratched behind her ears she was reminded of what had happened that night. What Thorn had threatened her with.
But she needed to tell someone. Remi solved her problems through talking to other people about them. However, the people she probably needed to talk to--Marc and/or Hadrian--were currently in Vegas. So after much deliberation she decided to go to the one person that Thorn didn't know existed who she felt she could trust fully. Stephan.
Remi paused in front of his doorway, making sure this was something she really wanted to do. If Thorn found out...well, he said he'd hurt her badly. Still, maybe Thorn wouldn't discover that she was about tell someone what he'd done, as much as she felt he was always watching. That man seemed to be everywhere at once. Part of her hoped that maybe she'd be safe talking to Stephan.
Biting her bottom lip in hesitation, she knocked on the door hoping she wasn't going to regret this.
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Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 10:25 am
Stephan had been asleep when he heard the door, and it took him a moment to get to his feet. "Coming," he shouted, ruffling his hair. He'd been sleeping too much lately, and now even though he was well rested he was still tired. Having slept in his jeans, his legs were a bit numb, but eventually he managed to stumble to the door and get the locks open. Blinking a few times, he peered out at Remi, then pulled the door open completely, "Hey." He shook his head, gesturing for her to come in, "Something wrong?" There had to be some reason for her to come here this late, or early, whatever time it was.
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Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 10:34 am
"Hi," Remi smiled weakly, walking inside. "Sorry to drop in so late."
Fortunately her friend Chloe had dropped by. After about an hour of desperate persuading, Remi had finally gotten her to stay in the apartment with Gavin and Haki while she came here. Luckily for Chloe they'd already pretty much fallen asleep.
When he asked if something was wrong, she paused for a moment to figure out how to answer.
"Well, sort of," she started, pausing again before finally blurting out, "Okay yes, something is very wrong."
Thorn was considered more than 'very wrong' on her list, but Stephan didn't know that.
"I just really need someone to talk to right now."
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Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 10:43 am
When she burst out, he quickly woke up. She was usually pretty put together, so for something to be considered very wrong, it had to be bad. He latched the door behind her, then gave her a worried look, "Is Gavin ok? Is he sick? Are you?" He was prattling things off as they came up in his head, and thinking it would help, he stopped himself and asked, "How about I make hot chocolate?" It wasn't so much of a question as a statement, as he shuffled over to the kitchen and started making it. Chocolate and little marshmallows were always good for calming down.
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Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 10:50 am
"Gavin's fine," Remi said, grateful that at least Thorn never seemed to show intentions of hurting her son. If he ever did anything to Gavin...well, she didn't know what she would do. "Hot chocolate would be good, thanks."
She followed behind him. Again, people were asking if she was okay. Hadrian had, Chloe had, and now Stephan too. Unfortunately, she didn't think she could lie to Stephan. Plus, if she did, that would totally negate the purpose of her coming.
"I should be okay provided a certain someone never finds out that I came to talk to you about this," she started, wincing slightly as she remembered what Thorn had told her. Talk, and I'll come to 'talk' to you.
"It's a pretty long story."
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Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 11:05 am
Stephan froze when she said "never finds out". What was going on? Did she have a boyfriend? His throat tightened up a bit, "I've got all the time in the world, just tell me what's happening, please." He had a bad feeling, though he wasn't entirely sure why. Something was off about her, and he couldn't help but keep looking back at her from the hot chocolate.
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Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 11:13 am
"You know how Marc and Hadrian are friends of mine?" Remi started, trying to remember back to the beginning. It had only been nearly two weeks ago, but it felt like so much longer. "Well..."
And then it all just came out. About how Haki showed up on her doorstep. How she found out Marc and Hadrian had split up, and how she helped get them to talk again. That was a whole story in and of itself.
"I know that doesn't sound anything to be worried about, but apparently there was more to the story than I thought," she continued. "There was another person, the one behind everything that happened. His name's Thorn, and he wasn't happy at all that I got involved and tried to fix things for those two. Look."
At this she turned her head to the side and pulled back a few strands of hair behind her ear, exposing the small bruises. They had mostly turned from their greyish purple to a sickly yellow, but it was still evident that they were there.
"From what I can tell I screwed up whatever sadistic plans he had for Hadrian," she pivoted her head to show him that there were more on the other side, "So now I think he's starting to take them out on me."
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:31 pm
Stephan's eyes narrowed at the sight of the bruises, and he nearly dropped his mug on the ground. He didn't really hear the last of what she said, but he'd heard enough. No. Any b*****d who would hit a woman, do that, deserved to get hit right back. But then, that wouldn't really help her situation right now, would it? "How long?" He asked, trying to keep from punching the counter. He meant how long had this Thorn been threatening her, but in retrospect he assumed it could be interpreted as any number of other things. Not that his mind was clear enough to piece together those other things. He was angry, to say the least.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:56 pm
Remi's throat tightened when she saw Stephan's angered expression. Though she knew that the anger wasn't directed at her, it still scared her slightly. It was reminiscent of Marc's drunken outburst way back when this had all started. She paused for a moment at his question, wondering if she should tell him everything. Stephan already looked angry enough to do something, and adding fuel to the fire didn't sound like the best option. However, she'd come to talk, so talk she would.
"A couple weeks," Remi said weakly, staring hard at the counter for a moments before looking back at him. "That was the third time. The second time I'd fallen asleep on a bench in the gardens only to wake up in his lap, but I was able to fight him off. The first time however..."
She caught herself in mid-sentence. This part she hadn't been ready to say yet, but part of her kept telling her she needed to let Stephan know the entirety of her situation. Gulping, she continued with a slightly strained voice,
"The first time he pinned me against my own living room wall, threatened me, then...he forced a kiss on me."
The words sounded silly to her, as if a kiss shouldn't be all that big of a deal. Still, she felt violated enough by the experience to shudder whenever she mentioned it.
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 6:04 pm
Realizing he obviously wasn't going to be able to concentrate without messing something up, Stephan abandoned the hot chocolate for now, leaving the mug safely on the counter. "What did you do?" He asked, turning to look at her. Personally, he would have punched the slime ball, but Remi didn't really seem like the violent time. "And why haven't you told the police?" He added, trying hard to keep from sounding as angry as he was. This wasn't her fault after all. Calling the police seemed like the logical idea to him, but then, he'd never been in a situation where he was as afraid as she seemed to be.
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 6:10 pm
"After the first time I told Marc," Remi explained, trying to keep herself from starting to shake again. Talking about Thorn obviously made her uncomfortable, and talking about everything Thorn'd told her not to almost made her feel as if he was looking over her shoulder. "But all that did was make Thorn come after me again. Thorn's his boss and supposedly best friend. I also told Hadrian, but he's too busy trying to keep himself from getting hurt to help me."
That one never made sense to her. How Thorn could be considered a 'friend' at all completely baffled her.
"As to why I haven't told the police..." she paused for a moment, looking down before looking Stephan straight in the eye. "You didn't see what he did to Hadrian. I saw the bruises on his neck where Thorn tried to choke him."
Her voice was shaky now, unable to hide how scared she was.
"...Thorn said he'd come for me again if I told anyone. I don't want what happened to Hadrian to happen to me."
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 6:18 pm
Thinking she needed a bit more than just verbal comfort, Stephan stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, calming his voice to a reassuring level, "Don't worry, I won't let it." He'd protect her from Thorn, even if the man could kick his a**. He'd still try. It would be better for him to be beaten to a pulp than to have to know that he had let her get hurt. "How about I come stay with you and Gavin for a while, just to be cautious?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:18 pm
Thankful for the embrace, Remi rested her head on his chest and slipped her arms around him. This was what she needed, some form of comfort. It wasn't really something Marc or Hadrian could give her, but with Stephan she could dare to feel safe. It was a pleasant closeness compared to the feeling of being cornered she'd experienced the past two weeks.
At his suggestion, she looked up at him, surprised.
"You would do that?" she asked, as if it were a dream come true. "Thorn's on a business trip with Marc right now, but he'll be back within the next day or two."
She could imagine the surprise Thorn would get if and when he tried to do anything to her only to find Stephan in her apartment with her. Maybe then he'd finally back off.
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:23 pm
"Of course, I'll even sleep in front of the door," he was joking a bit, trying to brighten her mood a little. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her. Though he was beginning to think that if this Thorn was as dangerous as she said he might want to invest in a handgun. "Does he live on the complex?" He didn't think so, but it was always good to know in case he found him wandering around.
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:32 pm
Remi chuckled softly. "I'm sure I could find you a better sleeping place than my doorstep."
Though it did bring up the issue of where he would sleep. Couch? That wouldn't be too comfortable. Of course, she wouldn't mind sharing her own bed, but she was a bit too shy to suggest that just yet. Fortunately he asked another question to keep her from dwelling on possible sleeping places.
"I don't think so," she pondered for a moment. "Though he spends a lot of time here, from what I can tell. He acts like an uncle to Haki, so he's at Marc's quite a bit."
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