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 Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 5:40 am
Because I'm not logging months-worth of RP! 8D
Please don't post unless invited, but feel free to read.
What's happened so far:
~Part One - Setup~
He rested his head in his hands, kneeling on the cold tile floor. What had he done? What hadn't he done? He loved her, of that he was sure. He was also quite sure that he couldn't help her. Not this time around.
He gave a trembling sigh.
What disgusted him was that he had invaded her mind, of only for a moment, to catch a glimpse of what she'd been thinking. It hadn't made any sense, but that wasn't the point. He'd done it. He'd actually violated her mind.
He retched again.
What a loser. What a failure at life!
He stood on weakened knees and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He couldn't stand the taste of salt water. He peered toward the mirror and stared at his own reflection for a moment before wrenching his eyes away in disgust.
It was hideous. His reflection was hideous. No...it wasn't his. It was William's reflection. Or wasn't he, himself, just William's reflection? If he hadn't been taken over...what would he look like? Would he be handsome? Would his personality have been sweeter? Would his life have been so terrible? Would he have ruined as many lives as he did?
He gave a final, trembling sigh before letting go. He dropped to the floor, head buried in his hands, and sobbed. His pain and fear was embodied in the tiny droplets of, what else, salt water that streamed down his cheeks. His gills flared, glaringly obvious in this state. He felt vulnerable. Juvenile. Mediocre. Disgusting.
Men weren't supposed to cry, he knew, but what made him any better than an infant? He couldn't be considered a person before this moment. He wasn't. The entirety of his life had been a total lie. Had he even felt anything before this moment? The thought of suicide passed his mind, but soon cleared. He could not die, and he had made sure of this the first time he had passed on. Why had he been so cocky? Why wouldn't he accpet it as his time? Now there was nothing to save him. There was nothing to pull him from this wretched state.
Or was there?
No...he couldn't possibly...oh, but he could.
What if everyone found out? Well...how would they?!
He sat in indecision, sobbing and gagging on his own tears. This could be considered the most important decision of his life, he was sure...or maybe the only.
That cinched it. He was going to do it. He was going to get his beautiful release from it all. From all of his problems. From all of his emotions. From everything.
He stood and opened his uniform, breaking the stitches of the pocket he had sewn shut so many years before. Fingers bleeding, he removed a small packet, one of many, half-filled with some kind of metallic white powder. He reached into yet another pocket and removed a razor blade.
He set these items on the edge of the sink.
He then made his way out into the dining room, picking up his notebook and removing the pen from its spiral binding. He returned to the bathroom sink and disassembled his pen, then taking the razor blade and bisecting it. He admired his work with morbid fascination.
It was amazing how old routines stuck with you. Like riding a bike.
He opened the packet of powder and carefully shook a certain amount onto the porcelian. The surface had never really mattered to him, and there was no reason to fear disease any longer.
He once again picked up the razor blade and began the meticulous, loving operation of seperating the powder into 3 seperate lines.
This was the final step. The final point at which he could turn back and change his mind; not take the leap into oblivion.
He thought of Crow.
He took the pen in his hand and spun it happily before leaning forward, putting it up to his nostril. Plugging the other with a free finger, he snorted all three lines of the powder in quick succession. He'd built up a pretty good immunity over the years. It took a lot to do anything to him at all.
He suddenly threw his head back, giving a small moan of ecstasy. He'd forgotten how quickly Ald'ebran kicked in. A sinister smile crept up onto his lips as he stumbled backward, dreamily making his way to the couch, his head still raised.
He collapsed onto the upholstery, laughing and revelling completely in the numb, cruel ecstasy that the drug brought.
Only once, he told himself before passing into unconsciousness. He was only going to do it once.
...but he knew it was a lie.
~Part Two~
Liam fumbled about frantically through the pockets of his uniform. It couldn't be true...it had to be somewhere!
He let out a great cry of anguish.
His stash had been depleted.
In a way, this was a good thing. He only had one reason to injest any narcotic. Crow didn't hate him. His family was healthy. Everything was going well.
His one reason?
Two times snorting, and you were addicted.
Then withdrawl meant death.
He threw himself onto his couch, gripping the upholstery in his hands and screaming in frustration.
This was not going to be good.
---
Three days had passed. Three...long...excruciating days. The first day of of Liam's withdrawl had been fine, but the next morning...the next morning, he could barely stand up straight. Now he spent most of his time on his couch, hunched over. Speaking hurt. Walking hurt. His body was slowly sapping the drug from his veins, taking a good amount of nutrients with it.
He was thankful that nobody had asked what was going on. Rabid has passed it off as a virus. Björn had known to not pry. The kids thought he had a cold. They spent time talking to him, trying to cheer him up.
"I think we need to call someone," Rabid looked Liam over, deeply concerned. She had no money to pay for a current doctor, but she knew the next best thing, "I'll go call Julian."
This was not going to end well.
~Part Three~
Rabid paced nervously back and forth in front of the couch, waiting for Julian to show. Her call had been only vaguely frantic, but she hoped that she had gotten the urgency across.
"Rabid...you...really don't need to..."
"Yes, I do," she sighed, "You're sick, and I have no friggin' idea as to how to cure you."
"I'm with Rabid."
Though he didn't know why, Julian didn't like what he was about to get into. It was just a feeling, a nagging notion at the back of his mind, that something wasn't right.
But he was glad he could be of some use again. Standing outside the door, he knocked and adjusted the strap of the bag slung over his shoulder.
"Rabid, it's me. Lemme in."
Rabid walked briskly to the door and opened it, smiling sadly when she saw that it was Julian.
"Oh, thank God. Come on in," she stepped back and allowed him room to enter.
Liam sighed and let his head droop, ashamed.
"Hey, Julian," Björn waved slightly from his perch on the arm of the couch, "Hope you can help."
"Hey, guys." Julian said, smiling slightly. He went straight for Liam, the smile fading into a concerned look.
I knew it.
Dropping the bag, he opened it and drew out a legal pad and pen, falling back into old habits easily. His expression turned doctor-impersonal, and he grabbed a chair from the table before sitting in front of Liam.
"So. Can you fill me in on what's going on?" He asked politely, turned completely professional.
Liam said nothing and simply sighed.
Rabid gave a frustrated sigh.
"What you see is what you get. None of us have any idea, and he's not talking. Barely moving." She moved and sat on the free arm of the couch.
Julian nodded, scribbling down notes briefly. Looking up at Liam, he chewed at the end of his pen before speaking.
"I can't help unless you give me an idea of how you're feeling. Any pain? Nausea? Malaise?" He said, trying to keep his expression neutral.
You don't have to say it in front of the others, if you're embarassed about it. I won't tell them. You know, doctor-patient confidentiality.
Liam rested his head in his hand. He couldn't hear Julian. His powers seemed to have diminished.
"Headache...everything hurts," he inhaled, breath gurgling wetly throguh his damaged gills, "Can't breate well. Bleeding a lot. Hurts to talk. Constantly nauseous." He gave a rattling cough and immediately tasted blood.
There was no way he was telling anyone what was going on.
Rabid bit her lower lip. This was so bad...
Guessing Liam hadn't heard him, Julian scribbled more notes. His eyes lingered on Liam's face, knowing there was still more he wasn't telling.
"When did the symptoms start? Have you ever had this happen before?" He asked carefully. He looked over at Rabid, the mask of neutrality starting to crack.
"I've never treated a... someone like Liam before. Diseases, that sort of thing, this is new. Anything you can tell me?"
"Two days ago," Liam groaned, "No...never before. I was lucky."
"Vavvian hybrid," Rabid itched the back of her neck, "Anatomy's basically the same, sans the gills that skip the throat and go straight to the lungs. It's...weird, though...you see...they...we...generally have control over bloodflow...things like that."
"He doesn't any more."
Looking over the list of symptoms, Julian wrote down what Liam and Rabid had said.
"You were 'lucky'?" He asked eventually, eyeing Liam shrewdly. Sitting back in the chair, he glanced over at Björn. Tapping the pen against the legal pad, he allowed a slightly stern look to cross his face.
"You keeping things from me isn't helping anyone. Either tell me and I can help, or don't say anything and keep suffering." He said curtly. Something this serious took away the courtesy of pleasant bedside manner.
Liam looked up to Julian and glared.
"Took something. Trying to...get over it."
He pulled a pin from his uniform and punctured his wrist. The blood that fell was far too thin, and had odd glittery flecks within it. he cocked his head to one side.
"Tell me, Doc. What does that?"
Suddenly, Björn knew what was going on.
"...what the Hell?"
Julian sat back again, looking impassive.
"Drug withdrawal," he said simply. "What did you take, Liam?"
"...what?!"
Liam just laughed cynically, not caring enough to heal his wound.
"Eurgh," Björn shook his head, "God damn it. I doubt you've heard of it. Looks like Ald'ebran. A stimulant they used to give us back in the Rebellion. Damnit, Liam! I thought you came off it!"
"So did I."
"WHAT?!"
Julian shook his head slowly, glancing at Björn again.
"I never have. How bad are the withdrawal symptoms going to get?"
Feeling quite useless again, he then turned to look back at Liam.
"And since we've got it up in the air now, why exactly would you start using this again, seeing now what the withdrawal does to you?"
"Well...I...err...pretty bad. The last guy who tried it...he ended up...expiring...and--"
"There's only one antidote," Liam growled, his teeth now coated in blood, "and it certainly can't be found in that little bag of yours."
"Answer him."
Liam gave Rabid a look of undetermined emotion and turned back to Julian.
"I didn't want to feel," he said softly and coughed into his hand.
He couldn't bring himself to give a straight answer.
Julian snorted derisively, emptying his bag's contents for Liam to see. All that was in it was a prescription pad and a book on pharmaceuticals.
"Yeah, Liam, I'd say that's about right," he said coldly. Getting up, he stared Liam down with growing anger, ripping the legal pad in two.
"Withdrawal means death, then. Well, that means we're both sunk, isn't it?" He spat. "You didn't want to feel, huh? Well, Liam, whatever made you so god damn miserable must have been pretty bad, to risk your life like this. How long d'you think it'll take before I start dying? How bad is it going to get?"
He was being merciless. And he certainly didn't care. All he could think of was Crow and Rabid, imagining them watching him and Liam die.
"Give me a straight answer. Why did you start using it again?"
Liam had the urge to start getting violent, but that didn't seem very smart with him against a 6-foot-one demonically posessed doctor.
"When Crow got shot at," he sighed and buried his head in his hands, "You're not going to die, Julian...that only works backward."
Without losing face despite of his screw up, Julian continued to stare Liam down.
"Are you saying that Crow's the one that made you do this to yourself?" He asked, knowing it was an idiotic question. But he'd asked it anyway.
When Crow got shot at.
The words were stuck in his mind. Sitting down again, discarding the ripped up pad, he looked away from Liam at last.
"You mentioned an antidote. How can we get it?" He asked, his tone still cold, though noticably edged with terrified concern. What ever he felt about him at the moment, he owed Liam too much to sit back and watch him suffer.
Liam nodded and looked up toward the ceiling, eyes welled up with tears.
"We can't. There's no way," he shook his head, "I am unconditionally immortal. The addiction only leaves with death."
"Oh, Gods, Liam..." Rabid whispered, clapping her hands over her mouth and beginning to cry.
Feeling sick, Julian sagged in the chair. He felt like a failure. He couldn't help Liam at all, no matter what he tried to do.
"s**t," he muttered to himself, the feeling of sickness bleeding into his expression. He looked up at Liam again, looking pained.
"There has to be something. Anything I could do. I could... what can I do?" He asked, feeling helpless.
If Crow finds out...
"We can't tell her." He said, a bit randomly. "She can't know what she... we can't tell her."
Liam shook his head in reponse.
"I didn't tell her before, and I don't plan on it now."
He looked down at his wrist, suddenly remembering that he was still bleeding. He removed a vial of blood from his uniform and crushed it in his other hand, watching the pinprick heal.
"I'm stuck like this forever, aren't I?"
"You weren't going to tell me what?"
Julian felt his heart plummet into his stomach.
Oh no.
Crow was leaning against the doorframe, an indescribable look on her face. She was looking only at Liam, her eyes pupilless and squeezed to slits.
"You weren't going to tell me what?" She repeated, her voice soft as she entered the room slowly. Her footsteps seemed to echo, sharp and loud in the room.
"Crow..."
She held up a hand, silencing Julian. Her eyes never left Liam.
"I wanted to see you," she said, her voice still soft, though it seemed to come out with difficulty. "I wanted to talk to you. Len said Julian came to visit. I wanted to come and see you."
Liam groaned. Things just kept getting worse.
"A lot of things," he sighed and his eyes dulled considerably, "and I still don't think I will."
Any affection he had earned he was sure he was going to lose.
"Crow...please don't..."
Crow ignored them, eyes still fixed on Liam. To Julian's complete astonishment, a small smile was on her face, even though it was a little pained.
"Okay, then." She said, picking past Rabid and Julian and kneeling by the couch. Her eyes were still pupilless, but they had widened and remained dry.
"No big deal. You don't have to tell me a thing." She said. Her voice wasn't angry or sad. There was simply an undertone of concern, as though all Liam was suffering from was a simple cold. "I just wanted to see you."
Julian got up slowly, and Crow took his seat obligingly. Her eyes never left Liam.
"I just wanted to see you." She repeated, with a little, barely-there laugh.
Liam knotted his brow in deep confusion and looked up to Crow, wiping a stream of blood from his nose.
"...alright..." he said, his voice coming out something like a croak. He cleared his throat.
"What the Hell just happened?" Rabid whispered to Björn.
"...no ******** idea..." he whispered back.
"You're a mess," Crow said mildly, handing Liam a tissue for the blood. Her smile turned wry at the confusion on his face, but she didn't comment on it.
Julian backed away slowly, staring at Crow. He wondered how long she'd been standing by the door, how much she'd heard. If she'd heard everything...
"Rabid, um... what should we do?" He whispered to her, his voice a thread so not to catch Crow's attention. He sure as hell didn't have any ideas.
Rabid turned to Julian and shrugged. She hadn't the slightest idea as to what they were supposed to do now.
How much did she hear...
"Yeah..." Liam couldn't help but give a slight laugh. He took the tissue and wiped the rest of the blood from his face.
He felt his heart twist within his chest.
"How long have you been listening?"
Crow's face twitched slightly, then smoothed over again.
"Not long," she said, a slight tremor in her voice. She wrung her hands slightly, claws opening cuts along the skin. Her eyes lingered on the bloody tissue, and her expression tightened.
"Is there anything I can do?"
That didn't answer much, but he had a feeling she'd heard what she wasn't supposed to have.
"No," Liam shook his head, "No, nothing at all. I'm just...I'll..."
He sighed, feeling helpless.
"Thank you."
Julian made as though to approach, but the look Crow gave him over her shoulder made him step back. He turned away, looking down at the floor. This wasn't something he was supposed to be seeing, and Crow definitely didn't want him there.
"Maybe I should just..." he said to Rabid, trailing off and pointing weakly at the door.
Crow ignored Julian again, the wry smile back on her face.
"Yeah, yeah," she said, her tone seemingly normal. It was though nothing was wrong at all. "Don't worry 'bout it. Just... if you need me for anything, I'd love to help out. You know, 'til you..." she paused, swallowing slightly. "...get better."
Behind them, Julian turned back to look at his sister. She was a good liar when she wanted to be, and this was one of her better performances. Only someone who had known her for years could pick up on the misery she tried to hide in her voice.
Liam nodded slightly. So she'd heard a lot...
Something wasn't right. He just couldn't place it.
"I don't mean to be rude," he said, "but I'd...really like some rest. You could come back later, if you'd like."
Rabid shook her head, completely confused. He'd slept for a good 6 hours previously.
Crow snorted and stood, hooking her thumbs in her pockets.
"Sure, throw us out," she said dryly, picking up Julian's things and packing them away again. Tossing the bag to Julian, she waved goodbye, the wry smile still in place.
"See ya later, then. C'mon, Julian."
She sauntered out, leaving Julian behind. He glanced once at Liam, almost apologetically. Turning to Rabid and Björn, he shrugged helplessly.
"If he gets worse, come and get me," he said, though he had no idea what he could do that would be useful. Throwing the bag over his shoulder, he waved goodbye weakly and left, closing the door quietly behind him.
"Liam...what're y--" Rabid began to ask, but she was far too late. Liam had already curled up into a little ball on the couch and actually appeared to be sleeping.
She was, in short, terrified.
Back in her own room, Crow kicked off her shoes and sat on the couch, her expression dead calm. Julian followed and stood by the door, watching her the same way he would an injured animal.
"Crow..."
She merely shook her head, getting up again and stretching.
"I had a long day. I'm gonna go take a shower." She said, her voice neutral. Julian dropped his bag heavily as she went into the bathroom, looking around aimlessly.
"s**t."
---
Crow stepped into the shower still clothed, taking a seat under the slightly scalding water. She rested her head on her knees, sobbing. She had heard everything. Or at least enough to make her feel like smashing her head into a wall.
"Every god damn time," she muttered, spitting out water.
She'd thought she'd managed to figure everything out. All the confusion, all the embarrassment. She'd thought she'd known what it had meant. And it certainly seemed like she'd been right about it - why else would Liam be suffering, if not because she felt something for him?
Raising her head so that the water hit her face, Crow couldn't help but laugh. She'd been right. It was costly, finally figuring it out - but at least she knew why, now. She might've loved him. Too bad it had taken so long to finally pick up on it.
"Ah, Ben, you must be loving this," She said, laughing again, harder this time. Every person that loved her, that she loved back, got nothing but misery in return. It was almost funny.
~Part Four~
Björn sighed, glancing once again at the sleeping Liam. What an idiot, that kid.
He picked up Rabid's phone and dialed a number he vaguely remembered from home. He tapped his foot impatiently as the line rang.
It was a busy day at the hospital, patients leaving and entering at the drop of a hat. Seems the weather was effecting everyone lately. A young receptionist picked up the phone after the second ring.
"Hello, you've reached Njdijada Vei Hospital, how may I he..." Her voice trailed off a moment, after noticing a tall green-haired doctor with a large purple lollipop sticking out of his mouth walk by. "Excuse me one moment." She said while turning to the doctor.
"Excuse me, Doctor Tooke?"
"Hm? Yes, what is it?" He responded with a slightly muffled and suckling tone.
"Patient #42 is in stable condition, but I asked to have you check up on him shortly."
He grinned lightly. "Already checked on him on my way down here." He chuckled.
Tooke? Naw...couldn't be.
"I need to speak to a doctor. Any goddamn doctor you have on hand. Quickly."
She seemed a bit startled at the man's sense of urgancy. "Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you again doctor but this caller needs a doctor to talk to quickly. Would you mind?"
"It's fine, don't worry about it." He walked over and took the phone. "Doctor Joanseph Tooke, may I help you?"
Björn froze for a moment. As far as he knew. Joe was supposed to have died. It was probably someone else, sharing the same name.
...when the Hell had he ever met a Vavvian with the same name as another?!
"Yes, sir," he said with an excited tone, "The name's Björn Ndeka and I'd like to know WHAT THE ********, MAN?!"
"N-n-ndeka? Björn ******** Ndeka!?" He screamed. Not a good idea in the children's ward. "This can't be the same chain-smoking, foul-mouthed, horny-toad Björn I know." Joe was confused beyond belief. Björn couldn't be alive, he just couldn't.
"You bet your sweet a**!" Björn laughed, "Where the ******** have you been?!" Liam could wait. He was asleep anyway.
It wasn't every day that you came across a long-lost slaughter buddy.
"I've been here!" He realised Björn probably didn't have a clue where that is. "Er, I mean, I've been working at this hospital since I last saw you. Man, I never thought I'd be getting a call from you." He was amazed, he just couldn't believe this was happening, it was just too good. "So anyway, why are you calling here?"
"You b*****d, I thought you were dead," he smiled and sighed, "I'm calling about Liam. He's having some...issues. I think you should come over here."
He then realized that Joe would have no idea where 'here' was.
"Find a portal, tune it to frequency 402. It'll bring you here." He reached to the portal nearby and turned it to the correct frequency with his foot.
"Oh? Alright, great timing, my break was coming up. I'll be right over. See you soon." He hung up the phone and proceeded to go grab his medical bag in his office. He layed the portal on the floor, turned it frequency 402 and jumped in.
Björn took a step back as Joe appeared.
"Hey, kid," he grinned, "May wanna go wake the invalid up." Peering back at Liam, he sighed.
"Geez..." He said while peering over at Liam. He turned back to Björn and asked, "What the hell happened? Why does he seem so depressed?" He walked over to the couch and knelt beside down beside Liam, studying his physical appearance. He looked fine, but something didn't seem right.
"He's going through withdrawl," Björn took a seat on the arm of the couch, "From Ald'ebran. Yanno, someone pushed him over the edge, took it twice, addicted, ran out."
Liam, subconsciously hearing people talking, opened his eyes slowly and blinked.
"Oh, Gods...now I'm seeing things," he squeezed his eyes shut against the torturous image before him. His brain was evil with its hallucinations.
Joe looked wryly at Liam then said, "Boo." He snerked. He turned back to Björn, "Ald'ebran? How in blue blazes did he get his hands on that?"
Björn cocked an eyebrow.
"Blue blazes? I thought I was old..." he snickered, "Don't know. Think he had some left over from the Rebellion. Not eay to get, I'm guessing?"
Liam's eyes shot open. Since when did hallucinations talk?
"...Joe?"
"Mornin' Sunshine." He smiled a Liam slightly. "Mind telling me exactly why the ******** you took this s**t after we don't need it anymore, and more so without me making sure the doses were correct?" His smile shifted to an upset glare.
"Preset doses," Liam sat up and coughed, "Or do you not remember?"
"The love of his life almost got her head blown off, and the munchkin felt guilty for not saving her."
"Now I have none left," he groaned and coughed up a gob of blood.
"I remember them, just not giving them to you." He said while shaking his head. "It's a good thing you have none left, if you overdosed on this stuff...Well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty." He noticed the blood Liam had just coughed up, it was horribly thin and had silver specks in it. Joe's head just drooped.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Liam rolled his eyes, "I got a checkup from the doctor a couple of rooms over yesterday. I'm dying, I know."
"Do you know any alternatives to...yanno...the usual solution? He's damned hard to kill...not that I've tried."
"I really don't know. I could possibly do some tests on his blood, but as far as I know there's no real alternative. Suppose they never expected us to live long enough to the point we'd get addicted to it."
"We didn't," Liam snickered, "Want some?" He offered up his arm.
"Harhar, very funny." Joe turned to his bag and grabbed a small empty vial and filled it with Liam's blood. "Anything else you need?"
"I wish I could say there was," Björn sighed, "but I guess not."
"Keep in touch, b***h. We're the only 3 left. I've missed you more than you think."
"Alright.." He turned to Liam and said, "Hell, if I'd known you two were still around here, I would have definitely kept in touch. I'll give you a call when I get some results from these tests." He stood up and grasped Björn's hand and proceeded to give him a manly hug, patting him on the back. He knelt over to Liam and whispered into his ear, "Take care." Before giving him a kiss on the cheek. He stepped into the portal and was gone.
Björn hugged Joe back, but made a rather confused face upon Joe's...err...strange goodbye to Liam.
"What the ******** was that for?"
Liam simply grinned and rolled back over to sleep.
(continued)
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 5:41 am
(...)
~Part Five~
"Rabid...go. I'm a big boy. I can take care of the midget myself."
"But I stil feel bad leaving you with him...and the kids!"
"Go...for the love of God...GO! You need the money...and you need the fun, damnit."
"It's just an audition. I mean...there's going to be plenty more au--"
"GO!"
"Alright, alright! I'll see you later!"
--
Ike sat up with Liam, long after his siblings had gone to bed.
"So...what's wrong with you?"
"A lot," Liam grinned.
"You know what I mean," Ike snuggled up close to the man.
"Yeah...I do. I did some...bad things. Drugs. The only way to fix them is to die."
"But you can't die."
"Exactly. I'm gonna be sick for a while."
"That sucks."
"Yeah, it does," Liam wrapped his arm around the little albino boy.
"We'll get you cured," Björn patted Liam on the head, showing more affection than was usual, "Don't worry."
"GOD DAMN THEM! LOOKIT THIS! LOOKIT THIS!"
"Who the ********? 9. Voice? 10. Looks? ********' 9. BUT GUESS WHAT?! They don't ********' want me because I'm a ********' VAMPIRE."
"Holy s**t...Rabid?"
"Mummy?!"
"WHAT?!"
"Mirror, Rabid..."
Frustrated and confused, Rabid stomped off into the bathroom...and promptly shrieked.
~Part Six~
"What if they think I'm ugly?"
"Mummy...you're not ugly."
"But I'm chubbier!" Rabid brushed a strand of long brown hair out of her odd hazel eyes.
"Chubby doesn't matter," Ike dodged the hair that was thrown at him, "and you're asking your kid for advice."
"Fine..." she sighed and knocked on Crow's door.
Crow sat reading a book on the couch, the stereo blaring. Len sat next to her, tying black ribbons onto her sword's hilt. Crow glanced up at the girl from time to time. It was horrifying and extremely funny at the same time, looking at that thing.
Len's sharp ears picked up on a knocking sound under the heavy music. Jumping off the bed, sword in hand, she darted towards the door and cracked it open. All she could see was a swatch of white fur.
"Ike! Ike's come to visit!"
Opening the door wide, Lenore jumped out and grabbed Ike.
"Heya, Malachi!" She said, letting him go and looking up at his companion.
"Who's your friend?" She asked politely, head tilted to one side. The new lady looked familiar, but...
"Muuuuuum, Malachi and a lady are heeeere," she called to Crow, still looking up at the woman. Maybe it was the eyes that she couldn't place...
Crow got up, wandering over to the door.
"That lady's Rabid, cripes, Len. Don't be silly." Crow said, glancing at the company. Huh. Rabid looked different. She shrugged, waving them in.
"Hey guys. C'mon in."
"Len!" Ike hugged hugged the girl, ignoring the sharp blades of doom, "Miiiiiiiissed you."
"...what the Hell is that?"
"Heya, Crow," Rabid grinned and blushed, showing off her lack of fangs, "Weird s**t...weeeeird s**t..."
Lenore giggled and smiled wickedly.
"Malachi, meet Jean Michel." She said, holding the sword out to the boy. "He doesn't talk much."
Crow turned down the volume on the stereo, looking at Rabid with surprise.
"Wow....huh! When did that happen?" She asked.
"Oh God," Ike stumbled backward, his arms up defensively, "That's a dead guy..." Liam had taught him to fear those people that messed with the dead, and that sword was terrifying.
"Last night," Rabid shuddered, an odd southern-American accent beginning to slip, "It's creepy as Hell! I think I'm Human..."
She slashed her fingernails across her arm and watched the blood begin to rise to the surface.
"Lookit that! LOOKIT THAT! Euuuurgh..."
Lenore held the sword tenderly, nodding.
"Yeah, it is. This is the guy that tried to kill us a couple weeks ago. He told me things.... he said he came and killed you guys when I wouldn't stop screamin' and stuff. He said he killed you." She said, her face darkening for a moment. Shaking it off, she bounced over to her bed and stowed the sword under it.
"And now he's mine. I'm gonna keep people safe with it, to make up for what he did," she said firmly, tugging a blanket over it. Running back over, she grabbed his hand and bounced.
"You've never been here before! C'mon, I'll show you around!"
Crow clucked at the sight of blood, rushing off to get a bandaid.
"Neat accent. Anyways, jeez. You're gonna have to be careful with that," She said, offering the bandages to Rabid. "Human... huh. Do you think it'll just wear off?"
"Well, he didn't k--okay," Ike smiled and allowed Len to drag him wherever she pleased.
"Not used to not healing," Rabid mumbled, "but thank you."
She thought for a moment. Nobody had any idea what was going on with her.
"Crap, I dunno," she said, eyes wide, "Never thought about it before. Nobody really knows...why..."
The room was a relatively small space, but Lenore showed Ike around like it was a palace.
"That's the library, that's the kitchen, and that's where we found the alligator, Julian threw him in the lake...and....oh! That's where Ethan sleeps, he's living with us now," She said eagerly, pointing to a cluttered airbed stuck in a corner. "He's teaching me how to talk Slovak!"
Crow leaned against the couch, biting her lip in thought.
"Hrm. I doubt it's permanent," She said, hoping she was being comforting. "Maybe it's just one of those random things that happens. I mean, considering where we live, it's kinda remarkable we haven't all turned into mutant flaming ostriches at one point or another. I wouldn't worry about it."
"Ano," Ike grinned. Liam was attempting to teach him a slew of different languages, "It's a very nice room. My room is...very...crowded. And shredded."
One of Ike's ears fell flat back.
"Where are Julian n' Ethan?" Although he would never admit it, he kinda missed them both.
"True," Rabid laughed and sat cross-legged on the floor, "It's just creepy. I haven't been able to eat solid food since I was 16...I mean...it's kinda cool."
Lenore shrugged, yanking her foot away as something under Crow's bed reached out to grab her ankle with a skeletal hand.
"Ours is full of creepy things," She remarked dryly, stepping on the things fingers. "Ethan's at church, and Julian's at the hospital in the city. He's trying to get a job," she added, sitting on the foot of Crow's bed and looking around.
"It gets kinda lonely without 'em."
Perching on an arm of the couch, Crow pointed at the kitchenette with a grin.
"Hey, you wanna raid the fridge while this lasts, be my guest. Got enough food to feed an army."
"Oh," Ike said, slightly disappointed. Of course Ethan was at church. It was just getting lonely with the girls off doing girl things and Björn being too occupied with the incapacitated Liam.
"Mummy says we may need to move out of our room soon. I don't want to, but Björn's gotta sleep in the pentacle, and I don't think that's too fun."
Rabid laughed.
"That's the last thing I need," Rabid stuck her tongue out and grabbed her own belly, "I could survive on this for a good year and a half."
It was only now beginning to hit her, how her brain was being altered by her race.
Len gave an 'aww', looking unhappy.
"But I like havin' you right down the hall. We get to hang out a lot." She said, drawing something out from under her shirt to show Ike.
"Lookit! I put the bird thing you gave me on the same chain as the vial thing, so I won't lose it!" She bubbled, showing it off to him. "I never take it off!"
She paused, thinking belatedly.
"What's a pen-ta-cle?" She asked, trying out the new word slowly.
Crow snorted, shrugging jokingly.
"Pfft! I didn't even notice it," she said truthfully.
"I think we'll do what...Reid does," Ike shrugged, "Have a way to get back into the room through a closet or summat." He smiled a bit upon seeing the pendant he'd given her.
"A pentacle? Dunno, really. Somethin' about protection. When Liam brought Julian back he carved it into the floor."
"Pfft," Rabid snickered, "You're just being nice. OOH!" She suddenly remembered something. Drawing a chain out from beneath her shirt, she revealed a silver cross. She grabbed it har and made a fist around it. When she let go, she showed off an untouched hand to Crow, wiggling her fingers.
"See?"
It may have been nothing special, but this was a momentous occasion for her.
"Hey, cool!" Crow said, poking at the cross curiously. "That's gotta be a nice surprise."
Wondering briefly why such an intimidating-looking guy like Björn would need protection, Len snorted at Ike's words.
"Yeah, Mum told me about that. Sorry me an' the family totally destroyed your house," she said, grinning slightly. She pointed at random to a jade-plated skull resting on a bookshelf. "You can break somethin' if you wanted."
There was a creak of door hinges, and Ethan came in, deeply involved in a German-language book and the music blaring in his headphones.
"Ahoj, ja som chrbat," He said, eyes never leaving the book as he dumped his bag on the floor and went for the kitchen.
"You have no idea," Rabid laughed, "The random burning of flesh is bad." She paused a moment and sighed.
"How have things been?"
"Eh. It's okay," Ike shrugged, "Liam's th' one who ruined the floor, 'n my mum's the one who made the tiles red." He watched as Ethan entered, standing slowly and following like some kind of sad puppy dog, tail swishing slowly.
Crow's good mood imploded. Sagging against the couch, she hung her head slightly, starting to wring her hands.
"...Okay."
Just consumed by guilt at every waking hour. Nothing major.
Len merely watch Ike follow Ethan, head tilted to one side. So, they were friends, huh?
Ethan, busy reading and raiding the fridge at the same time, didn't notice Ike for a few minutes.
"Len, where is the peanut butter?"
"Cupboard next to Ike."
"Dobre." There was a pause. "Wait, what?"
Tugging off his headphones, Ethan looked down and grinned at Malachi.
"Oh, hey! I did not know you where visiting. How are you?" He said, pleased to see the boy again.
"You're lying," Rabid sighed, "Do you want to talk about it?" She was, of course, expecting a no.
Ike snickered as Len used him for a reference...especially to find something as amazing as peanut butter. He grinned broadly and waved up to Ethan.
"Ma...chyba...bah. I'll get it eventually. I promise," he laughed, "I'm okay. How're you?"
The boy wondered how Ethan would react if he saw Liam in his current state.
Ethan nodded, looking pleased.
"It is a hard language. You'll pick it up, don't worry." He said, grabbing the peanut butter and digging around in the cupboard for bread. Finding nothing but graham crackers, he shrugged and started making a sandwich anyway.
"I'm good! Miss is letting me stay here for a while," he said, pointing at Crow with the peanut butter-slathered knife. "I am thinking of going to school here. Julian said he would pay for it. That means I get to stay here, if he does. I am not ready to go home yet."
Sticking the two crackers together, he bit into the makeshift sandwich and glanced at Rabid curiously.
"Why is Miss Rabid...ah... different?"
Crow shook her head, staring at her hands. How Rabid could even stand talking to her was amazing. She'd made the poor woman's oldest friend suffer horribly without even trying. She really did ******** up everything she touched.
"Maybe later."
Ike made a mental note to try Ethan's strange sandwich-like concoction sooner or later.
"You should come visit us. I think it'd make Liam happy to see you again, "Hm?" He peered over at his mum. Oh, right. The whole 'zomghuman' thing.
"I don't really know. She went to try out for a play and she came home real mad...looking like...that. She's totally human now, we think."
"Crow, I..." Rabid stumbled over words, "Alright. Just...make sure to...I...you're my best friend. I like to know what's making you so sad, alright?"
Crow sighed, unable to look Rabid in the eye.
"Yeah..."
Still looking at Rabid, Ethan took another bite of his sandwich, unsure what to make of what Ike said.
"Well. That is interesting. Anyway, I would very much like to visit again. How are Liam and the others?" He said, going to the fridge and rummaging again.
Lenore, feeling a little neglected, dove under her bed and pulled the sword out again. Polishing the skull with her sleeve, she grinned and restarted braiding the ribbons around its hilt.
Ike's ears folded back at the sound of Len's working. The noises were unmistakable.
"Oh...well..." Ike scratched his neck, trying to think of a nice way to word it, "Liam's...kinda...sick...ish. Everyone else is fine."
Rabid sighed and looked away, spotting Ethan. She smiled and waved slightly, a bit unnerved. How long, exactly, had he been looking at her?
Ethan clucked his tongue, pulling out half the fridge's contents and tossing them onto the counter. Waving easily to Rabid, he glanced down at Malachi again.
"I'm sorry -I hope he gets better soon. I'm glad everyone else is well."
Finishing his 'sandwich' and moving onto the freshly pilfered mountain of food, he rubbed his hands together and grinned.
"Lunch."
Lenore hummed a little bit as she worked, wrapping the trailing ribbons around the bone hilt and smiling. Too bad Ike didn't like it too much - she'd made an improvement on Jean Michel, really. He was far more pleasant now.
"Did he say anything about m- anything?"
Crow fidgeted on the couch arm, looking embarrassed. Hunching her shoulders slightly, she picked at the material, ripping it open.
"Y'know, just, uh. Stuff. Offhand." She knew she was making absolutely no sense, but she couldn't seem to make the words come out right.
Ike snickered and shook his head.
Teens, he thought and joined Len again, keeping a fair distance from the sword.
"He? Y'mean Liam?" Rabid cocked her head to one side. Crow didn't usually make sense, but this was going overboard.
Crow nodded, looking everywhere but at Rabid.
"Did he say anything?" She asked again. "You know... about...anything?"
Cripes. Way to be noncomprehensible.
She shook her head, wringing her hands again.
"Just...nevermind. If he'll let me, I'll go see him or something."
Len stowed the sword off to the side, knowing Ike didn't seem to like it.
"Julian said somethin' about Liam not feeling good. Tell him I hope he feels better," She said, playing with a spare bit of ribbon.
"Yes. Of course he has," Rabid said, smiling slightly, "Actually...whether or not he wants to, he has some things to tell you. You really should go visit him some time soon."
If Liam didn't stop being emo about it all and tell Crow everything he'd been rambling about, she was pretty sure he'd explode.
"Yeah, I will," Ike nodded, "but it's his own freakin' fault. Now he's gonna diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiI didn't say anything."
Trying to untangle her fingers from the ribbon, Len gave Ike a "what-the-hell" kind of look.
"Ooookay." Boys. So odd.
Good. I'll get a chance to apologize for destroying his life and putting him through hell for all eternity. Yay.
"Aaaargh." Grabbing at her hair, she touseled it roughly and ground her teeth. "We just never get breaks, do we? One thing after another... I swear, it's like somebody hates us."
She looked around a little warily, then snorted at how stupid she was being.
Ike shrugged.
"He really hasn't said much to me. Yanno...William and whatnot," he poked himself in the temple a few times.
"Yeah...but then again...we're not exactly on good terms with the big omnipotent ruler in the sky, are we?" she snickered.
"Oh yeah.... I forgot about him. How's that going?" She asked mildly, still trying to untangle herself. Stupid fingers - they were just too damn long!
"We're good and screwed, I'm sure. But..." Crow sighed, making a face. "Been dead once. Seemed okay."
"I've got a bit more control now," Ike leaned forward and began helping Len to untangle from the ribbon.
You most certainly do not.
Oh, really?
...no.
"A freedom I will never experience," Rabid sighed, "I'm not gonna do that to myself again...eurgh."
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"DEZZY! GET BACK HERE!"
"GET HER!"
"...ah, I love the family life..."
Crow wrinkled her nose at the unwelcome memories she'd stirred up.
"Meh. Got stuck in some kind of purgatory. Though it wasn't so bad, really..." She said, trailing off at the shouting.
"Sounds like the kids are having fun," She said, grinning.
"Thanks," Len said, trying to wriggle her fingers free. "Glad it's easy to deal with him. He doesn't bug you, does he?"
"Naw, not really. He tells me to hurt a lotta people but he can't make me do anything."
"I'd go straight down, that's for sh--" She was interrupted by a loud crashing and shattering of glass in the hallway.
"Oh my God! Dezzy!"
"Oopsie..."
"Rabid, my lovely," Björn stuck his head in Crow's door, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but your beautiful little girls are driving me up the flipping wall."
"Flipping?" Rabid snickered and turned back to Crow, "I guess I should go. Remember what I said, alright?"
"Uh-oh...don't look, Dezzy. No, honey...that's not bl--"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Oh, s**t..."
"Oooooh boy."
Bouncing up and into the bathroom, Crow tossed Rabid the box of band aids.
"You might need those," She said, waving to Björn. "See you later, then."
Lenore laughed in victory as the ribbon came off at last.
"That's good. I mean, the part where he can't make you do stuff, not the telling you to hurt people thing." She said, rubbing her fingers where the ribbon had chafed them. "Sounds like people're getting killed out there..."
Ethan, still eating in the kitchen, peered out into the room and waved at Björn too.
"Hey."
"Hey, kid," Björn grinned and nodded to Ethan, then waved to Crow, "Rabid..."
"Coming, coming!" Rabid took the band aids and made for the door, "Thanks, Crow!"
"Yeah, it's a good thing," Ike said absently, his attention turned to the noises in the hallway. He leaned in and whispered to Len, "Psh. We do this all the time. If Dezzy gets cut, we all go out for ice cream. Half of the time, she isn't even really hurt at all. You could prolly come if you wanna." He leaped off the bed, feigning concern, and made his way out into the hallway.
"MAAAAAAAAAMAAAAAA! IT HUUUUUURTS!"
Ooh. Ice cream.
"Mum, can I go hang out with Ike?"
"Huh? Oh, sure... if they don't mind."
Ice cream!
"Okay byyyyye!"
Len skittered out the door, then popped her head back in and whistled for Sadako. The doll scuttled across the floor and clung to Len's leg, squeaking.
"Byyyyye again!"
And with that, she was gone.
Crow grinned and waved goodbye, settling back down on the couch. Ethan wandered over and joined her, eating a muffin doused in what looked like horseradish.
"What?" He said, noticing Crow's look of disgust. "Blueberries and horseradish go well together!"
Part Seven
"This just plain sucks."
Crow had been here before. Standing outside the door in indecision, fighting nervousness and feeling uncomfortable. Of course, the last time had been for an innocent reason.
I did something terrible to him. How can I go in and face him?
The realization under her guilt that she hadn't meant to push him that far irked her. She wanted to feel guilty. She was certain she deserved it.
"Here goes."
Crow knocked on the door.
"Liam? It's Crow. May I come in?"
Liam had been wandering about the room, shirtless, not doing much of anything. This was one of the rare "good days" in which moving didn't hurt, and he was taking advantage of every moment.
It took him a moment to realize that someone was at the door. He removed his headphones and tossed them onto his couch. Swirling a glass of salt water, he approached the door and opened it with his foot. He smiled slightly and stood back, allowing Crow room to enter.
Something wasn't right.
Crow entered with her head bowed slightly, deeply relieved to see him up and moving.
"Hey," she managed to croak. She cleared her throat and looked up at him, smiling back. "Hey."
The second time her voice was stronger. Taking a seat uninvited at the table, she simply looked at him for a moment before speaking again.
"I...I wanted to talk to you. Rabid said you wanted to tell me something."
This was stretching the truth a little, sure. But, Rabid had said Liam had things to say, so why not give him a little nudge in the right direction? She'd keep it cool and subtle - she would have to try not to make things awkward.
"And I wanted to apologize."
Well, so much for that.
Liam down half the glass of salt water and cleared his throat.
"No she didn't," he smiled and closed the door behind them. It was very obvious that he was losing his voice, although the water helped, "She told you that I had to tell you something. There's a difference." He took a seat across from Crow and straddled the chair backward.
"You go first. What the Hell are you apologizing for?"
"Was it that transparent?" She asked dryly. She wasn't quite as good at lying as she used to be. Resting her elbows on the table, she shrugged slightly.
"For making you like this. It's my fault." She said, looking away. "I mean, I guess it is." She gave a withering sigh, glancing up at him.
"Hell, I don't even know. I just wanted to apologize, that's all."
She wanted to say a few other things as well, but she figured that could wait.
"Your turn."
Liam snerked and cringed as the water flew up his nose.
"You have nothing to apologize for," he shook his head, "It's not your fault." So it was his turn now...damn. He'd almost liked it better when he was out of commission. At least people didn't make him do anything then.
"Let's see..." he thought for a moment, "I still have no idea how much you heard, so I'll start at the beginning. So...William left, and I had a bit of trouble adjusting. Rampant emotions and the like. You got shot at, and I felt guilty for not being able to stop...whatever was happening at the time. That's all."
Well, not really. He was sure Rabid was referring to his pessimistic rants.
"No it's not," he inhaled deeply, "I don't want you to...feel bad or...anythin' Crow....but...I. Well, I know I ain't charming or attractive or intelligent or worthy at all, and have no chance in all Hell, but...ah..."
He chewed on his lower lip for a moment.
"I think I've fallen in love with you, Crow."
It was the first time he'd said those words aloud...with no alterior motives...no nothing...and actually meant them.
He blushed and took another swig of water.
Crow's brain stopped dead.
Who in the what, now?
He loved her?
Shaking her head hard and standing abruptly, she gave into her nervous habit of pacing, breathing hard and trying to reason things out.
"Oh, Liam. Liam. The day I got shot at - oh, there was nothing you could've done. They weren't trying to kill me. They were copying something that I used to do." She put a hand to her mouth, cursing the slip, but then began plowing on again regardless.
"It was only a warning shot. Oh, Liam-" She gave a slightly hysterical laugh. He'd done this to himself because of her, and all for nothing. "You never needed to feel guilty. I'm so sorry."
There I go, apologizing again.
"But... about the other thing..." She swallowed, taking her seat again and fidgeting with her hands nervously. "It took so long for me to figure out. I didn't understand it. I thought I didn't like you at first, but I knew that wasn't it. We got along so well..."
She trailed off, eyes stinging horribly. She wiped a hand across them absently, ignoring it.
"I think... I think it's the same way for me. I just didn't know how to figure it out. Not after what I did to Be-" she cut herself off, but then forced herself to continue. "-Not after what I did to Benjamin. But I did. I figured it out. I love you."
It was almost surreal, speaking the words.
"That doesn't make me feel any less guilty," he shrugged, "bu---what?" The remaining living portion of his heart skipped a few beats, but the mechanical majority forced it to keep beating.
She's just saying that because you're dying.
"What?" he arched an eyebrow, completely disbelieving.
Crap. He doesn't believe me. Crap!
"It's the truth," Crow said, looking determined. "I swear, it's the truth. I don't care if you believe it or not. I do."
She took a long, deep breath. She had to get it out now, or she was certain she was going to explode.
"You're....we...agh. Dammit."
Getting up and pacing halfheartedly, she shook her head.
"Don't you dare think this is to make you feel better because you're sick. I swear, if you think that, I'll ki- ah. I'll... I dunno. Just, for the love of God, believe me! It's been tearing me apart trying to figure it out!" She cried, getting inexplicably angry for a moment.
"I've been ripping my hair out trying to understand how I could've -not that I didn't want to, I just - rrrgh! Don't you dare think I'm just saying things! I wouldn't do that, not about this!"
Shaking and breathing hard again, she looked at him helplessly.
"I do. I have for a while. I just... it took this to get me to finally realize how much I did. The thought of you being in pain because of something so... ahh. I just needed the time to figure things out," she breathed, looking miserable. "And now you don't believe me."
Liam watched her pace, a bit angry with himself. At her last statement, he stood and moved to her.
"I...I do now," he smiled sadly and placed a hand on her shoulder, completely unsure of what to do, "You wouldn't have done...that...if ye...didn't...and..."
He twitched. His brain was screaming along with most of his internal organs. Words weren't working very well.
"Sorry?"
Glad she didn't blush, Crow reached up and put her hand over his.
"Don't be sorry." She said, the ghost of a smile on her face. There were tears standing in her eyes, but she ignored them. She looked up at him sadly, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood.
"My timing sucks."
Liam shrugged and shook his head before giving up and hugging Crow.
"It's okay...really," he sighed...and peered toward the door, "...oh no..."
"Hey, Crow."
Wrapping her arms around him carefully, frightened she would hurt him, Crow sighed. This was...kinda nice.
Though, the nice moment died fairly quickly at the sound of the new voice. Feeling like she'd just been punched in the gut, Crow hunched her shoulders and turned her head slowly towards the door.
"...Hi."
Please don't yell at me please don't yell at me-
Now she knew how the others must have felt the other day. Unexpected listeners were a bit of an unpleasant surprise.
"I swear to God, I didn't see anything," Björn threw his hands in the air and walked over, retrieving Ike's jacket from the table beside them adn walking off, "I was never here."
"I live with 5 other people. Not much privacy," Liam explained and shook his head before turning back to Crow, "Are you gonna be alright?"
Their conversation still hadn't quite hit him.
"Cripes." Crow said, laughing a little. "Yeah. I'm fine."
She let go of Liam a bit reluctantly, the usual look of vaguely sardonic amusement back on her face.
"Just overreacting, as usual," she said lightly. Now that she wasn't being beaten to a bloody pulp by her conscience as well as her over-wrought emotions, she'd gone back to normal fairly quickly. The amusement faded as she looked at Liam quietly for a moment, unsure what to say.
"I just want you to be okay." She said quickly, feeling stupid that such mush was actually spilling from her mouth. "I wouldn't be able to stand it if something happened to you. More so than now, I mean."
Liam laughed nervously and itched the back of his neck.
"I'll be fine. There's a way to do everything. I'll just..." he paused. What was he going to do?
"I'll find a way."
This whole conversation was going to make death a bit more difficult than usual.
Suddenly keenly self-conscious, Crow fidgeted and bowed her head, blushing.
"I'm not usually so affectionate or anything," she said quickly. "I promise I won't smother you."
She hesitated, looking up at him again.
"I could help. Anything you need me to do, I'll try."
"I used to shoot people in the head for a living," Liam smirked, purposefully leaving out the other half of his 'living', "I'm not exactly overly-affectionate either. Thank you, though. I'll be sure to contact you if I think of anything."
He coughed again, smelling a good amount of blood. He changed the subject quickly.
"What do you wanna bet they're hovering outside the door?" he sniffled.
Crow just smiled.
"All things considered... we go well together."
Glancing at the door, she cocked an eyebrow and shook her head slightly.
"Oh, c'mon now, have a little faith," she said with good natured sarcasm, grinning. "They wouldn't be trying to spy on us, would they?"[/
"I guess so."
He snickered and shook his head.
"I swear...the moment you leave the room..."
"The minute I open the door, I'm sure they'll all fall in." Crow said. Wishing badly she could stay, she flailed her hands around helplessly.
"I kinda do have to get going... y'know, now that I've dropped the emotional bombshell and nearly had yet another nervous breakdown."
She fidgeted for a moment, then kissed Liam on the cheek before heading for the door.
"I'll see you later, then?" She asked, hand on the door knob.
Liam raised his hand to his cheek, eyes wide.
"I...uh...yeah. Later."
He kicked himself mentally for being such a wuss.
Crow hid a smile and ducked her head, cracking the door open slowly and hoping no one would fall on top of her.
"Bye, Liam."
"Bye..."
"LIAM!" Rabid burst past Crow and into her room, grinning.
"Huh?"
"You!"
"I can't believe something's actually got the hots for Liam."
"Yeah, I can't e--"
He dropped to the couch, his eyes the size of saucers.
"Holy s**t."
~Part Eight~
Liam was sitting at the same lonely table, his feet propped up on it. He leaned back in his chair and nodded to Joe as he approached from upstairs.
"Yello."
"Hey, Joe," Björn waved half-heartedly, struggling to fill out some strange form.
Hellis nodded from his perch upon the table itself.
"Hello Gents. Sleep well?" He said with a bit of a goofy grin on his face. He placed the med-kits on the table and reached down to the box on the floor, where he'd left his pet. Flipping open the top quickly, he saw his pet still skittering around happily, so he closed the box.
"I did," Mier yawned, "Thanks Gods."
Björn just snickered.
"AUGH! THE WALLS! THE WALLS ARE TOO THIN!"
"Kairn, look...I'm sorry you--"
"YOU ARE NOT."
"You're right."
Björn looked up from his form, a dumb, knowing smirk plastered on his face.
"How about you, Joe?"
"TAKE OVER BATALLION SIX'S WATCH?! WHAT?!" Kairn suddenly stormed down the stairs.
"What?! You've got to be kidding, what the hell happened?" Joe said with a sudden disturbed look on his face.
Kairn shrugged, "I have no idea. One of 'em said something about an ambush. They pumped a sniper and 2 footmen full of lead and disappeared."
"Yeah...that's the watch I want to take over," he shuddered. Ambushes? Was it even possible that the Vavvian Army had figured out any kind of strategy?
"Damn..." He looked down for a moment, shocked at this news. "I'll go prepare my medical supplies then." Joe said as he walked off toward his room. He picked up a box and checked it's contains, restocking any syringes, gauze, bandages or the like if necessary. As he headed back out to the main hall, he thought to himself, "This can't be a good sign."
"Great. Joe's our mobile medic," Björn said, crumpling up the form he'd been filling out and lighting up a cigarette, "We'll go out and kick the Vavvians' asses. There's no way we're letting any more of batallion 3 die, right?"
"Right," Liam agreed.
Hellis nodded.
"We are so dead..." Kairn mumbled, grabbed his gun, and headed out the door.
Joe waited by the entrance, leaning up against the wall with supplies in hand, waiting for the rest of his troupe. Staring at the wall, he seemed be to be in a daze of sorts, thinking to himself. This kind of situation hadn't happened in a while, he hated to think the Vavvians were gaining the upperhand.
It wasn't long before Liam was at his post atop a hill, staring through the scope of his rifle and watching Kairn, Hellis, and Mier patrol the ground below. it was a strange place to be positioned, right beside the largest forest in Mei-Vaar. An ambush would be so easy...
Björn lay on his stomach beside Liam, squinting through a pair of binoculars. He peered over at his partner and laid a hand on his back.
"Look...everything's going to be alright. Calm down."
Liam sighed and shifted his position.
Joe sat behind some brush to remain out of sight to the enemy, but peeked out enough to keep an eye on the two snipers and to be able to peak downhill as well. He prepped his supplies, so he could grab them at a moments notice. He wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. He was getting nervous.
Liam watched in utter confusion as Mier suddenly turned on his heel toward the woods.
"Q'and des alrei?!" he said, pointing his pistols toward the trees. There was no answer.
"Q'AND DES ALREI?!"
The only response was the repeated explosions of gunfire.
"Oh, s**t," Björn peered out through his binoculars, "Fire...fire...fire..."
*BAM!*
Liam fired a shot straight into the forehead of a Vavvian soldier emerging from the woods...but this one was soon followed by six.
He watched in horror as Kairn scrambled back toward them, screaming in broken Vavvian. Mier collapsed to his knees, bleeding profusely from a group of holes in his abdomen.
"Fire...fire...fire..."
*BAM!*
"I think that's your cue, Joe!!!"
"Bloody ******** hell!" Joe murmured as he grasped his bag and ran down the hill. He could already see how badly Mier was wounded. The blood wa already starting to pool around him on the ground. Joe slowed down as he reached the bottom of the hill, to avoid running over Mier. He dropped his pack and kneeled next to Mier, grabbing for utensils out of his back. "Just hold on Mier, I'll get you back up soon..."
"Hurry the Hell up," Mier groaned, "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HELLIS. RUN. Oh God...it hurts..." He started to feel dizzy and had to use an arm to steady himself.
Hellis could run. If he turned, he'd be shot on the back. He had a better chance to keep fighting.
The negative aspect of staying and fighting was that he was outnumbered 5 to 1. With wide, frightened eyes, he continued pumping the enemies full of lead.
"s**t," Björn stood up, "Just ******** fire at will!"
Liam nodded and began firing randomly, his main goal to protect Joe and Mier while Hellis fended the others off himself.
After taking out the last bullet shell he could, he quickly bandaged up Mier and gave him a dose of Ald'ebran mixed with morphine to dull the pain but keep him on his toes. "Can you stand?
Mier stood slowly.
"Aw, Hell...yeah, yeah I can stand," he groaned and grabbed his guns, aiming for the Vavvians surrounding Hellis...but it was too late.
Hellis gave a shriek of agony as he collapsed to the ground, hit in the neck. The enemies laughed as he fell. One aimed for his head...pulled the trigger.
"Did we lose any?"
"Yeah."
Björn's emotionlessness made Liam quite nervous.
"Tell them to clear the field."
"...but if we have a man down..."
"Tell them to clear the ******** field."
"NAJDA! NAJDA!" Liam called down to the figured below. It didn't make any sense...they had a man down, right? Why were they clearing the field? Whay was noone helping?
"If you don't have a weapon," Mier started backing up the hill, "I'm your goddamned living shield...you got it?"
Joe began to back up, towards the hill yet he couldn't take his eyes off the horror. How could he leave? He couldn't just leave Hellis there. But trying to rescue Hellis now would put himself and Mier back in peril. He headed up the hill, trying to stay behind Mier's protection, but just couldn't shake the thought of what had happened. This wasn't right at all.
Upon reaching the top of the hill, Mier shoved Joe to the ground, back to saftey with the rest of the rebels before dropping down himself. He wiped a stream of blood from his nose.
"What the ******** are you planning, Faar?"
Liam shook his head, fighting back tears. What the Hell was going on?
Björn suddenly stood from the group, recieving a quick shot to the chest. He swayed for a moment before lighting up a cigarette. He took a drag and removed a stick of dynamite from his uniform. He stumbled as he was hit again.
"Burn in Hell," he murmured as he brought the explosive to his mouth, lit the fuse with his cigarette, and chucked it at the Vavvians below.
Joe's eyes went blank. "What the hell are you doing, Björn?! Hellis is still down there!!" He screamed. A mixture of panic and anger spread about his face. There was still a chance for Hellis if he could just get down there, but Björn was about to engulf them all in flames.
Björn watched the explosion with mild disinterest, seemingly unphased by the screams of agony.
"I don't know what they taught you back in med school, Joe," he paused to take a drag from his cigarette before flicking it down into the flames, "but people generally don't live when you shoot them in the head at point blank range."
Holy s**t...
Joe stood up, enraged. He grabbed Björn by the shirt with both hands clenched tightly. "I could have saved him, dammit! You know I could have! Why the hell did you tell us to withdraw?!" He screamed, breathing heavily.
Björn spun around and grabbed Joe by the throat, lifting him high up above his head. His arms were trembling with either emotion or pain.
"You shut the ******** up," he growled, his eyes wild, "They shot him...in the head. I don't know if you quite understand. The brain is necessary for any bodily functions, now, I wasn't looking closely enough to see just how much brain matter was leaking through his skull and onto the ground, but I'm sure it would have revealed a substantial amount of damage. He would not have been able to move, and that means he wouldn't be able to hold a gun, and that's about all you sons of bitches care about anyway. Consider the explosion my one act of mercy. Hellis is <******** dead."
"Hellis... was my friend too... I just... wanted to save him..." Joe wheezed as he tried to pry himself out of Björn's grip. His vision began to blur as he felt light-headed.
Björn threw Joe to the ground rather forcefully and stared down at him, panting and bleeding quite badly.
Liam stared up at Björn with the others, eyes wide and jaw hanging slack.
"Holy s**t..."
A sharp bolt of pain ran through Joe's back as he hit the ground. He just stared at the sky, eyes glazed over from the pain and lack of air. All he could smell was smoke.
Björn silently moved over to the med kit nearby, lighting up another cigarette and beginning to tend to his own wounds.
Liam crawled over to Joe carefully, tensed and ready for Björn to freak out again.
"Joe? You okay?" he whispered, "D'you need somethin'?"
Mier gave the blackened battlefield one final glance before tearing his eyes away and beginning to walk back to camp, closely following Kairn.
"I'm alright, just need a minute to recoup..." He said as he tried to prop himself back up with his arms behind his back.
Liam nodded and sat back, looking back and forth between his friends.
"Björn, I--"
Björn held up a bloodied finger to silence him and stalked off toward base camp.
---
Björn sat bolt upright, awakening suddenly in a cold sweat. He peered nervously around the pitch black room, trying to orient himself. Upon finally remembering where he was, he buried his head in his hands.
"s**t..." he whispered, "Shitshits**t..."
"Björn? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Faar."
"Are you...are you sure?"
"I'm sure. Go back to ******** sleep."
"Alright," Liam knotted his brow in concern and turned toward the wall, although he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep now. Something wasn't right.
Björn Ndeka was not supposed to cry.
~Part Nine~
Björn felt like Hell and looked like death. His usual tannish complexion had gone blanched white, and his eyes sported dark rings. He hadn't slept in nearly two weeks, fearing the memory that had suddenly returned to him in the form of a recurring dream.
Fur Elise played softly from Rabid's headphones, laced around his neck. He had one of the ever-present cigarettes stuck between his teeth, and paused to pull it from his mouth and exhale a plume of smoke.
"An abrupt species change can be caused by many things," he read aloud from one of the three dozen books before him, "Any magically-apt Vavvian above the 13th caste can easily cast...god damn it!" He chucked the book against the wall, causing the ocean scene upon it to flicker momentarily.
"I don't care about the ******** Vavvian magicians," he mumbled, resting his head in his hands, "Don't any of you have the ******** answer?"
"You okay, Björn?" Rabid suddenly emerged through a suspended image of her room.
Björn shook his head, cringing at the sound of Liam's sleep-muffled groans of agony.
"I'm fine."
"Look...the kids and I are going grocery shopping," Rabid nodded back toward the portal behind her, "Maybe you should come with us. Maybe we can find you s--"
"Rabid...I appreciate your concern. Really, I do," Björn lifted his head up and peered at her, "but I really don't want to paint the town any colour...let alone red."
Rabid sighed.
"Alright. Just come back before dark, alright?"
"Yeah, no problem."
The Vampire turned and stepped back through the portal, closing it behind her.
Björn sighed deeply and grabbed another book reluctantly, thumbing through to the index.
Well, wasn't that an eyeful?! 8D
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:07 am
~Part Ten~
It had been a few days since Malachi had grown. There had been a little family party for the now-as-tall-as-his-mum squirrel boy, and there had been a lot of locking oneself in the bathroom to try and get used to one's new and unsavory appearence.
He still had fur on joints, chest, and tail, but his paradoxical way of being kept the rest albino-white. Damnable genetics.
After the few days' grace period, Ike had resigned himself to the fact that:
a.) He was going to be hideous for the rest of his life and
b.) He was gonna be ********' huge.
Now, the teen sat on the arm of the couch, staring down at Liam who may or may not have been awake, but was definitely having trouble breathing.
"Liam? Liam, are you awake?" There was an extended period of silence and then...
"Yeah."
"Are you okay?"
A longer pause.
"No."
"Liam, I can't deal with this any more. You lay around all day. You can't do anything."
"...thanks for reminding me, Fuzzwad."
"Oh, that wasn't my intent. I want to help."
Liam shifted, propping himself up on a weakened forearm and looking vaguely in the direction Ike's voice had come from.
"I know you do, Ike, but there's nothing you can do. I told you when you were littler. Drugs mean stoned. No srugs means death. I'm just gonna keep getting sicker until...oh, bloody Hell, I don't know. Until I'm a vegetable, I guess."
Ike was already beginning to form a plan in his head. It didn't make much sense yet, but who knew?
"What's the drug called?" he asked with a dramatic sigh.
"Alde'bran."
"And this was just...something you got off the street?!"
"No, no, no. It was a kind of...stimulant they gave us in the Rebellion, knowing we would die."
"Oh."
"God knows they're probably selling it on the streets now, damn them."
"Huh." Eureka!
"What was it like? An injection?"
"Yes and no. It could be but, ah...Joe. Our medic. He preferred to snort. It was just this...silver crap."
"Oh...well, Liam. I'm sorry about not being able to do anything."
"It's alright. Just go back to bed."
"Yep."
What Liam could not see was that Malachi was smiling.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:17 am
~Part Eleven~
It had been quite a long time since Björn last cracked open a book on genetic malfunctions.Recently, though, Rabid had remembered her little stint as a human and panicked. What was there left to do but more research?
Anyway, it was alone time. That was a godsend in a house with five other people.
The man had been sitting in a locked and lonely room in the Mei-Vaar town hall for the last six hours, going over old books to see if he'd missed anything and paging through new ones to see if they'd have anything knew.
Most didn't.
One, however, seemed promising.
"On occasion," he read aloud, "a hybrid's genes will become 'unhappy' with their current stasis. A rare plan of recourse is to switch continually through the races involved until the genetic map finds a satisfying medium. Once this perfection is reached, the switching will generally stop. ...Well, hot damn!"
Björn rushed through the portal in the wall to inform Rabid if this new development. He had been expecting a gleeful squeal of some kind. Instead he got:
"Oh, no..."
"What?"
"Uh...nothing. Nothing. Thanks."
The man could press no further into the cause of Rabid's sudden unease, as the woman had walked off with her head in her hands. Ungrateful little--
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:31 am
~Part Twelve~
A relatively short figure, completely concealed beneath a top hat and long trench coat, walked slowly down a main street in Mei-Vaar. The moons were high in the sky, and even the guards were feeling a bit of unease at the appearence of this strange person.
It took Lieutenant Gant precisely six minutes to consider approaching the figure, which had simply stopped moving approximately thirteen feet from his post. He went up slowly, half-hoping that whomever this was had died on his or her feet and had no intentions of speaking.
Alas, the head turned to study him.
"Kadaj. Ren-alu dai nataya?"
The figure said nothing.
"Ah...ren-alu...dai nataya?"
Still nothing.
"Do you speak Engl--"
Before the unfortunate Lieutenant could finish his sentence, the figure had lunged forward, pinning him up against a wall and holding a blindingly bright blade up to his throat. He felt his pockets rummaged through, watching the figure with wide, terrified eyes.
Whatever this thing was, it was not Vavvian.
Eventually, the figure found what it had been looking for and sprinted off into the night, the blade blinking out of existance as suddenly as it had appeared. The lieutenant, breathing heavily and trembling, reluctantly returned to his post.
A few minutes later, the figure approached a deep black alleyway. Smoke rose from a dim corner, and the figure slowed to greet whomever as there. It was a drug dealer, as previously scouted-out, who raised his blank opalescent eyes to scrutinize the strangely-dressed person before him.
"Alde'bran," the figure spoke after a few moments in a deep, rasping tone.
"Quinta Haldea," the dealer demanded.
The figure opened its fist to reveal a small pile of coins in its hand...a hand that was far too white and too long-fingered to be at all Vavvian. The dealer was too stoned to notice and simply took the coins before rummaging around in his shoulder bag and removing a small vial and a covered hypodermic needle.
The figure nodded tersley and sprinted off. It disappeared through a portal randomly placed in the middle of the street, and reappeared back in its room.
"Liam," Ike whispered, although he knew quite well that everyone else had gone out to the park, "Liam, I have smething for you."
"Huh?" the young man asked, quirking and eyebrow, but not moving from his awkward position at the dinner table.
"Give me your arm."
Liam felt his upper arm rather violently grabbed and held to the table. What he assumed to be Ike's hand gripped hard, making bits of flesh tingle with a lack of oxygen.
It was then he felt the p***k.
"IKE. IKE. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Shhhh..."
Liam, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline and the buzizng in his brain, exhaled slowly and closed his eyes, allowing his head to fall back against the chair.
The needle was removed.
He gave a rather eerie laugh and opened his eyes once more, half-delighted to see the lights on the ceiling, the patterns on the wall, and then the deeply concerned face of his best friend's son.
"Heh. Thaaaaanks, boy."
Malachi smiled, ignoring the fact that Liam's pupils were oddly large.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:56 pm
~Part Thirteen~
Liam was laughing at nothing. On a normal day, this would have been completely normal. This was not, however, a normal day. The giggling, flippant, weaving little man that may have at one time been sane swirled across the HQ grounds, not really caring where he ended up.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:01 pm
Crow was alone, and as usual wasn't happy about it. She'd been wandering all day, hoping to run into someone she knew or maybe someone she didn't, just for the company if not conversation. She hated being alone. And so, finding herself still quite solitary, she kept walking, hoping.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:03 pm
An insect of some kind flew by Liam's head. He swatted at it, threw himself off-balance, and nearly toppled to the ground. His laughter became more shrill and near-insane as he stumbled forward.
And then he saw her.
"HEYCROWHI!"
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:07 pm
Crow jumped, highly startled, and whirled around.
"Liam!"
Company! Smiling wide, loneliness effectively destroyed and buried, she hurried over.
"What're you doin' out here?" she asked. "How'd you know I was here, didja do the mind-sensing thing?"
She had no reason to suspect he could see her, and so her curiosity was effectively piqued.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:09 pm
"Whaaat? Mind-sensing thing? Whaaat?" Liam laughed inappropriately, "No! Ike went and...well...I'm fixed! Like...see? See that rock there? I can totally see it." He laughed again, but it soon died off as his attention was entirely encapsulated by said rock.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:12 pm
"Well, I dunno, like the thought-reading thing you did and what the ******** do you mean you can see ohmygodLIAM!"
Changing tack halfway through her sentence, Crow suddenly realized her own eyes were brimming with tears as she hugged Liam on impulse.
"That's - I can't believe it - oh, this is wonderful! You mean it? You're really okay?" she asked, oblivious to his strangely unwavering attention to the rock.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:18 pm
Liam snapped back to relative reality and grimaced down at the chick hugging him. He almost wrenched away before realizing who she was.
"Hey! You're my girlfriend!" he laughed again and hugged Crow awkwardly, "Yeah, I'm fine! All good and stuff and I can, like...play the coronet...or...sum'm." He snarfed a gob of phlegm very unattractively and itched the side of his face.
"I lost, like, some soul and s**t and it kind of hurts."
It didn't, of course, but he liked the sound of his own voice at the moment.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:22 pm
Wondering what on earth a coronet was, Crow ignored the phlegm-hocking - she did it enough herself, she was in no place to judge - and looked up at him in concern.
"Soul? Are you alright?" she asked, forgetting instantly that'd he'd already affirmed that he was. "Does it really hurt? I could try to...no, that's fer headaches...um..."
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:24 pm
Liam turned his head and spit into the grass, his head whirring with various world-changing epiphanies that fifteen wild horses and a percussionist probably wouldn't be able to drag out of him.
Not that they'd want to.
And then, suddenly, he grabbed Crow by the back of the head, pulled her to him, and did something that could better be described as 'sucking face' than 'kissing'.
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:28 pm
"Nnghk!"
Caught off-guard, unsure if she was at all comfortable with the sudden sneak attack or not, Crow didn't have the heart to pull away - though it wasn't what she'd call pleasant.
I wish he'd go back to staring at the rock again, she thought, squirming uncomfortably.
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