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 Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 8:36 pm
For the most part, Audrey Collins didn't dream. When she did, it was only in snatches, flashes of color, sounds that made no sense, and languages that in the real world would be labelled as 'nonsense'. That's why this was so surreal, so incredibly strange, but she was loving the feeling. It did start basically the same - the soft wintry colors and the contrasting warmth that had everything to do with Sailor Castor in her psyche. Then gradually, she could feel his hands stroking slowly up and down her arm, over her hair, the beat of his heart under her cheek. Then the scratch of the odd fabric his fuku was made from, and a strange weight and almost nakedness on her part, the latter of which caused her to jar slightly and open her eyes. It wasn't a new scene, it was actually incredibly familiar. The view seen when curled up on a particular bench, nestled between two giant planters on the outskirts of the shopping district against the park. Loathe though she was to pull herself away from that caring embrace, something was very wrong. Starting with her feet, everything was alright. The steel grey shoes with the teal edging and cables around her ankles...but no stockings? Turning slowly red with embarrassment everything else quickly became clear.
She was a goddamn senshi.
The skirt that didn't cover a single part of her assets, the clinging top. The butt bow. But most odd of all was the strange change in her entire hairstyle. The thick curls she'd always bemoaned were now as straight as rain and hung in pigtails to either side of her head. Crowned atop her skull were two buns in perhaps the most bizarre thing that Audrey could have ever imagined. Confused and more than a little horrified at this revelation, she screwed up her eyes and willed herself to wake up. But it didn't happen, and she simply looked over at Castor who simply looked at her and raising an eyebrow, started to laugh before it caught in his throat. "s**t. They're here." Standing in a smooth motion, he held out his hand and she took it warily, eyes looking about into the foggy night. Turning her by the shoulders, Castor smiled and kissed her deeply. "I don't think this'll be a problem, but remember Lina. You and me, forever, right?" Confused, Sailor Linarite could only nod blankly before familiar and irritating laughter sounded out in the fog. "How sweet, I might actually have cavities. You senshi are disgusting." Even in the cool tones of the night, the bright orange of Nealite's hair was unmistakable. Behind her, Hematite's eyes all but glowed with the leer as he was as he always had been - a silent guard for the queen. Flanking from the other side of the street came an all-too familiar voice, one that sent claws tearing through Lina's heart with its malevolence. "Certainly makes me sick, I can barely stand it." Youma arm flexing and eyes wild with the thrill of an impending battle were reflected in the other man who was coming up, all swagger. Obsidian just grinned, and waved almost casually at the duo. "Gonna pull out your pretty little pigtails this time, little senshi. Gonna enjoy it." Castor didn't buy into any of this, and immediately headed straight for the red and purple pair. He wasn't fool enough to take on the Queen of the Negaverse, not yet.
While he engaged, and surprisingly held his own against the two elite warriors of the Negaverse, Nealite and her guard had started to advance on Linarite. "Guys wait, you don't understand! It's me, Lina! I'm not a senshi, I'm not! I'm not!!!" She cried out, horrified and so deeply confused. Holding out her hands as if to stop them, she felt a welling up deep inside herself, and then her body exploded and ice shot from her hands to freeze the entire group from the waist down. All of them, all five, acted as if she'd done nothing more than call out the name of her attack, and with the upper hand Castor was satisfied. "Heaven's Fist!" He drove the ice-covered magical punch straight into the waiting face of Obsidian, and the crack of his skull and neck was clearly heard. The ice she'd made to encase him shattered, and his body fell limply to the ground as both Nealite and Tanzanite cried out their denials. Fierce, Castor nodded back at his little love and headed over towards Nealite. "Quick, you deal with Tanzanite, I'll take the other two." With those words, everything slowed.
Castor was running in slow motion, straight for Nealite who was trying to hack away at the ice. Hematite was doing the same, with more success but still quite frozen. Tanzanite looked as if she was about to sprout jet engines from her ankles and zoom out to kill them all, a look that when directed at Lina, broke her heart. "No, this is wrong. It can't happen like this! Castor you can't! You can't!" She was moving outside of time, or at least it felt that way, as she dashed over towards the Senshi of Hail, and railroaded him off his feet to sprawl beneath her as she straddled his waist. The look in his blue eyes looked as confused as she felt, and almost as if she had no control over her own body, her hand dove into his chest. It was a familiar feeling to the Negaverse Captain, and it triggered dark power. It rippled along her body, and she could feel the uniform flowing back into herself. None of that mattered, however, when she looked down at Sailor Castor.
Pain, fear, betrayal all marked on his features. Weakly, his hands rose to her shoulders and held her captive, her hand still deep inside of his chest with fingers wrapped around his seed. "I..I loved you..." A shattering sound, a scream, and she was wrenched back by the familiar feel of Khaldun's arms. The seed, still enclosed in her grip, came with it. A choking sound, a sigh, and Sailor Castor died on the cold ground. "What? No...I didn't want this either! No! Castor!" She screamed his name, the crystal in her hand reacting and radiating with a burning and blinding light. It was the last thing she felt, the burning and the sorrow before the light overcame everything. In bed, Audrey Collins finally opened her eyes, sunshine slanting across her vision and cheeks wet with tears. Gripped tightly against her chest was the penguin that he had given her, the only thing she had of him. Burying her face in his plush back, she gave in and screamed. In rage, in sorrow, but mostly in absolute terror that her dream had held more than a bit of her future.
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Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:32 pm
The sun slowly set on the girl standing stock-still in the center of the local community center, rosy colors fading to the deep blues and purples of twilight while her golden eyes simply lingered on the door Elzo Xanis had walked out not more than five minutes previous. Had he waited even an extra minute or two, he would've heard the soft, confused wail of a girl who had no idea what she wanted. "But they don't have a million dances!" The bluenette was all but shellacked by what had seemed almost planned on the boy's part. The dance lesson had gone better than she'd anticipated, the almost childish bent she'd given it keeping her emotions and interests in check while she did nothing but focus. When Audrey had asked him to prom and he'd revealed that a date was already in the plans, she'd thought that the friend zone was such a tightly cemented place that it would never move any further and she should stop wasting her energy on this ridiculous little crush. And then that.
There was a whole lot about that she didn't understand.
It was alright at first, she was so used to her male friends leering and joking that the lascivious devil face hadn't done anything other than make her heart thump lightly. Before she could do anything other than ask him what he wanted, he'd pulled her up, all but rubbed her against his thigh, and made that interesting offer against her ear. It had been shocking, almost appalling, and worst of all...she liked it. At the moment, she was blaming goddamn Khaldun Cilentani and his manhandling ways for making her enjoy that sort of thing. Naturally, it was all his fault and her own hormones had nothing to do with it because she just wasn't like that. Audrey Collins was a prudish kid who wore adorable dresses that an eight year old would enjoy and enough layers that a nun would heartily approve. She didn't like being grabbed and stroked and didn't like to think that maybe he'd just lean a little closer and nibble on her ear. Maybe kiss her neck, whisper a little more, nice things. Lovely things.
God damn it!
Frustrated now, and ramping up towards angry (though with who she couldn't say), the bluenette bounced from her chair and started to rummage around and find her sweater before someone came to figure out what the hell she was doing just sitting there and staring off into space. No dobut she looked like some mentally-challenged, star-struck twit. That was absolutely the insult to the injury (injury of what?) and she wasn't going to tolerate it! No sir! It took several rounds of swearing and one upending of her entire bag before she found it, balled down in the most recessive corner of the polyester lining. Nestled in there like it had been there all along, just screwing with her. At this point, Audrey was inarticulate and simply dumped everything back in the bag and stalked right out of the community center. Saturday night? She might not ever call him!
But odds are, she probably would.
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Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:13 pm
I did it! I did it, I did it, I did it! Okay, what is 'it' exactly? Let me tell you, dear darling piece of paper in a book that I refuse to call my diary. Not only has totally neglecting my social life for oodles of summer school lent to the fact that I am graduating high school almost a full year early, I have achieved the miraculous. I got accepted into Destiny City University! None of this Sovereign Heights School for Glaring Underachievers for me, no siree! I am going to go straight into the welcoming arms of the college atmosphere and float on the adoration of the mathematics department. I know there are other things I should also be doing like pesky English classes and I hear there are things called 'humanities' which sound dull as the grave and about as useful as one. But for me, there is nothing but the blissful logic of numbers. Numbers always fit where they should, always make sense when you want them to. There are no strange numbers that don't fit into a pattern, crazy numbers that do things that hurt you. Numbers can't ever hurt you. They always add up and are soothingly constant and equal every time. Numbers never change.
Unlike humanity, which is always changing, becoming more and more misshapen as time slowly crawls forward. More numbers, to explain why there are so many people in this world. Why so many are poor, why so many are hungry, why so many are cruel. Numbers to represent all the money that is lacking in the world, the numbers of people that think they suffer but live a life of luxury. But they realize how well they've lived when suddenly I am standing over them, my hand in their chest, ripping their soul from their bodies with nothing more than a smile and a cruel little laugh. Then the numbers all disappear as the life is snuffed out, and everything equals zero. Zero life, zero future, zero possibility of ever recovering what was now lost. That's my world, the beautiful and deadly edge that I dance upon every night. Mr. Gordon would read this right now and be shocked that I could be so poetic, but why would I waste my thoughts on an easy grade? Too many questions that I can't answer.
More numbers, that scholarship that came with my acceptance. I know mom and dad tried to do what they could for a college fund, but it didn't take an idiot to look around and realize that we weren't going to have the money by ourselves. So I did mathletes, wrote several papers with how much I loved math. Tried so hard on the standardized comprehension tests that I got almost perfect scores on the mathematics sections. Appealed to several foundations that take care of those of us who know what is really important in life, we who speak the language of numbers. A full ride, they're going to give me a goddamn full ride. All so that I can live out my dream and do nothing but surround myself with numbers. Numbers and death, who would have thought the two would fit so perfectly?
I have thought this, and tried to apply it as best I can. Now here I am, a Captain when I thought I would never be anything but a Lieutenant. It came with sacrifice. The number? One. One love. One boy. Just that small sacrifice and I can have all the power that I've ever wanted.
My resolve for this?
Zero.
Yet I've achieved something I set out to do long before I was a lieutenant, and long before there were senshi. I am going to be a mathematician. I will be brilliant. I will be powerful! And I did it without help from anyone else. That's where my power lies, and I'm going to harness that and make myself the best I know how to be. Infinite potential, I have you.
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Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 4:06 pm
All across town on the bus, Audrey's phone had been all but hopping straight out of her fingers with how often the slim piece of plastic vibrated with newly received messages. It hadn't taken more than five minutes full of laughter at the crazy messages being sent to her from Elzo, and it took only five more for her to realize that perhaps she probably sent her inquiry about his whereabouts far too soon. Apparently the elder Xanis was eager to see whatever it was she wanted to show him, and was trying desperately to guess what it might be with hilarious results. It had started tame enough, with maybe a picture or a new shirt. This graduated slowly to a new pair of underwear? It couldn't possibly be a new treat she'd discovered or there wouldn't be anything to show. There was one threat included that said if she had cut her hair, he was going to refuse to look entirely and go immediately into mourning. When the bluenette had touched her newly-styled hair protectively in shock, fingers had flown over the keyboard to reassure him that no, her hair was intact and safe.
Things had somewhat degenerated from there, culminating in such a brazenly ridiculous suggestion that she was perhaps naked under a simple trench coat that she started ignoring him entirely. After all, Hillworth was only three more stops down the line and the young woman was a bundle full of nerves. It didn't take an idiot to realize that most guys were into glamorous, buxom girls. Girls with big chests who liked to wear skintight clothes and heavier makeup than Audrey could ever consider wearing in her entire life. But really, she felt so absolutely pretty, a bit like Cinderella in the fairytale. Fallon had definitely been a bit of a fairy godmother, and now she was going to take chances. Make mistakes. Try her hardest to not get messy, because she looked so absolutely wonderful! Stepping down off the bus in front of her familiar haunt, she couldn't help but peer down at the toes of her simple black shoes and wish that she had indeed invested in a pair of fancier shoes before coming by. But in all, she looked better now that she had ever before her in her memory - ******** the shoes.
Elzo had, apparently, been just as impatient as his messages had suggested. Leaning against the stone wall of the school's front gate, he was already staring at her with those intense blue eyes she tried so hard to never stare directly into as nervously Audrey beamed and headed on over. Running as a mantra in her mind was the thought that she should not ruin this look by being a monumental idiot and blushing no matter how much she wanted to. Recalling to mind the ridiculous text messages, it was easier to smile and try to ignore the fact that the closer she got, the easier it was notice that the ever-chatty Hillworth student was absolutely silent and was staring more than a little. Stopping barely three feet away she beamed up at him and rocked on the balls of her feet, dropping her back and holding out her arms to show him the whole package. "See? This is what I wanted to show you!" One finger pressed lightly to her cheek and almost saucily she turned in a circle, trying to move slowly so as not to shake out the rippling waves of her sapphire hair.
She stopped, however, when Elzo finally spoke through a voice that was just a touch deeper than usual. "I think it's a nice surprise. Definitely unexpected." Resisting the urge to again chew at her glossy bottom lip, Audrey smiled hesitantly and lightly fluffed the ruffles over her bust, causing eyes to wander and she swore they were both blushing before she realized was her hand was absently touching and she dropped it with a quick jolt. "I'm glad you think so! I have a friend at Crystal who thought I was in tragic need of lessons on how to be female. So she polished me up a bit, removed some rough edges, and let me loose. To be honest, I feel a bit like Cinderella, and it'll vanish. Which is why I ran across town...I wanted to see if maybe it was better than normal?" Now the fidgets started, but a genuine smile still rested on her face as Elzo nodded and went to open his mouth, a moment before a look of irritation and apprehension crossed his face. Her own made-up face dropped into a look akin to horror at the sudden voice and presence behind her.
"Xanis, what the hell are you doing?" Gunn Killingworth was not entirely pleased to yet again find his agent with an unsavory element of the male species, especially a Xanis. ******** punks, and Elzo was the worse of the two. Options were weighed on the part of both boy and girl, and eventually it was Audrey who took the initiative and turned to beam up at the surly General King. "Mr. Killingworth! It's so nice to see you, I haven't see Mrs. Killingworth in awhile, please tell her I said hi?" The scowl only deepened before the bluenette leaned over and gave Elzo a quick kiss on the cheek and started to walk away, calling back over her shoulder. "I'll be sure to question you later, okay Elzo?" And with that, she was off and away, still exultant at the pleased look on Elzo's face that had vanished fairly quickly with the appearance of the Abominable Smokemonster. Fallon truly was a miracle worker!
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 2:58 pm
It was a common idea that teenagers needed less sleep than any other human on the face of the planet, they had the extraordinary ability to run on two to three hours at a time and otherwise use the time to stay up and do whatever it is that teenagers do into the wee hours of the am. For Audrey, it hadn't been hard to simply stay out all night doing what she did best, serving the Negaverse with all her heart and soul and shutting out all other facets of life. Slowly she was being consumed by the cause she had so eagerly championed, and the faces that had at first been so clear had blurred into simple colors and shapes. It was almost as if with her streak of violent nightmares, which became only more and more vivid, the reality was being leeched from her waking world. She felt hollowed-out inside, like her soul had finally fled her body and gone elsewhere. It was so hard to stay....awake...
It started innocuously enough, and were it not for the strange mix of people it would have seemed like any other day to her. An afternoon down at the IHOP, laughter ringing out along with teasing shouts and fake outrage, a joke that had met with universal approval. They were the loudest and biggest group and were earning more than a few glares from the older and more normal patrons that forgot how young and poor kids loved cheap all-you-can-eat pancakes. Almost everyone Audrey could easily label 'friend' was there - Fallon trying very hard to keep syrup from her clothing, Jada outshining everyone with her perfect and effortless beauty, Pasha was digging into the disgusting pile of Whocakes with their rainbow chocolate chips and blue melted frosting while Tallulah was running a mile a minute like she seemed to at the model UN. Something about cats? Audrey rarely kept up. Even Zac and Khaldun were there, though the former was almost as silent as the grave, and the latter was leering at Jada like he would rather eat her than the food placed in front of him. But what stood out clearest was Elzo, who had her wedged against his side and an arm around her waist; and Aree on the other side of her, whose monster arm was tangled in her hair and draped across her shoulders.
Sandwiched between the two, Audrey couldn't feel anything but warm and safe and it was so achingly wonderful that she sat in silence and listened to the buzz of voices all around, reveling in the comfort. Aree seemed almost joyful as she teased and taunted Khaldun, perhaps suggested that he was eying the wide-eyed, colorful Pavel instead of Jada. Khal simply retorted by flicking butter across the table at them both and it thankfully landed on the table with a light splat. More food arrived and the voices lulled in companionship with conversation flowing between bites of food and the occasional piece thrown between several people to the intense dismay of Fallon. There was a very good reason why she'd been seated next to Elzo, and not anywhere within reach of the rowdier few, though the bluenette couldn't recall at all why this was important. All she knew was that her head was on his shoulder, and her confidante's hand was all but cupped at the back of her neck and twirling the curls there idly.
Then, the sun shifted, and everything in the room started to take on an almost hazy quality, like a late summer afternoon. Stormy eyes were watching Audrey intensely and a cruel smirk lit up Aree's face, two words slipping from her lips to the girl's ears. "Ready now?" There was no need to ask what she was ready for, because suddenly, she was ready. What was she ready for? Why did she need to be ready for it? Audrey knew that she was about to do something, but had no idea what, and could not control her actions or even her own thoughts. There was not even any reluctance as she was disentangled from Elzo's grasp, and the arm all but plucked her from the booth to stand in the circle of it. Khaldun had also slid from the booth and was grinning widely, almost eagerly. Zac looked like he was about to be severely bothered, but followed Khaldun to flank the women on the other side, a male for each female. Sudden dread and foreboding stole across what little consciousness she was retaining, and Audrey was terrified. Horrified. The room spun, everything tilted, and suddenly the group was alone in the cheerfully cheap decor, four Negaverse agents and the terrified victims of their friendship.
"One's bound to be a senshi. With the track record you have, we might even have more than one." Tanzanite's tone was matter-of-fact and the happy facade she'd placed over her features was replaced by that cold hollowness they were all so familiar with. Zinkenite's face was also as grim and solid as it had always been, though he was nodding in consensus, almost as if this was an experiment and probability and her friends were dying on no more but a whim. Wait. Her friends? Dying? Really? Lured from complacency and noticing that Hematite was preparing to spring over the table and shove his hand straight into Jada Chamberlain's beautifully rounded chest, Linarite finally found the strength and conscious she had been looking for and threw herself out of the grip of that monstrous arm.
"Wait. What the hell are you doing?" Arms were spread wide in front of the table and though confused, Linarite's expression left nothing to think that she would allow anyone to take a step closer. It was all so fuzzy, had she agreed to this? It felt like she had, but she would never ever hurt her friends! Not Jada, not Fallon. Tallulah wasn't exactly a friend, but they met every now and then when Audrey had bothered to go to the model UN as a favor to Pasha. Pasha. God, she would never ever let anything touch her adorable adopted brother! Not ever, not ever. Elzo was already slowly rising from the booth, hand extended as if he would pull the blue-haired girl back down into the booth against him, and everything would go on as if they hadn't just spoken of killing everyone. Tanz, however, looked impatient.
"Don't pretend to be an idiot, it's beneath you, you agreed that one of them has to be a senshi. We're going to rip them apart until we find one." Though her tone clearly said that even if they weren't senshi, she was going to rip them apart anyway, and enjoy it greatly. Khaldun was the same, though Zinkenite was seeming as if this was going to be some great chore for him, and did he really have to be here? Curls tossed and shook in denial as she spread her arms wider and firmed up her tone, trying to not let the voice shake.
"No. No, I wouldn't agree to this. They can't be senshi, I'm done screwing around with senshi!" She'd learned that lesson with Castor, hadn't she? She had a normal boyfriend now! But her denial meant nothing and as she watched, chains clinked and Hematite held Jada's star seed in his hand. "No! Put it back! Put it back Khal!" She didn't even bother to use his Negaverse-given name, it wasn't him. Audrey didn't care about Hematite, she wanted Khaldun. But this only spurred him on, and Zinkenite moved into action, plucking the seeds from both Tallulah and Pasha in one move until both shone in his palms. Fallon had gone the same way as Jada, and the two were resting against each other almost peacefully. There had been no screams, there'd been no real violence. Quick grabs, and nothing else. "What are you doing?! You can't do this, I won't let you do this!" If she couldn't protect any of the others, she wouldn't allow Elzo to die. Not for her, no other person was going to die for caring about her! Why was it wrong to care about her?
It was not, unfortunately, going to work. Tanzanite's human hand grabbed Linarite's arm as she tried to turn and the youma arm had her by the neck. Terrified, she could only manage a sharp scream before it closed on her windpipe and very slowly started to increase pressure. "We are doing this. Stop being weak. You're weak, Linarite." There was no smile, no feeling, no recognition left in those deep gray eyes as the life was slowly wrung from the captain's body. Gloved hands tried to wrench the fingers away from her throat, dying for breath, dying for release. Dying. The world faded around her eyes, the color leeching away slowly, then the shapes. The last thing Linarite heard was her name being called out before it too fell to silence and a disgusted sound from Hematite.
"Not a single one..." The world faded to black, and everything exploded into white light.
"Aud....Audrey! Audrey! Audrey baby, wake up!" She was being shaken and a light slap came across her face as slowly dark gold eyes opened and looked up into the deeper brown ones of her father, worry and panic etched across his face before he gathered her up in a big hug. "God, don't do that again! You screamed like someone was killing you, and we came in, you were choking yourself!" Shaking hands reached up slowly, and felt the sides of her aching skin, feeling the scratches there and the already-forming bruises. Shock slowly set in and staring up at him, Audrey collapsed into her fathers arms to sob wildly.
"Daddy, oh daddy they killed them, all of them, just because they were m-my friends. I couldn't do a-a-an-anything, it's all my f-f-fault!" And worst of all, it could really happen. One day all of her friends might fall to the hands of the Negaverse, through no fault of her own, and she would be powerless to stop it. She should get out now, before she could form connections that might come back to haunt her. The problem was, it was too late. She already loved her friends so much, and was getting closer and closer to them every day, with every thought. It was just too goddamn late. As she wept stormily, Jason simply stroked her hair and tried to calm his only child, baffled and troubled at her night terrors and the reaction. When the Barren Pines incident had hit, they'd tried to force her to seek therapy. Having not been up at the school, he hadn't thought it necessary at the time. Now, he wasn't so sure. But that was a subject for the morning, and for now, all he could do was calm his child and help her through the night.
If Audrey could hear his thoughts, she would have cried only harder, knowing now that nobody could ever help her.
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:44 pm
There was always something about the suburbs that put a shiny coat of approachable paint on just about anything you could think of. Out in the suburbs, it was always a great amount of scandal and cause for every news crew around when it was found out that someone had a marijuana farm in their basement. Never mind that you were stuffing your kids full of additives and steroids through the food, everyone was going organic anyway, weren't they? That was the suburbs. So when you heard you were going to a therapist, you were mildly surprised to pull up in front of a building that looked like it should be holding offices for small private law firms, or perhaps a beginner's accounting shop. But it was apparently chocked full of those professionals that sucked your wallets dry while diagnosing every child that walked through the door with ADHD or depression simply because their parents didn't pay enough attention to them. This was Audrey's feeling as she carefully crutched her way into the elevator all the way up to the (gasp) second floor. Slowly down the hallway and her father, who had so helpfully taken the day off work to force his baby girl into this torture, held the door so that she could step into what was a truly typical waiting room. Fluorescent lights, hard chairs that were bound to make you run for the chiropractor (who was in the office building across the street), and magazines that probably only grandparents would ever read.
Jason stepped up to the glass to give their names, and the clipboard came out. How many times had they filled out that information, for how many doctors? The hospital was the most recent, but every child was susceptible to at least a cool dozen illnesses, most of them occurring almost annually like clockwork. For the patient herself, she was texting out furious messages to anyone who would listen, and even a few who would not. Right now Elzo, Jada, and Fallon received the brunt of these profanity-filled angry teenage rants, though she was updating Pasha as well in a much less colorful manner. You didn't swear at Pasha, he might fall over or have his purity ruined, or something equally dastardly like that. Audrey wasn't going to be that perpetrator, no siree. In all, she looked like just about every teenager that walked through the door; furious that they'd been dragged through this debacle, intolerant of shrinks in general because they read a bit too much Stuff on the Internet, and running underneath it all the desperate idea that all their secrets would be shamefully bared and shared with their parents. For most, this was simply that they were doing some drug, drinking on the weekends, or maybe had made a side-trip for Plan B more often than they anticipated.
Audrey, however, had secrets that ran a bit deeper. Running for Plan B, or hell even teen pregnancy! was quite a bit milder than the fact that in her spare time, she was a cold-blooded killer. No, she hadn't fallen down a flight of concrete steps, but off the edge of a building because she'd been ordered to kill her part-time boyfriend all because he had the wrong boss and wouldn't quit his job. She hadn't cried for three days because she was under house arrest until her parents could figure out what was wrong, she was crying because she was so frustrated with the idea that when she'd finally found someone who she liked, she'd had to go crazy on his a**. All because of the Negaverse, and her crazy desire to help people. No psychiatrist would understand that, and would as quickly ship her off to the funny house for a round of suppressive medication three times a day until she was as crazy as they made her out to be. Then she would never see DCU, never be able to immerse herself in the glorious world of mathematics. Never be able to one day show up that b***h Ursula. No, she was really going to have to avoid the questions, or lie extraordinarily. It was about time she learned, anyway.
Not too long after the clipboard had been returned, and both girl and daddy sat in awkward (on his part) and angry (on hers), a matronly woman who was roughly thirty-five years opened the door and looked expectantly at the bluenette through dappled brown eyes. "Audrey Collins? Oh my, you're a bit of a mess aren't you?" Oh yeah, this lady was definitely starting out on the right foot, and gold eyes swept her from head to toe in a glance that she had very recently picked up from one Mrs. Szelem Chamberlyn. It was unsettling, to say the very least, and while Audrey wasn't nearly as statuesque as Jada's mother, it still had somewhat of a desired effect. Some of the joviality lessened and tactics changed as slowly the teen crutched into hell.
Her first impression was disappointment. There wasn't a couch? Didn't all shrinks have couches so that you could lay back and be comfortable while you poured out your woe and tales of your awful childhood while they doodled stupid notes that never meant anything and eventually just prescribed some form of antidepressant flavor of the week? Instead there was just a fairly well-loved armchair that had probably been brought from someone's grandparents' house back when nuclear war was a viable threat, faded and covered with possibly the ugliest floral chambray possible. Was that green and orange?! Eying it uncertainly, she was nonetheless waived into it and her crutches were confiscated and propped against a wall out of easy reach while the game of Keeping Audrey's Secrets began in full force with an assessing look and another motherly smile. "Hello, Audrey. I'm Doctor Markowitz, it's a pleasure to meet you." Hands were shaken, and the teen was all polite smiles and responded to initial inquiries about her friends and hobbies with cool aplomb. It was easy to gush about adorable Pasha, Jada with her easy wealth and awkward friendship, Fallon and her incredible penchant for having a giant stick up her a** about anything being out of place or touched by the wrong set of hands. It was an endearing stick, however.
When it came to anyone else, however, things became tricker. For instance, how had she met Elzo and Zac? Oh really, why was she hanging out at a school for delinquent boys? Was she self-destructive? Was that how she fell down the stairs? That was when the bluenette absolutely exploded, jumping to her feet and forgetting about her leg which caused her to fall back into the chair with a cry of pain, but didn't stop the tirade. "Listen, doc. I was down at Hillworth because I was looking to deliver a note for a girl I go to school with. She has a secret boyfriend there, and I'm a nice sort of girl like that. Zac? He's not even five feet tall, and regularly gets shoved into closets until someone is nice enough to come looking for him or stumbles by and lets him out. That's how I met him. I highly doubt he could beat me up if he wanted." Especially seeing as she was his captain! There'd be a lot more at stake if he ever tried to lay a finger on her! "And Elzo? Elzo is great. You can tell that he's one of those guys who is a bit of a womanizer, but he doesn't push, you know? Just has a good time and enjoys life, but he's never laid a hand on me. I fell down the stairs because I was racing my friend Aree back to her place for movie night and misjudged the distance to the stairs. I tripped, I fell. What, you never ******** fell down before?" She was indignant with the fury of the righteous, red in the face and she was heard audibly all the way out in the waiting room where her father winced, and then contemplated who all these boys were that he'd never met. Mentally he made a note that he would ask his wife about it later, she knew everything there was to know about their daughter.
Not five minutes later the door flew open, and a florid teen stood there on her crutches with the shell-shocked professional behind her. "Dad, we're getting out of here. I want to go home, my leg hurts." And with inestimable dignity, Audrey Collins crutched right out of the office, leaving the adults staring behind her in her wake. Certainly, she put them in their place!
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Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 1:22 am
Spring was in full-force in Destiny City, and in the residential areas of the bustling metropolis you could all but smell the homeyness of it all. Flowers bloomed in front yard gardens, you could smell the fresh grass clippings in the air as husbands were sent out by their wives to be productive. This was no different in the Collins household, though with the fresh earthy scents also came the delicious waft of cinnamon and sugar. Jason and Shelley had retreated outside to playfully argue over yard work, their daughter claiming rights to the kitchen with the air of a general on the battlefield. Indeed, it was a bit like a war to the young woman, who'd never been exactly decent at cooking.
Oh it was easy to follow the instructions, and baking was easier than anything else, but it still lacked the flavor of her mother's dishes. Normally, Audrey would have simply begged and cajoled the older woman into simply doing it for her, but this was different. Eve had suggested the tried-and-true method of getting to a man through his stomach, and really, the teen couldn't help but agree that this was a sound proposal. So it was that on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, coated in flour almost to her elbows, that Audrey Collins was trying to snag herself the heart of one Elzo Xanis.
The menu? Cinnamon rolls, from scratch. There was a recipe that she'd found in her mother's cookbooks that looked easy enough, and she'd been walked through the process with reassurances that Shelley would be right outside if her daughter needed her. It was an odd feeling, not being exactly needed, but Audrey had been quick to reassure the woman that no, she was needed. After all, someone had to distract her father from asking too many questions! Like any strapping man of barely over forty, Jason Collins was incredibly inquisitive about any teenage boy that might sniffing around his only child, something that said child wanted nothing to do with. Especially since said boy had a bit more than sniffing on his mind, and didn't seem to have any regards to personal space or whatever audience might be present - proven at Jada's house that night. Audrey was still unsure that Fallon wasn't incredibly angry with both of the girls, and planned to take her a lovely trio of candles as an apology.
But that wasn't the real problem, oh no. The problem was that she was rapidly losing her boundaries as well. Almost absently, Audrey stirred together the ingredients for the icing as the secondary timer on the microwave beeped insistently that it was time to start. It was bad enough that him and his oddly twin-like brother had fallen over the wall in the middle of that ridiculous session of skinny dipping that she would regret until she died. Elzo had then not taken his hands off her the whole time, carrying her about and making scandalous suggestions about staying over in Jada's bed snuggled up to her.
Again, not the real problem, it had simply made her laugh and blush, while feeling horribly embarrassed for them both. And pleased, very pleased. That particular emotion wouldn't be admitted to anyone, however, not even Jada knew how happy she was about that whole aftermath. Buttermilk and cream cheese started to blend together into creamy chunks as she stirred, it was so easy that her thoughts wandered again with a bit of a dreamy and dejected sigh.
It was at the ball when things had taken a turn for the best? the worst? the place where Audrey had definitely not wanted to go so fast. The night had been beautiful, string music pouring out of the house and tiny lights in almost every bush to make it seem as if you were walking through a garden of stars. The moon had been full, and the weather was warm enough that her saree had been adequate coverage. Heels had been quickly abandoned once the pair were out on the path, the bluenette sighing with pleasure as her burning, aching feet hit the cool paving stones leading out into the myriad of plant life that were the Chamberlyn estate gardens.
Really, it was breathtaking. Elzo had even initially behaved himself, letting her lean on him to walk in lieu of crutches and keeping the pace slow in pity for her infirmity. The catalyst had been when her leg had surprisingly given out with a cramping spasm, making her cry out in pain and go towards the ground, but he was there again, lifting her up as easily as the night before with concern. It had been so romantic! How could she resist? Peering down into the bowl, it seemed that she'd whisked out almost all of the lumps and paled just a bit before snatching up the recipe, taking a deep breath and realizing that it would all be okay.
Sugar was poured over the white mix and stirring resumed as slowly Audrey's memory continued its interrupted trip down memory lane into the previous weekend. Elzo had gone hunting for the nearest bench, injured Audrey cradled in his arms with the most mortified look she could summon up on her face. It was the third time in less than twenty-four hours, and that was ridiculous. Soon, the guy was going to think that she was deliberately playing up her rather tiresome injury just to get his hands on her! This had caused her to sit up and stammer out. 'Listen, Elzo, I'm really so sorry about this! I swear, I would toss off the brace and run around the gardens if I could, I am soooo sorry!' All she'd gotten in return was a reassuring grin and a joke about how this was nicer, because then he could take her wherever he wanted, how did she feel about kidnapping?
Thankfully, he'd only felt the need to kidnap her into one of the smaller gazebos off the beaten path, where there were not as many lights and you could barely see the house. She'd wondered, at the time, had they really walked so far? Or had her crush deliberately brought her out here? But for what reason?
The whisk picked up in speed and the force behind it got much harder as Audrey's face flamed at what happened next. They'd said a few things, not a whole lot, mostly the young woman apologizing again, then trying so hard to find something worthwhile to say. Eventually, spontaneously, it seemed like a suitable topic of conversation to mention the fact that now, finally, she had pierced ears. God. Pierced ears? Even now she was groaning aloud at the choice, but somehow, it had set off everything. 'Are you even looking?' she'd said, turning her head, and staring right into the deepest pair of blue eyes that the girl had ever seen. They were almost midnight blue in the darkness of the gardens, a shade deeper than her own hair was. Burnished gold eyes had drooped into heavy lids as she felt her face flame up, and when she'd tried to wiggle off his lap, strong hands held her in place. Elzo wanted here there. For a girl with an insane crush, it was almost too much and she'd nearly squealed. Squealed! It was impossible to know who had moved first, her or him, but then they'd been kissing. It wasn't their first kiss, if the accidental one outside of her house at six am after their disastrous dancing counted, but it was the first one they'd chosen.
Audrey'd been hesitant at first, unsure of herself. But as it continued, and the object of her affections didn't draw back, it had grown and grown. Somehow her saree'd fallen off her shoulder to reveal bruises and scrapes deemed 'unseemly' by the Chamberlyn Dragon, arms ended up wound around each other. Alone, not missed by anyone, it had started getting dangerous. They were, after all, teenagers. Teenagers with hormones, and a mutual attraction that had been fought for quite some time. Why had they been fighting it? Audrey couldn't remember then, and didn't care, throwing herself at the Hillworth student as if she'd never had a body issue. As if modesty was simply a word in the dictionary, and innocence was for younger girls, something she certainly was not. But when his hands slid down her sides and, for lack of any other term, he groped her inside her saree, Audrey had all but jumped back out of his arms and her skin. Nobody had ever put hands on her like that before, not even Khaldun. Not even Castor. And that was when everything had fallen apart, at the thought of Sailor Castor, the senshi she loved. Had loved? Still loved?
'Stop. No.' Hands had shoved at Elzo and she'd slid off his lap with only an unwilling groan showing his displeasure at the idea. Even still, he'd snagged the edge of her saree so she didn't disappear entirely, as if she could have. Instead Audrey sat again on the edge of the bench and took deep breaths to slow her heart rate before speaking again. 'Don't take this the wrong way, but we are doing this way too fast. I'm rebounding. I know you're rebounding, I talked to Eve. We can't do this, we'll regret it.' Much later probably, but they would regret it, and she would never speak to him again. It was just how she was, running away from her problems instead of facing them, her throbbing leg a reminder.
Elzo hadn't said much, hadn't done much except slowly walked in silence with her back to the house. Jada hadn't come back to her room yet, or had left again, who knew. All she remembered was another light kiss, a goodnight, and the older Xanis had turned on one shiny heel to disappear back into the dwindling crowd.
Pulling the rolls from the oven now, the teen arranged them to cool and sighed. She hadn't seen him since that night. He didn't reply to her text messages, hadn't returned her calls, nothing. It was like he even was hiding when she went down to Hillworth, ostensibly to meet Zac and Demetri for their weekly meeting behind the gym. Elzo Xanis had quietly disentangled himself from her life, and she missed him.
It hadn't taken much to phase and teleport home with her things, nobody had noticed she'd even gone until almost four am when her phone had lit with Jada's phone call wondering where she was and how she'd gotten there. The easy excuse was a cab, and she'd fallen into a deep sleep plagued yet again by nightmares. Always the nightmares. Tapping a fingertip into the bowl and licking the white cream off, lips curved. It was edible at least, if not orgasmic like the ones at Shufflepuck's. They suited her purpose, and Elzo didn't have to eat them.
The buns were packed into plastic, drizzled liberally with the mixture while still warm, and the lid was pounded down on them to keep the heat in. Hopefully they were at least lukewarm by the time she got across town to Hillworth, and tossing off her apron to pull down the hem of her spring dress, she checked it for splatter. Finding none, feet slid into her rainbow heels and for the first time in a very long time, Audrey Collins left the house with a simple white plastic purse in lieu of a messenger bag. She wasn't leaving anything to chance, and looked her best to go snag herself a date. With any luck, Elzo Xanis wouldn't know what the hell hit him! With more, she'd actually get one of the cinnamon rolls. Giggling nervously, tossing a wave to her parents, the girl squared her shoulders and started her walk for the bus. Audrey wasn't giving up that easily!
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 1:28 am
Audrey was, in general, a fairly patient young woman. Lately, however, she had been unendingly impatient for two things - one were Saturday nights with Elzo Xanis, two was that burning need in her palms to feel the power of a senshi's starseed. Things were working out better and better between the pair as using her cousin Victoria as an excellent excuse to leave the house earlier, the bluenette met her rather affectionate and feely 'friend' Elzo at the Shufflepuck. They always popped in for a bite there, because then not long after that, she was slinging a slim leg over the side of Marlo's bike for a roaring fast ride out of town. It was always chancy at this time of night, but they didn't care. They never got caught, after all!
Then, for hours, the pair would lay out under the dual sets of stars: those of the sky and those of Destiny City far off in the distance. Through careful ninja looting of her mother's oldest storage bins Audrey had accrued a small, yet suitable surplus of blankets to lay over the hard ground so that they might simply lay shoulder-to-shoulder and talk.
Elzo would tell her about Italy, and his father's company, though he glossed over mention of his own parents still. Audrey reluctantly and disdainfully spoke of Courtland, or as she called it - Hickland, and the unfortunate reason she had no siblings. He taught her what little Italian he knew and the best way to sneak in and out of Crystal, she taught him all about WoW while fending off his disdain of mathematics until they fell asleep, Audrey cuddled up against the taller Hillworth student.
In all, it was the best night of Audrey's week, and when the sun rose in their faces on Sunday morning she hated going home. They'd been on one or two dates, but nothing serious, and he always kissed just her cheek when sending her back inside to wave at her slowly accepting parents. Jason had, at first, been wary of a Hillworth boy, but after a few outings had relented. Audrey was happier than ever, though she didn't show it nearly as much as she felt it in typical Audrey fashion. Strangely, however, that Sunday morning was quiet. There was no soft rock playing on the radio, the coffee pot hadn't been touched, and it was well past nine am. Her mother might have been abed that long, but her father never slept that late.
"Mom? Dad? I'm home!" No response. Puzzled even more, the bluenette took the stairs two at a time and knocked on the closed bedroom door. Again, no response, which caused her to worry just lightly. For some reason, Zinkenite's words about what had happened to his cousin's family were pressing against her brain, but were quickly banished. Everyone in the Negaverse knew her family, knew her. There could be no mistakes here! "Hey, cover up, I'm coming in guys!" The teenage voice was overly loud, and stepping into the room, Audrey froze.
Nothing looked out of place with Shelley, she was simply deeply asleep in the bed. Almost too deeply asleep. The true concern was the fact that in the middle of the bedroom, as if he'd been walking to bed, was her father face-down. "Dad? Dad?!" Audrey flashed quickly to Linarite, and without even another word, her hand shoved its way between Jason's shoulder blades, and she sagged with relief. No, he still had his starseed. Shelley got the same treatment, before their daughter powered down, and started to panic. What was wrong, if it wasn't supernatural? What could have happened? They were breathing, hearts beating...what happened?
The first and most reasonable thing was to call 911, right? That's what you did when someone was sick, they taught you that in kindergarten. Bad things always equaled 911. In a flash her cell phone was out and the numbers flashed into the screen, fingers jamming the green button frantically.
'911, what's your emergency?'
"My parents! They've collapsed and are breathing and alive, they're not bleeding. I don't know what's wrong!"
'Another one? Miss, please stay put and make sure that your parents are in a safe place where they cannot be hurt further. Paramedics will be around as soon as possible to attend to them.'
This puzzled her, there was more of this occuring? Stammering, she gave her name, their names, her address. The line was disconnected brisquely, and Audrey was left staring at her cell phone and with intense worry at her paternal units.
Now what? Now, now she called the first person in her head - Elzo Xanis. Her mind passed over Victoria entirely, forgetting that her cousin was in Destiny City, bewildered mind searching for someone strong that she could lean on. Usually that was Aree, but she couldn't leave to find the young woman. Andrew wasn't even remotely a consideration. There was only Elzo. It was a brief conversation, he hadn't even reached Hillworth in the span of time it had taken Audrey to find her parents and call 911. It was the longest ten minutes of her life as she waited for the front door to open, and a broken voice called out. "Up here!"
Still wearing his leather jacket and carrying his helmet, the first thing Elzo's ocean eyes caught when he looked in was his pseudo-girlfriend, sitting on the edge of her parents' bed, looking like her world was falling apart. Amber eyes were shining behind a sheen of tears, and as he stepped inside, she simply hopped up and threw herself into his arms. It didn't take long before she started crying softly against his chest, trying to muffle the sobs with her fist. Nobody liked a crier, but sometimes, sometimes you just had to cry! Elzo wrapped his arms around the distraught Audrey, eyes taking in the room while stroking her blue curls and lightly pushing his face comfortingly against her neck.
There was no real time for talking, so he simply took in the room - he'd never been inside the Collins house before. Shelley's decorative sense ran heavily to florals and pastels. Combined, they had vomited all over the bedroom. The carpet was a soft shell color, and the curtains were patterned with large and bright pink roses. Several other mismatching prints covered the bedspread, chair, and pillows on the window seat. The sheets themselves were a minty color, and with the petite blond woman lying amongst them, she looked much like a sleeping princess. It wasn't hard to see where Audrey got her looks, they were almost exact in features. It was almost morbidly out of place, however, to see the man lying bare-chested on his back where his teen daughter had rolled him in the dark navy-blue pants, asleep like he'd simply chosen to lay there the night before.
The crying had slowed after a few minutes, and now Audrey was simply curled in against Elzo, refusing to look back at the odd scene. It took his hands on her petite shoulders, pushing her back, to get those lovely wet amber eyes looking at him. "Audrey, what happened? Are you okay?" She nodded once, before grabbing his wrist and pulling him behind her out of the bedroom. She couldn't bear to see her parents like that, and instead pulled the older Xanis into her room down the hall. The window was even still open from the night before. Flopping onto the daybed and keeping his hand in hers, she relayed the story almost nervously, a hand running through her curls the whole time. That lasted for about thirty whole seconds before Elzo simply sat down, and pulled her into his lap to stroke her hair some more and comfort the poor girl.
He wasn't so distracted by her talking, however, that notice of her room layout escaped his mind. Elzo took in the tree location, how close it was to the window, and that her bed was nearly up against it. That would be helpful...but not today.
The paramedics found them like that, almost half an hour later, talking about unrelated and unconsequential things to pass the time and calm her poor nerves. Really, Audrey was unendingly grateful for the distraction and rested her heavy head on the strong shoulder provided as she spoke, eyes closed as she tried to fight back the panic. They were her parents. They never fell. Only once had it been this dire, and it was not long after Braeden died. Her mother'd gone away for a few weeks then, and hearing the sirens outside the window brought that memory back. That caused Audrey's eyes to shoot open and she almost started out of Elzo's lap, but he held her tight. But no, they would have been dead by now if Shelley'd tried to kill herself again. That was a slight comfort, but the information was relayed to the paramedics almost instantly.
Yes she was usually in poor health, but they hadn't wanted to hear it. It was almost as if taking one look at the stricken adults, and the paramedics had sighed and one nice man looking to be in his mid-thirties came to talk to poor Audrey Collins as her parents were gurneyed out. "Miss Collins, I hate to tell you, but your parents seem to have been stricken with the same thing most of the city's caught. We're putting everyone down at Memorial, you can come find them there later." Weary eyes took in Elzo for a moment before continuing on. "Are you over eighteen? He your relation somehow? We gotta gather up the kids who aren't of age, Crystal Academy and Hillworth are taking them in for now." That caused her to blink for a few minutes, and Audrey shook her head.
"No, he's my boyfriend." It was easy enough to say now, the simplest explanation. "I have a cousin who attends Crystal however, I can uhm...I can stay with her." Fat chance of that. She was staying in her own goddamn house, and they couldn't stop her! But complacency was the best way to work with things, and Vicky wouldn't want the intrusion. God. What was she going to tell Vicky? What if Vicky had been stricken too? Rubbing hands over her face, overwhelmed again, the blue-haired teen fought back more tears. "Thanks very much for all your information. I'll ah....I guess I'll go down to the hospital as soon as I can find a ride." Grateful for the lack of scene, the paramedic patted her shoulder like she was a very good girl, and walked right back down the stairs.
The air brakes could be heard releasing, and the ambulance ponderously drove away down the suburban street. Audrey couldn't hear a thing, she'd already collapsed again, soaking Elzo's shirt that much more. What had happened to Destiny City?
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 1:32 am
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Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:17 pm
It wasn't easy, sneaking into the Negaverse. There were always dozens of youma eyes, the eyes of captains who had come to the subspace to train their personal youma, and most dangerous of all: the Queen. Normally Linarite would not risk the wrath of her dread Queen, but there was something very, very important that needed to be done. It wasn't hard to order those prying eyes away from the room and away from the object which she'd come to see, that great crystal that dominated its own pedestal to the right of the throne. The left was bare, a warning and a reminder of what happened when you displeased the queen, telling you that there was always room for more.
But the pedestal was wide and low to the ground, low enough that the general easily hopped up on it. For a long moment she simply regarded the tall man who held his rather pregnant wife close in his arms, a look of profound confusion touching across elfin features. What had happened to possess Charonite to give up everything he'd had, everything he'd been working for, simply to have his wife and daughter? There was also a touch of jealousy - certainly the blue-haired young woman wasn't given that option with the boy she'd loved.
It probably helped that Nealite wasn't a senshi. Probably helped quite a ******** lot, really.
It was the natural progression for Linarite's eyes to slide down the chunk of crystal to the vibrant woman who had been her nemesis throughout the ranks - Nealite. She'd finally attained the rank of general as well, though it had been always secondary to the fact that she housed the power of the Negaverse's queen deep isnide her body. Secondary at least to her comrades! No doubt she'd been excited about achieving what was the pinnacle of service for any officer of their glorious faction. Though lately, it seemed as if the glory had dimmed somewhat. It shone just as brightly to Linarite and she understood the goal now more than ever. Yet with the queen in her own body, without the human morals of Ursula and the restraints of human ties....a sigh echoed in the room.
Slowly, General Linarite pulled her gloves off and stuck them in the waist of her new decorative belt before placing a slim hand on the crystal in front of her. "I hope you remember this when you wake up. I feel sorta stupid, coming in here and talking to a hunk of crystal but...oh geez. Listen, it was really sorta shitty of you to just run off and get pregnant even if you were married, didn't you know she was gonna do this? What good are you guys now? All your posturing and your damn acts of how much better you were than me, what good are they?" Though the words were spoken with a passionate fervor, the volume had never gone above a whisper.
You never knew who was listening.
Unable to look any longer but with much more to say, Lina leaned her back and head against the crystal with a palm still flat against it. "Wolf lost an eye to Castor. You know what that means for me, don't you? It's my fault. Not that you'd understand that, what did you ever lose? You gave Tanz her arm back, but she's losing it again. She misses you....though I'm not even sure she realizes yet what's happened. Obby...well. I haven't seen Obby since his girlfriend fell asleep." It was almost like a social visit, informing a family member what the others were up to while they were away at college, or on vacation. The only sound were even breaths, before one hitched almost brokenly.
"I ******** hate you Ursula Johnson. I shouldn't miss you." Then there was true silence, the room empty save for a pair of lovers who looked at each other and were assured that everything would be alright. Linarite only wished that she could feel the same anymore.
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Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 6:16 pm
This was the most harrying, embarrassing, tedious job that Audrey could have possibly gotten. Not only had the first group of maze challengers come out of the place wailing about how terrifying it had been (babies), but a worker had been found knocked-out in the maze. They'd had to pause then to remind everyone that this was a haunted maze and it was scary! Part of that scare were actors jumping out at you, and it was totally immoral to simply attack them. Audrey personally disagreed and would have happily stuck her hands in the chests of every single person that came past her expecting a smile tonight!
One person, however, she was willing and waiting to give a smile to. Elzo'd gone into the maze, but hadn't come out. At least, she hadn't seen him! Several text messages had gone to his phone with no reply, causing the bluenette to pluck more irritably at her pigtails as the night wore on. It was especially pleasing to throw out one drunken trio of guys who thought it was a great dare to smack her on the a** on the way in.
It was well after the crowd had dispersed, and the maze closed when finally, finally, Audrey Collins heard the voice of one of the four people in the world she wouldn't actually punch out in that very moment. That was, until she saw who he was with, and what he was doing. It was clear to see that this young woman was one of those delightful types that thought that Halloween was for letting her a** hang out no matter how cold it was, dressed in heels that were kept best in a strip club, and the sort of nurse's uniform that would have made Victoria proud.
That was bad enough.
Worse was when Elzo wrapped his arms around the girl and each of them kissed the other fully. Sure, it was only on the cheek, but Audrey had an active imagination, low self-esteem, and a guilt complex a mile high. So in her mind, hands wandered down and grabbed that nearly-exposed white a**, and the kiss was a little closer to the girl's lips than she would ever like. And their voices! It was bedroom-worthy if ever she'd heard such a thing! The bluenette had not a whole lot of experience on how bedroom voices sounded, but she knew his.
Oh boy, did she know his.
Turning sharply on her cowboy booted heel, Audrey tossed her hat onto the table and wrenched out her pigtails with anger. Forget him! Elzo was obviously pre-occupied with something a bit more important to him than his girlfriend, and wouldn't miss her tonight!
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Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:40 pm
When you were nervous, it always seemed as if time stretched indefinitely in front of you. While Audrey had been sitting on the edge of her friend's bed, guarding the vulnerable body that was empty while the soul of Tanzanite fought in Elysion, time had seemed to fly by. But when she'd looked down at her cell phone to answer a text message from a classmate, only half an hour had passed. Half an hour that she had stared down, anxious, and watched the bruises pass over the skin of Tanzanite's sharp face.
More than once the teen had found herself reaching out to almost lightly touch one of those high cheekbones gently, as if she could do something about the ache Aree would wake to. All the time when she hurt, Audrey wanted to do what she could do for any other friend. Simply gather them close and find a way to soothe the aches in any way possible. For Zink it was taking him a book and a small panda to add to his collection. Wolf liked to talk about beating up Castor, and Vicky just wanted something shiny.
Audrey had no idea how to be a comfort to the woman who had the darkest path to walk, and it tore at her constantly. Hell, she could even comfort the damn youma arm, but not its host.
Unable to watch any longer without intervening and potentially waking the dreamer, fingers yanked brutally at her blue curls and she stalked away. Homework kept the mind busy and off things she couldn't help or change. Homework kept her moving towards the dream that none of them but her could see. One day everything would be blissful utopia and they could all thank her for seeing this world. One day.
Later, she wouldn't remember another hour passing slowly as winter. Later, she wouldn't remember getting up and sleepily stretching out as lightly as possible next to the amazon fighter. Perhaps she had really been tired, maybe she just wanted to reassure herself that nothing was going wrong, but if truly asked...maybe she just wanted to be close. To prove that she could be. Audrey would remember none of this as her mind slipped into sleep and she dreamed.
---
Great crystals of deep purple dominated the space, the floor made of what looked to be obsidian but far clearer in its transparency. It was almost as if the girl sitting on the floor could look through it and see the Hell that existed for them all when they died. Linarite leaned forward from where she sprawled on the floor and pressed her hands to the coolness of it, lifting them to her cheeks and smiling so oddly. Curls fell forward, wild, tangled, far longer than she remembered them being.
Everything seemed more than she remembered it, like her world had somehow shifted and the Negaverse general were looking at things with whole new eyes. Her power felt skewed as arms lifted inside of her coat and realized the fabric was lighter. More flowing, but darker somehow and torn in several places. No, not torn. Banded with blackness all down her arms and criss-crossing her chest like some sort of growth that was consuming her. Hands slid up her cheeks and felt the band on her forehead -- a diadem of pure dark energy.
None of the thoughts towards her attire stayed long for the place she was in was so very interesting that she couldn't keep a single thought for long. It felt like the great room of the Negaverse, but changed and deepened. A darker power than Charonite or Beryl resided here and ruled with an iron fist. Like the thought had summoned the power a black, clawed hand tangled in the wild mass on Linarite's head and tugged it around to swivel and look it in the face.
Tanzanite's face.
The emotion that suffused the girl at seeing those clear gray eyes look at her with the purest malevolence and evil could only be called purest relief and...love? The youma arm slid down the young woman's whole body now, showing where the cloth had been torn or cut away in the leather bodysuit. The same darkness criss-crossed her human side as well and in greater frequency than on her little pet. For that was what Linarite was now, a pet to the Queen of the Darkness. All she wanted in this world was to lay her head against that dark knee and feel the stroke of hands in her curls.
It was her world.
It was her life.
Closing golden eyes with a sigh of happiness and relief, arms wrapped around strong calves. A voice familiar and recognizable as her own but not quite the same was reverent and filled with joy. "I live for your glory." Against her knee rested Linarite's temple and the darkness shared on their bodies pulsed and bonded together. They were tied by darkness, tied by power, mistress and minion. Life was glorioius, she need nothing more.
---
Golden eyes flew open, lips parted as breath rasped through them. There was a great weight on Audrey's chest and she rolled onto her side to look straight into Aree's gray eyes. The darkness was there and unbidden, something rose inside of her. No. Not inside of her, that was the dream. What was that dream? Catching her breath as if Aree being awake was what had bothered her, Audrey sat up.
"You're awake!"
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 9:41 pm
February was a pretty shitty month. No, really, I'm talking the shittiest of shitty. I thought things couldn't get worse than around Christmas when that weird snow lady showed up and tried to freeze the entire city. I didn't think it could get worse than watching Tanz all but crucify Castor on her ice. I didn't think it could get worse than listening to him trot out our secret to her so that she now thinks I've betrayed her somehow.
I was pretty wrong.
Things have snowballed. No that's not a cute joke, we're more in a war now than we ever were. Whatever the senshi are doing in Elysion it has to be stopped, and we're supposed to stop them. Stop them from doing what though? It seems like not even the Priestess, who by the way is a damn senshi herself, wants them there. So...what gives? Why are we getting so hurt for this?
Why do I keep questioning this? I look down at my feet and there's a woman lying here who doesn't belong. Her body is limp and fallen and cupped in my hands is the burning force of her life. We're not really supposed to do this anymore because the casualties need to be kept to a minimum. Whatever Beryl is doing requires energy more than life, but I require life more than energy.
It's not like Tanzanite who requires it to even remain human but I think that if I stopped taking lives to supplement my own, I would become...something inhuman. Something more horrible than either of us could think of. I don't want to be that, do I? But how can I be sure what I'm doing is the right thing if I don't test the boundaries of it?
When did I become so weak? So unsure? Do I want to put this star seed back and pretend like it never happened? Like I've never had this weakness inside of me?
What if Tanz finds out?
So instead of doing what I have always known was right and putting the star seed back into this poor, fallen woman, I put it between my lips and I swallow. The rush of life flies through my body and the doubt is gone. I am powerful, I am wonderful, I am saving the world from these intruders that force us to do things so horrible as having to take lives to keep our own.
They must be stopped.
I am General Linarite of the Negaverse and I will stop them. Won't I?
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:41 pm
Pain was a world of its own. Linarite had never really understood the pain that her friend had gone through when Kunzite had split her body in two with his sword, but in this moment she understood perfectly. Everything was fractured and coated in jagged red at the edges, both oozing more and cracking ever so slightly at the edges with every breath. The guise of Linarite had faded with the expulsion of every iota of power in the general's body and only Audrey Collins remained lying in the ambulance bay of Destiny City Memorial's Emergency Room, life seeping out into a puddle beneath her.
She had wished with everything in her for someone that could save her life. Apparently somewhere deep inside that had translated to using what little energy remained and teleporting to a hospital? There was only breath left for a rough, wordless cry towards the doors before the bluenette collapsed again into that inky, shattered blackness where only pain remained.
---
Inside the ER, it was a slow night. You got your general run-of-the-mill victims drained of all their energy in random fashion, a few drug deals gone wrong with knives, some of the high fevers, and one car wreck gone mildly bad. There were speed limits for a reason, but nobody ever seemed to really grasp that concept. Well it kept them in business, at any rate. Several of the students and even one of the residents were idly going over charts when they heard something that wasn't quite a normal moan.
It was a cry of pain. Outside.
Inquisitive, the senior of the group got up and went to look out into the bay. What he saw there had him starting almost immediately and grabbing at the traditional white coat of his profession. "Get a gurney right now! I need a full team to the ER and call surgery! Did any of you hear a car?" There was frantic questioning that made no sense after that and the team rushed in to aid the teenager. "Weak pulse, sorta thready, she looks like she's lost a lot of blood. Goddamn there's a lot of blood. Someone type it, hurry and get her up!"
She didn't make a sound and that petite body was moved onto a gurney as she was quickly tubed and hands assessed her injuries. "One in the right lung, I think it's collapsed and then in the lower left. Get surgery down here immediately, she's not going to last if we don't stop this." Coats, scrubs, coveralls, gloves were all soaked with the rich red blood of Audrey Collins who, had you asked anyone that knew her, had nothing worth killing for.
---
It hurt. Everything hurt. Unable to give her morphine for fear of sending her too far under, Audrey could feel the initial probing of those hands inside of her wounds. There had been no sound, no movement, nothing to signal that she wanted to scream until her voice was gone with the pain of that. 'Stop. Please. You're hurting me!' But they were trying to save her and then, suddenly, blessed darkness.
But at the end of that darkness was...something. Someone? A girl that was so achingly familiar and comforting that all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around that strong form and be at peace. That was before she was wrenched backwards again and the pain started one more time. Would it never end? Was that her curse? Her Hell, to forever feel the pain of Taranis' attack? Was that what you got for trying to help?
Why was she even trying?!
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:43 pm
At the Collins household at 2:17am the phone started ringing. It rang almost seven times and was about to click over to the machine when a groggy Jason answered, angry and then bewildered. "Audrey? What...DCM?!" Shelley had been dozing and ready to snuggle up against the man she'd been married to for almost nineteen years when her eyes shot open and her body went rigid with fear. "Audrey? What happened to her? Jason!" A strong hand reached out to stay the flood of emotion and noise as he listened carefully and then nodded.
"We'll be there immediately. Thank you." Very carefully, like it would shatter if dropped, Jason Collins put the phone back on the receiver and turned to his wife. His face was deathly pale and it looked that if he even broke composure for two minutes everything would fall apart. He knew what to do in situations like this and wished he didn't. Wished he had his son in the room downstairs sleeping and his baby girl in her bed down the hall where she belonged. But his son was dead and Audrey needed them now.
"Baby be calm. Something happened to Audrey and they're not sure what. They found her outside the Emergency Room and they told us to get there as soon as we can." Hands grasped her smaller ones and he kissed them lightly. "I know it's going to be hard baby, but we have to go. I need you to get dressed, real simple and quick, and then we'll go okay?" This was going to be bad. Shelley had horrible phobias of the hospitals from when they had woken up in them earlier this year, combined with the three babies and then...well. Then.
The blonde woman nodded and paused for a moment before getting out of bed. "Oh. You forgot..." Crawling across the bed she picked the phone again off the receiver and hit the first number on the speed dial -- Elzo Xanis. "Hey Elzo honey. Listen to me very carefully okay?" There was the same bewilderment but his voice was wide awake. No doubt he stayed up until Audrey came home, but tonight she was late. Very late.
"We just got a call from the hospital that Audrey is there. We don't know what's goin' on but thought you should meet us there. Don't speed or anything but get there as soon as you can, okay sweetie?" The tone was as soft and motherly calm as Mrs. Collins could make her voice. Audrey had said a few times that her poor boy didn't have much of a normal home life and Shelley was more than happy to smother him with motherly affection and guidance. It also gave her something to focus her panic on, which was more important.
There was a similar call for Victoria in the car as Jason jingled the keys impatiently in his hand and was silenced with a rather piercing glare from his wife. Of course she wanted to get there but the children were important. Shelley knew better than her husband that two years ago if this had happened, there would have been no one else to call. She was pleased that there were these people that could care enough to be there and heavily wanted the support if things were truly as bad as her mind was making them out to be.
They all arrived almost at once. Jason, Shelley, Elzo, Victoria...and Aree Cadence? The young woman with the wild purple hair and dark-rimmed eyes was stalking around the family waiting room like a caged panther waiting to strike at the first target. Had Elzo called her? They had met her once or twice but nothing really all that frequent and sometimes it seemed like she had been a bit of a bad influence. But her care for Audrey was rather obvious in the way she looked towards the door into the surgery area every two seconds, body tensing before she started to stalk about again.
Willing to leave his wife and what was probably going to be his future son-in-law in each other's care, Jason went to the nurse and asked for a status update giving his name, relation to the girl, and other minor details to prove that he was indeed her father. The nurse looked through the charts and her eyes went distant in a horrible moment before she put on the falsest smile he'd ever seen and asked him to wait for the doctor -- who would of course be out in 'just a minute'.
For once, she was right.
A surgeon in blue scrubs came through the doors quietly and looked into the waiting room. "Mr and Mrs Collins?" Aree's profile sharpened on the man like a hound on the scent and she edged closer as Elzo barely looked up from the floor and Victoria just stared blankly. They hadn't been able to see her yet, that meant it wasn't good. If everything was alright they would have been able to see her by now, wouldn't they?
"Your daughter was severely injured. We're not entirely sure how but she had a punctured right lung and her left kidney was, I'm sorry, inoperable. We had to remove it to stop the bleeding. A few bones in her hand are rather finely broken and she has a crack in her left femur that should repair itself with time. She did arrest on the table for forty seconds while we were exploring to try and stop the bleeding. She responded well and we think, with time, she will recover." Shelley had almost immediately burst into tears and Jason wrapped an arm around her.
It was easy to see the doctor was not comfortable with this. Grieving families were always the worst but she was alive...wasn't she? "So she's not dead?" Aree was the first one to summon the courage to ask that question, grey eyes intent on the man like she might rip out his spinal cord if he gave her an unsatisfactory answer.
"She's alive but not quite responding. We have her heavily sedated but think she may be in a kind of restorative coma. There was so much trauma to her body that sometimes a patient who has rarely been hurt before in this manner will retreat to heal. We think this is what has happened here, that her body is keeping her asleep to deal with the worst of it before she wakes up. It's promising though. She's young and very healthy. Also very lucky. She would have died if we hadn't gotten to her when we did. You'll be able to go see her soon in the ICU." Unable to say much more, the doctor nodded and slipped again through the doors that offered them all some security from the emotion and turbulence that came with healing the ill.
The ones that they loved and the ones that loved them never took it well.
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