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 Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 2:21 pm
"It'll work, it'll work," Liam cleared his throat, sat cross-legged, and placed his hands over the blood. He then began chanting, first in Vavvian and then it whatever it was he had been 'taught'. Ah, the glories of being posessed by an overly-powerful Necromancer for 2 decades.
The soul orbs snapped open and released their dark contents. The souls began to take on lives of their own, and they plunged down into the blood, taking the quick way to where ever Julian was. The wisps hovered in front of their target's face for a few moments...
"AUGH!" Liam cried out in pain as his head snapped as far backward as it possibly could and his eyes rolled back into his head, plunging him into darkness.
Don't let it freak you out. Just keep going.
So he did.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 2:33 pm
"What the-"
Crow bit her tongue hard, tasting blood.
Don't panic - don't screw it up, you have no idea what could happen if you do anything besides stand here, she shrieked at herself, willing herself to stay still.
---
"What the hell. Really."
Jeddeth prowled around the hovering wisps, reaching out a gauntleted hand to touch one investigatively. Julian shook his head, and Jeddeth withdrew obediently. He raised his own hand, shaking and covered with dried and fresh blood, fingers outspread and quivering. They were pretty, in a way...
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 2:43 pm
The wisps 'giggled', in a sense; emitting a sound something like thin windchimes. They circled around their target's fingers and then pulled back, leaping forcefully down his throat and travelling down to stop his heart.
Liam's body gave a small jerk as his heart stopped abruptly. So it was working, then. Good. He inhaled and waited for it to start pumping again.
The blood within the pentacle began to bubble violently, readying itself to recieve a new spirit. Heat rose visibly from the red pool, but the heat itself could not be felt by anything living.
Sorry, little buddy. We need you back.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 2:57 pm
What?
Julian gave a gurgled cry of surprise as he fell, a hand halfway raised to his throat. Jeddeth cried in horror and rushed to its master, cradling him in its arms and calling for help.
Huh. Okay, then.
His mind was clear and aware. Until the pain began.
---
Crow stifled a gasp, pressing her hands to her mouth and biting the leather fearfully.
Aw, jeez, what if something goes wrong and they both die? I'll have killed three freakin' people in a space of ten minutes!
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 2:59 pm
Liam's eyes suddenly returned to their usual position and he peered quickly around the room. He dropped his hand to his sides and quickly crawled over to Crow, giving her a sympathetic pat on the back.
"Now all we can do is...wait."
Rabid's breathing had slowed dramatically, and her eyes could only be forced to stay less-than-half open. She had already validated her death to herself, and she saw no more reason to stay there and sob. She gave a weary, dizzy, pain-filled look toward the growing pool of blood on the tile floor and decided that it just wouldn't do to permanently stain anything. She dropped to her knees and began slowly crawling toward the bathtub and getting in, laying back, and hoping for something to happen soon.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 3:17 pm
Make it stop. make it stop, please, what did I do to deserve this?
Gasping for breath, worthless to his no longer beating heart, Julian's mind raced as pain wracked his tortured body.
Why am I being punished? What did I do? Please, let me die, let me die!
---
Crow gave a mute nod and watched the circle with huge eyes.
"Gods, but I hope it worked," she said, almost inaudibly.
---
Let....let me die....please...
He couldn't bear it anymore - the agony was comsuming him, driving him mad as he lay motionless in Jeddeth's arms.
Crow, namaa, goodbye.
He let the thread of consciousness he had clung to go at last. Letting the pain swallow him, another name came to him.
Rabid. Ah, goodbye...
There was a great swell of pain, pure and clear, and he let himself fall away.
---
Crow gave a gasp and had to forcibly restrain herself from running forward, eyes fixed on the circle.
"Holy JESUS!"
Claws digging into the already badly-abused floor, she gave a wracking sob.
"Julian?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 3:24 pm
"Hoooold on," Liam said and held Crow in place, "Watch the blood. His blood, now." It was quite obvious that what he'd been doing was working quite well. The blood within the pentacle had stopped bubbling and now lumped oddly, attempting to bring up its new host.
"You...may not want to watch..."
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 3:43 pm
Crow heeded Liam's advice and turned away, burying her head in her hands.
"What have I done?"
The thing that formed out of the blood writhed and howled, humanity lost to it in its suffering.
"Jrrslk ya gralth ma'ak - g'er'shta!"
Crow gave a cry of anguish and covered her ears, which had started to bleed as she heard the unnatural, evil language the thing was screaming in.
"Why is it taking so long?" she cried, looking at Liam desperately.
The thing gave another unnatural howl as it formed more fully, though it didn't look quite human... Crow gave another cry and tore at her hair in horror.
"My soul - oh god, I've made him like me-" she breathed, shuddering in grieving horror.
The thing's inhuman features smoothed away, though, the blood shifting and solidifying into a final body.
"Hnnn..."
Crawling forth on all fours slowly, as though approching a feral animal. She reached out slowly, scarcely daring to breathe.
"Nahal?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:07 pm
"It's him," Liam said, arching an eyebrow and moving forward slowly. He cursed himself silently for allowing Crow to give up her soul for him. He kneeled beside the girl and cocked his head to one side, "Hey, Julian...you still in there?"
Rabid shrieked in pain as her muscles wrenched suddenly. Blood gurgled in her throat as her back arched and she gripped the porcelain on either side of her. Why was nobody coming to help her? Not that it mattered much any more...
Liam's head snapped toward the bathroom door at the sudden, ear-piercing sound. Oh, right. Pain. Agony. Right, right. He pulled a vial from his pocket with trembling hands and poured it over Julian's head, attempting to remove said bloodiness and numb the pain.
"Julian, m'friend...snap the ******** out of iiiiit..."
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:22 pm
Crow jumped at the sound from the bathroom, torn between where to go.
"Julian, Nahal, brother, c'mon, it's me..." she said soothingly, hoping he was alright.
Julian stared at her through wolf-like eyes, pupils dilated with pain. He hissed and bared his teeth at Liam and shrank away, long black claws digging into the floor.
"Aslk mah ya, geh hletha gur zh'phle," he hissed at them, red eyes darting from one to the other, his movements distinctly animal-like. Crow shook her head, raising her hands helplessly.
"We don't understand, Nahal. It's Crow, remember?" she murmured kindly, her mind filled with grieving screams at what her shared soul had done to her brother.
Julian hissed again and drew his claws across the floor threateningly, leaving jagged gashes in the already shredded boards.
"A'ya'lak," he muttered, eyes fixed on her. He shuddered violently and scuttled back further, face contorted in pain and his eyes squeezed shut. Holding his head in his hands, his eyes flew open again, blank white and shining.
"No...!"
Licks of white flame flickered from his fingertips, engulfing his hands. Crow drew back in involuntary fear as she watched the blaze flicker away as quickly as it had sparked.
"Oh, no..." she breathed. Julian gave another shudder and groaned, cradling his head in his hands again.
"What the hell was that?" he asked, his voice slurring the English as he passed a hand over his face. His eyes shifted back to red, half-lidded and glassy with exhaustion. Looking up at Liam in confusion, he cocked his head to one side in curiosity.
"Huh. I must be dead." he said to himself mildly, before falling forward on his side in a dead faint.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:29 pm
"Here," Liam said, leaping up and pulling another vial from his jacket, this time coupled with a syringe, "Give him an injection of this. Same general crap I gave you that one time. He should wake up. Then you can coddle him to your heart's content. I'm going to go see if Rabid didn't just die."
He quickly leaped off to the bathroom door and kicked it down.
"Rabid, m'dear! You're not going to be so lucky today," he removed yet another vial and syringe, quickly going through the old routine of injecting a meal into her. She looked dead, really. Maybe she was.
"AUUUUUGH! WHY?! NO! YOU b*****d!"
Nope.
Liam fell backward and sprawled over the blood-soaked tile as Rabid pushed him to the ground. She was weak, sure, but it caught him off guard.
"Rabid...come on..."
"No."
"Charlotte..."
"NO!"
"Charlotte Rose Devreaux...you're coming out into the bloody living room and you're going to bloody well like it," Liam said and moved to the bathtub, pulling a frail Rabid up and out, "I have something to show you."
"Please...please, no..." Rabid wouldn't have resisted, even if she'd had the strength. Everything was so pointless now. He stopped her again. So close...she'd been so close...
She went limp and made Liam drag her out into the main room. Why was there blood on the floor? Oh, Gods, what had he done?!
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:37 pm
Covering Julian's still form with her frock coat to preserve at least some of his dignity, Crow injected the vial's contents carefully. He stirred under her gentle touch, eyelids flickering.
"Nahalethe?" he asked, his voice soft and confused, eyes wandering over her face.
"Zhah," Crow replied simply, brushing sweat and blood dampened hair out of his face so she could look at him. He looked pretty much the same, but for the eyes...
"You're home. I'll keep you safe from now on."
Hearing Rabid screaming at Liam, she turned to look in fearful curiosity. Well, at least she wasn't dead.
Julian tried to sit up, succeeding only in raising his head up a little higher.
"...Rabid?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:46 pm
Rabid's head snapped up suddenly. Her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped slightly.
"What the...what the Hell......you...I....ohgods. Am I dead?"
"No," Liam said and let go of Rabid, "You're alive, and he's bloody free. Happy?"
"Julian? Oh, Gods...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." the halfy began crying hysterically, just as she'd done almost every night since the incident. She dropped to the ground, though, and began crawling toward the bloody trio. It was so weird...it couldn't be...but...it looked so real.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:56 pm
Hovering between consciousness and the exhaustion he felt, regardless of the injection Crow had given him, Julian gave a half-smile as he looked at Crow and Rabid.
"Free? I....'Lethe, who's th' guy? How did I...there was pain, an' fire....Jeddeth was-"
His eyes suddenly flew open, pupils constricted to cat-like slits in sudden fear.
"Jeddeth. It'll- they'll- no, no, I can't go back, but they'll try to find me-"
Rolling onto his side and trying to push himself up, he gave a low cry of fear.
"I don't want to go back," he said desperately, clinging to Crow's arm as he tried to get up.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 5:09 pm
"Woah, woah, woah," Liam said and rushed to Julian's side, trying to make eye contact, "Look, m'name's Liam. I'm the guy that freed you, okay? You need to calm down. Nobody's coming after anybody. They still have your soul and your body. There's no breach of contract. They can still do...whatever it was that they were doing to you. Nobody's coming after you and, if they do, I'll beat them senseless." He wasn't about to cuss out the person whose death had been torturing his best friend for months. Especially if he was that cu--no. Stop thinking.
Rabid, feeling totally pointless in her existance, pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed into them, her vision yet again going pink as her body purged itself of the remaining tainted blood.
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