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 Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:16 pm
"HNN!" Rabid yelped, and then reached out. Hold on a second...
"Julian...I...it's..."
Liam, still quite absorbed in his hysterics, only noticed that Crow's marque was...leaking off when he caught a glimpse of her eye and a lack of curly-thing. He smiled a moment, then remembered what had happened, curled into the fetal position as he sat against a tree, and sobbed into his hands.
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Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:24 pm
"I....I'm not gray. Or bleeding profusely. Um."
Wide-eyed with perfect shock, Julian watched the remnants of his marque drip off his skin, looking down at Crow and wondering why there wasn't a leather skinned skull-faced mutant in her place. The rather insensitive thought inevitably lead him back to Jeddeth, and his head bowed in grief. He wondered if the creature had survived, and if it would be able to find him again. It didn't seem in the least bit possible.
Standing, swaying and resting against the tree for support, he looked out from the copse of trees and ********. Wrong world," he said, flushing slightly. He wasn't as well-versed on Earth as his sister was, but even he knew that he'd managed to screw up royally. Emerging bloody and broken in the middle of Central Park. In broad daylight. Not one of his better accomplishments.
Backtracking, taking up the Dhev-Anak again, he quickly turned it and opened a new hole, looking around carefully. He sighed in relief, and beckoned for the others to follow.
"C'mon..."
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Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:27 pm
Rabid stepped through the portal, rendered completely speechless. Liam took a moment to stand, tried to pick Crow up, and found he couldn't.
"Could you. Um," he stammered, gave up, and fled through the hole, shoving Julian out of the way.
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Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:35 pm
Too tired to be annoyed at being pushed by a significantly smaller person, Julian stooped and picked Crow up, the black stains of her former marque smudging his skin. He held her close for a moment, relief so profound it left him staggering rushing through him. It was over. He was free. He stepped through the portal and it closed seamlessly behind him a moment later.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:11 pm
__Part 44
Lenore was at the breaking point. She'd been patient, and now she was just fed up.
"ETHAN. OTHER PEOPLE NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM."
The door opened, and Ethan - still pale and gaunt, to say the least - poked his head out.
"Not until I get the taste of demonic spider out of my mouth!" he retorted, closing the door again abruptly.
Tearing at her hair, Lenore groaned and crossed her legs, trying to ignore the sound of running water. When this proved unsuccessful she deemed the only good course of action to be going outside. Mindful not to slam the door, she sat out on the porch and basked in the early afternoon heat.
"Mmf."
"Heya, Len."
"JULIAN?!"
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:14 pm
Ike was already out there, perched on the railing.
"We have two bathrooms, yenn--HNNGH!" Without warning, the squirrelboy lunged forward and clung to his mother, who was startled, to say the least, and then, ignoring his size, leaped and clung to Julian.
"GOD, I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE DEAD AND I HAD NO IDEA AND AUUUUGH."
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:20 pm
Julian's heart leapt at the hug, though he couldn't quite say why. Crow, still gathered in his arms, was crushed to his chest. But she was still unconscious, so she couldn't exactly complain. Hugging Ike back with one arm, Julian smiled.
"Hi, Ike," he said quietly.
Launching into a flying leap off the porch, Lenore grabbed Rabid since she was nearest, then Liam, and then clung to Julian.
"I'm so sorry I was mad and I didn't mean to get angry and I'm sorry and where's Mum is she okay?" she spouted in one breathless burst.
Julian hefted Crow in his arms in answer. The girl's head lolled and she lay limp as a rag, but she was breathing and that was good enough for the moment.
Staggering, fighting against a mild vertigo, Ethan opened the door to call Lenore back inside and gave a hoarse whoop of exultation instead.
"You're ALIVE!" he shouted, elated. Julian couldn't do more than gawk for a moment.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:22 pm
Liam's eyes brightened a moment.
"Kid! You're okay!" He rushed forward and grabbed one of Ethan's hands, examining it.
"Hnn. Gimmee," Ike said, holding his arms out to take Crow, "I'll bring her inside."
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:26 pm
Ethan gave a haggard smile.
"More or less," he said, allowing himself to be examined. "Just...tired."
"And flammable."
Ethan just laughed, though his face fell as he saw Crow.
"What happened?"
Julian, giving Crow over reluctantly, shrugged.
"A lot of stuff," he said, musing as he pushed his sleeve up to look at the ink stains streaking down his arm, the only remains of his marque.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:29 pm
Liam dropped back into depression abruptly, heading inside. Ike followed, holding Crow close to him and looking dreadfully confused.
Björn, who had a Hellis holding a Clemmie holding a Dezzy in his lap and looked damn exhausted, perked with curiosity.
"Unconscious."
"Mmph. And everyone else?"
"Alive!"
"Wonderful."
The Mishap went up the stairs, depositing Crow in his mother's bed.
"Hey," Rabid said suddenly, "We lived."
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:35 pm
Crow lay unmoving, the only indication she was still alive the shallow movement of her breathing. The remnants of her marque left dusty gray stains on whatever she touched, including Malachi's fur and clothing.
Downstairs, fairly staggering, Julian sank onto the floor. Ethan, if at all possible even more exhausted, collapsed onto the couch and curled there, head already nodding.
"We did," Julian said belatedly, still musing. "Huh."
"You didn't think you were gonna survive?"
"With my luck? C'mon, Len."
"Excellent point. So what happened to that bodyguard guy of yours?"
A spasm of pain shadowed Julian's face, and he didn't reply.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:38 pm
Ike shrugged down at his now-filthy fur and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Crow. Something looked different...something...OH GOD.
Liam suddenly choked on a sob, burying his head in his hands and sitting against the arm of the couch on the floor.
"...I think that answers that, Lenore."
Rabid shifted uncomfortably. Sure, the thing had saved their lives, and it had been pretty cute, but she just wasn't all that devestated.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:44 pm
Even as Ike watched, the heavy lines of the marque that remained either trickled off Crow's skin or simply dried up and crumbled away. But the myriad little injuries, minor scratches and gouges, that were still laid open were what was eye-catching. The blood that trickled and scabbed over flickered and wavered light like fire.
Flushing dark gray at her error, Lenore looked away.
"Sorry," she muttered quickly.
Julian shifted, the Dhev-Anak still in his hand. He looked at it, wondering again if the creature had survived and would find a way to him again.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:49 pm
Ike huffed and, being the squirrel little Vampire he was, was overcome with curiosity. Pretty blood was pretty.
He reached forward and poked beside a wound. Hard.
Rabid reached over and gave Len a reassuring pat on the head, as it didn't seem anyone else was going to.
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:55 pm
Two things happened within very close time to one another.
First, blood hot enough to scald leaked free from the cut, splattering vividly.
Second, Crow woke up.
"HHSSSSSSSS!"
Acting on instinct alone, she grabbed hold of Malachi with an alarmingly strong grip, teeth snapping an inch from his face. Her eyes were slitted, pupils diminished to nothing before she realized what she was about to bite into.
"OhmigodIkehoneyI'msosorry!"
Falling back heavily, blushing brilliantly, Crow smacked her forehead in repenting embarrassment.
"Gawwwd, I'm sorry!"
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