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 Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 7:44 pm
"I don't know exactly, I only know the rumours that have been going around," Luke said. True he knew more than a lot of people but that was only because of his insatiable curiosity but even then he only knew second hand information. He had not witnessed any of the murders and had only gained what he knew by common knowledge and asking around.
"All the eye-witnesses the Church have taken off somewhere," he continued. "I just know that someone is out there kidnapping or enticing the poorer people out of London. And then one of them is killed but not the other, like the demon is killed but not the human, or even creepier, the human is killed but not the demon. And people say they see them as like ghosts or spirits outside the city but they're not really ghosts their the ones left without their partner but whenever one makes it into the city they are seen once and never again. They just disappear though if they die or the Church gets them no one knows," Luke said. He had kept his voice low throughout telling what little he knew lest someone hear him.
"What about you?" Luke asked. "Do you know of anything different?" He was aware that Walter had never really answered his question but rather his answer had merely left more questions unanswered but Luke knew he would get the full story of where his brother has been and what he has been doing eventually. He was just impatient when it came to a good story and a mystery.
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Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 8:29 pm
Walter shrugged. "Why on earth would I know more than you? You live here," he stated calmly. Of course, he did know more, but this wasn't the time or the place to say that. He could almost feel his younger brother's dissatisfaction with his answers, and bit his lip to keep from smiling. He'd almost forgotten how curious the kid was, and how quick he was on the uptake.
"You're unbelievably tedious when you dance around questions," grumbled Alirialie. Walter ignored her.
"So do you have any 'lady loves', Luke?" he asked, his voice overly serious.
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Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:36 pm
Jane tossed and turned in her sleep.
She was running down a dark passage, the light at the end was never getting closer. She wasn't alone, she could hear footsteps following hers. Shade was curled around her neck, shivering with fear. She burst into the light only to see more faceless figures circled around her.
She woke up screaming. Shade came up and licked her face. "The dream again?"
"More like a nightmare, Shade." Jane replied, running a hand through her hair. She looked outside, it was still dark. "I'm not going to be able to fall back asleep anytime soon. Want to go out and run a bit?"
"We'll have to be careful."
"Arn't we alway?"
Jane got out and pulled on her clothes. She and Shade exited their home and started running. She didn't care where they were going, only that she needed to wipe the memory of the dream out of her mind. She didn't stop until she nearly bumped into two people standing outside a home.
"Sorry."
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Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:40 pm
Walter missed any answer Luke may or may not have given, because at that precise moment a kid nearly ran into them. He shook his head kindly as the boy apologized. "Don't trouble yourself over it," he said, smiling slightly. The young man looked upset- although, honestly, who wasn't those days- and... vaguely familiar.
In Walter's line of work, familiar was not an especially good sign. "Come on, Lucky," he said, calmly commandeering their mother's old pet name for Luke. He hoped Luke would get the hint; maybe this kid wasn't a potential problem; then again, maybe he was. If he was, he didn't need to know that Walter had a brother, or even knew someone named Luke. Both of those tidbits could put Luke in danger sooner than Walter had been counting on, and it was best to avoid the situation altogether if possible.
Walter grabbed Luke's arm casually and started steering him down the street; Alirialie looked the familiar boy over with appraising eyes for a moment, then slunk after him.
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Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:38 pm
Jane was still trying to forget her nightmare and didn't reconized the man she nearly ran into, but Shade did. He ran up to Alirialie and playfully nipped at her heels.
Jane snapped back to reality when she felt her connection with Shade tugged. She looked up and her eyes widened. "Wink?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 5:32 pm
Dani awoke with a start. She felt a fair amount of pressure on her chest and opened her mouth to scream, images of her nightmare flying through her mind. Then the weight moved, and she found herself staring into Arba's amber eyes. With an annoyed hiss, Dani shoved the wolf off of her and sat up, looking around the room. She rubbed her arms gently, trying to warm herself up a bit.
Arba jumped lightly to the floor and sat in front of her, head cocked slightly to the side. "Nightmares?" Dani nodded and got out of bed, stretching her arms above her head. She walked over to the window and saw nothing but darkness. She turned to Arba and said, "Do you think he's asleep?"
The daemon listened for a second, then nodded. "Yes, he's asleep. But why - "
"I need to go for a walk," stated Dani as she crept out into the hall. Arba, close on her heels, gently nipped her hand. "If he catches you out again..."
"I know what'll happen if he catches me out," the redhead snapped. A moment later, she knelt down and hugged Arba, apologizing. "I'm sorry. I just need some air. Its too stuffy in here."
Arba licked her cheek. "I know. I just don't want us to be sent away." The two started walking again, going down the stairs and out the side door once more. As soon as she shut the door behind them, Dani snorted. "And you think I do? I'd rather not go live with Uncle Earl. I don't really like pigs."
Arba nodded. He knew how she felt. The man lived on a pig farm. Suitingly, his daemon took the shape of a pig. Unfortunately, it also accepted the mannerisms of one. Both of them were disgusting.
They continued walking in silence for a bit, both just enjoying the company of the other. Arba broke the silence first. "What were you dreaming of? I could feel the fear radiating off of you. It was chilling."
Dani did't answer immediately, instead deciding to keep quiet for another two blocks. Arba had just about given up hope of ever finding an answer when she spoke. "It was of whoever was killing the daemons. They had you. I...I couldn't do anything. I just sat there and watched as he -" Dani broke off as tears sprung to her eyes. Even the thought of losing Arba made her feel lost. She was sure that if it were to ever happen, she would cease to exist.
Arba, sensing her mood, wound himself between her legs, causing the both of them to fall into a pile in the middle of the street. He climbed onto her chest and nosed the corner of her mouth. "So you decided to go for a walk in the dead of night? Sometimes I seriously question your intelligence." He licked her nose to show he was just kidding around.
Dani gave a shaky laugh and got up, pushing him off of her and wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Yeah, I guess I am pretty stupid sometimes." At this Arba gave a bark that sounded almost like laughter. "Sometimes?" The girl pushed him playfully, and they both fell into silence as they walked on, neither quite ready to go back into the house quite yet.
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Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 5:43 pm
Walter and Alirialie simultaneously let out little gasps of surprise as a small, sharp pain bit into their respective heals. Walter looked back at Alirialie, who was looking at the small fox daemon that belonged to the familiar kid.
Alirialie sighed. "I'm delighted to see you too, Shade, but really." Walter's eyebrows rose, and his eyes flicked back to the boy with sudden understanding. When he looked back at Alirialie, she was looking up at him somewhat apologetically. "I was going to tell you, as soon as we were out of ear shot."
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:09 am
Luke scoffed. "Like I would have time for any 'lady loves'. Father rarely lets me leave the house. I'm not even supposed to be out now."
Luke's eyes widened when the boy from earlier nearly crashed into him. "Hey it's you..." he said absently as Walter took his arm and steered him away from him. He started in surprise at being called Lucky. It had been years since he had been called that, not since thier mother had died; it was strange to hear it again.
When the boy's daemon bit Alirialie and hurt the both of them, Luke turned to scowl at the boy but when it appeared the two recognised each other, he glanced confusedly between the two. If this boy, Shade, knew Walter then surely that meant he knew Luke as well. Unless Walter had been keeping quiet about any family he had. Most likely. "You two know each other?" he asked, even though it was obvious that they did. He then looked to Walter and fixed him with as hard a look as he could (which wasn't all that good considering he was rather small and still had cuts on his face and collarbone area, bruises and the like from his father.
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:45 pm
Jane looked from Walter and Alirialie to the boy standing at his side. "Your the one from earlier..." She looked down at Shade and sighed, "Why did you have to do that?"
Shade cocked an ear. "It's payback for the swipe she gave me almost three years ago."
"You still remembered that?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:56 pm
Alirialie said nothing, but looked smug.
Walter glanced from Luke to James, then shook his head. "I'm afraid we just don't have time for this." He started down the street again. "The caravan leaves in 30 minutes." He'd only taken a few steps when he stopped and sighed. After a second, he turned and addressed James in a resigned voice. "There probably isn't any point in asking you what you're doing here, is there?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:58 pm
Dani and Arba turned a corner, silent once more. Dani, at least, was surprised to see a group of people and daemons standing on the road. She looked at Arba and said, "Its kind of late for people to be out, isn't it?"
Arba shrugged, "I don't know how long we were sleeping, and -" He stopped and sniffed at the air. "Hey, its that kid from the alley! And the other one!"
Dani looked at her companion for a minute, confused. Then it clicked in her head. "Oh, yeah! The manboy! The one who laughed at us... What was his name? Lex? Leonard? Leslie?" She went on guessing names for a few more seconds before Arba gently bit her hand. "I think it was Luke."
Dani grinned and ruffled the fur on top of his head. "That's it. Come on, we need to go find out if he really was hurt, and why he just ran off like that." Arba nodded, and the two jogged the rest of the street, stopping in front of Luke, an older boy, and the messenger some feet away. Upon arriving, Dani realized that this conversation would be a little awkward.
Laughing nervously, stole a glance at Arba, who was looking up at her with eyes way too innocent. She gently kicked him with her foot for not warning her that this would be odd, then returned to looking at Luke. "Um...hi. It's Dani. From the alley? Well...yeah. Erm..." She looked down at Arba again, who nodded encouragingly, and continued, all in one breath, "Well, Arba here smelled blood on the street and it led to you, and we were gonig to find out if you were hurt but then that person, " She nodded to the messenger, "Came and we hid in the shadows and then you ran away." Taking a deep breath, she asked, "So...um...are you okay?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:46 pm
Luke started to smile a little when the girl from before turned up as well - this was turning out to be a real meeting place, and practically outside his home; he was half waiting for his father to hear them and come storming out wanting him to come back inside - but it froze on his face when she mentioned his bleeding. He stiffened as she revealed that. Just as Walter had his secrets that would have to wait till later Luke had his and he didn't want Walter to know and worry about his coughing just yet, he may decide that it would be too much of a problem to take him with him. It didn't even occur to him that the blood the wolf daemon could smell was possibly from the cuts from when his father threw the alcohol bottle at him.
"I'm fine," he said. "I said that before." At least he thought he did. He couldn't remember if he had or not, after all that had happened since who could blame him if he dismissed such things from his memory.
Thirty minutes though... Luke smiled a little at that thought alone. In just thirty minutes he would be out of here and free from his tyranical father and the constant fear of the murders.
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:08 pm
"Nightmares...Or nightmare to be exact." Jane said. She saw the other girl from the ally earlier and nodded. "I'll leave you and your brother now. I don't want you late for the caraven. Say hi to the Gyptians for me." With that she turned to walk away.
Shade stayed back long enough to lick Alirialie. "Take care friend." he said as he followed his partner. The two past the girl and her wolf deamon and slid silently into the Maze of London, heading home.
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:51 pm
Walter looked sharply at Luke when the girl mentioned the blood, and narrowed his eyes as Luke snapped back at her. Something was wrong, and his little brother obviously didn't want it talked about. All he said, though, was, "Luke, the girl is only-"
He was interrupted as James smoothly maneuvered out of really answering his question and made his exit. Walter shared an exasperated look with Alirialie. The next time Walter saw that kid, he was going to have some explaining to do.
He continued. "She's only making sure you're alright. There's no need to be rude." Green eyes focused on the girl--Dani. "Thank you. You should get home; needless to say, it's not the best idea to be wandering the streets at night. And with that in mind," he shot Luke a meaningful look, and started off again. They were going to miss their boat, at this rate.
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:06 pm
Luke sighed a little. He hadn't meant to snap but he hated the coughing enough as it was, without any attention being brought to it. Needless to say Luke kind of hero-worshipped his older brother, he didn't want him worrying about him, or worse, thinking he was weak because of it.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap," he appologised to Dani before he turned and jogged briefly to catch up to Walter, striding along beside him. He was excited, more than excited really. More like ecstatic. Being practically in the center of London he never really had all that to do with the Gyptians, despite them going up and down the river Thames a lot. He wondered what they would be like, and what they would think of Walter taking someone along with him who they had never met. He had always imagined the Gyptians as a rather 'close' people, sort of thing, not really welcoming of outsiders unless they knew and trusted them and Luke had never met any so didn't have that. Hopefully they wouldnt mind though. And hopefully they wouldn't have to run to avoid missing it as that was sure to agrivate his lungs again.
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