|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 10:52 pm
She wonders if anyone even notices she's gone during these times.
She sits up enough to peer over the waterfall's edge. If she jumped, what would happen to this phantom body?
She is too afraid to try.
---
Chel made an ugly face at him. "The ********? I'm Chel?"
She immediately looked behind her, reacting instinctively as though there was a threat. "What? The ******** is it?!" She looked back to Jack and said, "Don't ******** with me Jack!"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 10:54 pm
There wasn't room for doubt. The plate was swung down at her head like he intended to hammer her into the ground.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 11:00 pm
It was then that Chel came back to existence. Apparently now was an inopportune time to switch. He would try later.
She sees Jack swinging a plate at her head. The blunt object knocks her down to the ground.
What did he do?
Time speeds back up for her. Chel rolled herself into a fetal position protecting her head. She felt broken glass on the ground inches from her face. Her decision was to roll the other direction, taking the glass in the back of her head rather than through the face once more.
"It's me," she whimpers. "It's me." Her mind races. She wants to tell him to run, to get away from her lest the figure returns, but she knows if he runs, he will find someone. She will be quarantined, or worse. There's nothing she can do. The movie seems a memory even though for her, it happened seconds ago. All she could think about was her impending death sentence. "It's me," is all she can repeat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 11:13 pm
The sound of something breaking rang a little too sweet in his head. Maybe because ever since that god damn night, something needed to. No, longer than that: ever since that ******** Sahara mission, he needed to break something, and he hadn't known how strong that urge was until now. All the better that it was over her head because she needed to clear that ******** mess up more than she did her room.
(( Jack. ))
Owain didn't chastise him this time. It was just a quiet reminder of where they were, when they were. Like he wasn't perfectly aware.
The hand that had held the plate began to curl into a fist. He didn't relax when the whimpers started; the nostalgia of crying women at his feet didn't blunt his temper. In equal amounts it sickened and thrilled him, and yet his face was a death mask as he stared at Chel's curled body.
"Prove it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 11:18 pm
"I- I-" Her breathing is hard, the back of her head is oozing red from micro-abrasions. It isn't anything that Tenebrae can't fix.
< Summon me. >
She complies, holding the bow against her head as she remains in the fetal position. She doesn't understand.
Lightning cracks the sky and Chel yelps, curling into a tighter ball. "I want to die," she tells him softly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 11:36 pm
It's sad when the weapon isn't proof enough but the desire to die is. He vaguely notes it and puts it on the once interesting list of things concerning Chel's behavior towards him. Now it seems more a list of mistakes he's allowed them both to make out of a selfish interest to see how far it'd go, how much he'd allow his narcissism to be fed and how willing she was to be part of it.
(One broken plate isn't enough, but how about one broken person?)
Tension remains in his shoulders (maybe it's a trick, maybe it's one of the backstabs he still dreams about), but Jack moves with purpose to her. She isn't short at all, but Chel barely seems to weigh anything to him as he gathers her off the ground and balances her over one shoulder, the weapon left behind and a hand steadying her with a grip in her shirt. Maybe it's the adrenaline still coursing through him.
He wants to say something, and then he doesn't. Leaving doesn't occur to him. He has made a mess and must fix it first with work, not words.
Long strides take them out of Chel's room, down the stairs, and outside towards the infirmary as the skies rage around them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 11:47 pm
"Put me down!" she screams. Her head is throbbing. "Don't take me don't take me! I don't want to die Jack- please- please Jack I'll be good please." She is unsure if she is screaming for Jack's safety or her own death. She kicks and screams, she fights for her freedom in the middle of the rainstorm.
The weapon is not left, it never leaves her. Tenebrae returns and she fires into the nothingness, colliding with raindrops and fizzling out. She fires again and again and again.
If Jack wanted a broken person, he'd created one.
The lightning cracks and she yelps once more, clinging to his body. The bow fires into her own leg, and while she feels the impact of the shot, it merely wears down her shield.
She is manic, desperate. "Kill me yourself you ******** coward." She's crying, but that hardly matters with the rain. It is all the same.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 11:54 pm
He remains impassive and distant to her cries, the storm eating up most of it and the rest like static in his ears save for his name. The only reactions he gives is to tighten his grip and lengthen his strides at first.
Eventually his other hand comes out and grabs her bow, ignoring the uncomfortable jolt it sends up his arm and even through his link with Owain. Anything to stop her from moving so much.
They eventually arrive in the infirmary soaked and cold. He's less a person and more a force as he clears the path and finds an empty cot in a corner of the building to dump her. Names are called, techs who come to strap her down and sedate her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:01 am
The last thing she sees is Jack's face. The last noise she hears is a barking command. The last thing she smells is rainwater mixed with her own blood. The last thing she tastes is a putrid sort of runic sedation she has had many times. The last thing she touches is the ugly sheets of the infirmary cot, as she is attempting to rip them asunder.
She wants to remember these things in case she is now being assigned a dress.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:12 am
It was still raining when she woke up alone. Her restrains were still on, and there was an IV in her right arm. Outside the curtains, the infirmary bustled with its usual activity and muted murmurs. The only thing of note in her niche was the card on a tray. In large letters someone had written CALL FOR ASHLEY.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:18 am
It was so cruel to be alive. It was such a cosmic joke that her eyes fluttered open to the bright white light of the infirmary. It is beginning to feel familiar and comfortable here.
What's not comfortable are the restraints pinning her down. These are for crazy hunters. She argues that she is not a crazy hunter. She is Chel. The last thing she remembers is Jack's face. The last noise she remembers is a command ...
She at least has the freedom of her head. She tries to look around, but the ceiling is far from remarkable. Her head pounds. Bandages.
< To your left. >
CALL FOR ASHLEY. The words are large, tangible. A command.
Chel had always been good at commands.
"Ashley?" Her voice is hoarse, but not manic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:25 am
It took a few tries, but eventually she got someone's attention. A woman poked her head in, swept her gaze across Chel from head to toe, told her to hang on, and disappeared. Fifteen minutes later, Jack took her place.
It wasn't immediately apparent as he wore scrubs, but the shirt underneath was the same one he had worn the day before. His hair was tied back for the job, giving her an unblocked view of the tired glower he greeted her with.
He didn't say anything for a long while. Then he moved closer and pocketed the card to dispose of later.
"I'm going to remove your restraints," Jack said slowly as he went about doing so, "but you are still confined to the bed for now."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:34 am
Chel was silent, motionless.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:39 am
He tugged the last of the restraints off and let them go limp off the side of the bed. Then without stopping his momentum, he took her left wrist and pressed two fingers against the pulse, counting off silently. And then, nodding to himself, he put her hand back in place.
"How are you feeling?" Jack asked as he turned to get her chart, neutral as could be.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:42 am
Feel? Feel?
Her lips twitched, barely taking in a breath of air. She wants to respond. She wants to be a good friend. She wants to be normal. She wants to not be weird. But she can't think of a single word. Not one comes to mind.
Silence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
