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 Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:09 pm
Here, his brother had graciously offered, passing over a bundle of magazines carefully wrapped in newspaper with a little twine bow. Thought you might be gettin' bored.
Seamus had been touched; it was a sweet gesture from Murphy that the older twin had noticed that he'd ran the gamut of Tepin's magazines. He'd sworn, at Murphy's request, not to open the wrapped present until he was bored and on his own for a while.
Oh yes, it had been a very sweet gesture - up until the point when Seamus unwrapped the package, and found himself face to "face" with a glamorous cover featuring "Nurse Betty", a pair of sweater melons, and a more-than-risque shot featuring a very large hypodermic needle. There was a sticky note on the cover - Here's the hot nurses you keep whinging about. Cheers!
He glared, loathsome, at the stack of skin mags in his lap, and condemned his twin to hell and back.
"Murphy, you d**k."
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:36 pm
A hospital was a wholly inappropriate place to be, Nathan decided as he walked through the sliding glass doors, taking in the smells and sounds and the entire atmosphere that the place seemed to seep with. While trying to maintain a message of hope, he could not help but feel this was a strange, white prison in which to rot away until finally consciousness left your pathetic body in an all-too-late act of mercy.
But no, that was just him being pessimistic. Nathan shook his head roughly, bypassing the nurses’ station completely as he made his way towards the double-sided elevators. He had been here before, more times than he could count. There were the times that were completely Andrei’s fault, the times of joy and blessings (For their sons had both been born here), and then those silly times, mistakes of youth that could not be avoided. (Of course, the time that Valeriu had broken his arm by imitating Andrei’s mysterious stash of books from a time long gone.)
Though, today was not a day for his loved ones to be in pain (Which was, to Nathan, a blessing). Though it would still take a goal to force this man into such a building of misfortune. His very son had forced him out of the Jaklovzsky home (Even with an invitation!), and he was now severely lacking the answers that he needed.
Just what had happened? As relieved as he had been to discover the house kindly rebuilt, it left too much to his imagination. While he assumed that it was Valeriu who had run so rampant… There was always that shred of doubt. With his attacks during the night, Nathan had figured him to have gone mad-- but no! Still, the boy functioned as normally as he had before (On the surface, at least).
Something was wrong. There was that nagging in his mind. A piece of the puzzle was missing.
Without the see-through doors to the ICU he had gained anonymity-- However, it made it far more awkward to invite himself in without being impolite. A small knock, followed by a gurgle as the man cleared his throat.
He did not want to seem impolite.
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:44 pm
His eyes roamed up from the skin mags to the door, before quickly shoving the lascivious volumes underneath his pillow. Strange; his honor guard for this hour was his mother, who had had to return home early because of something his younger sisters had done when left to be responsible young women (and failed doing so). No one else was supposed to show up for quite a while - let alone someone who'd bother knocking.
"Door's unlocked," he ventured curiously (and a bit sarcastically, for the doors were always unlocked). "C'mon in."
He hoped it wasn't another doctor attempting to peddle his wares; they seemed to be the only kind who'd ever knocked, hoping to pop another experimental pill down his throat to combat his infections and withdrawals.
"Unless yer tryin' to sell somethin'. In that case, begone ye demon, back to the bowels of Hell!"
He was half-serious. Ever since Valeriu had enlightened them, well...
Let's just say the thought of angels and demons wasn't so absurd, let alone Hell.
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:12 pm
His hand held onto the knob, even if he did not enter. He was patient, listening to the boy’s requests as best he could before finally letting himself in with a dip of the head.
“Ah, no.” As if he was almost disappointed, he continued, “I’m not a doctor or any such profession. Uhm… You are the Carnegie boy…” A pause. He had forgotten which of the twins had been the one to be injured.
“Oh-- No. That’s rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself.” A mess of fidgeting hands and sidelong glances, “My name is Nathan Winters. I am an acquaintance of your grandfather and… I believe one or two of your uncles.” You never knew who you would run into with the Carnegie family, after all.
“If you have the time--” Which he certainly would, being confined to his hospital bed as he was, “I would like to have a word with you about what happened. You see--” He paused once more, staring intently at the flowers that had begun to droop with age-- most likely from Valeriu as an apology.
“Well, I won’t bore you with the details. I just have a vested interest in what happened in the Jaklovzsky home that night.”
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:21 pm
The name Winters hooked his attention. The mention of his grandfather dragged it on the line. And the Jaklovzsky name had reeled it onto the boat.
His eyes narrowed warily. He'd heard things - plenty of things. Even if the Carnegie twins weren't so involved with the unsavory aspects of the City, plenty of their family happened to be (as evidenced by how many Carnegies this man knew).
But, yes, he'd heard. Rumors, and the like. Terrible rumors.
"Nathan Winters," he repeated, and the name rested heavily on his tongue. He studied the man from head to toe. "Now, why would Nathan Winters have anything to do with the current Jaklovzsky household?" he speculated, rhetorically, giving Nathan a harder stare.
"What'chu wanna know?" he finally asked, reservedly. His expression, marred as it was by the gashes along his face, stated quite firmly that it didn't mean Nathan's questions would be guaranteed answers. He still had Valeriu's secrets to protect.
Even from such a man as this one.
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:48 pm
He took a cautious seat, careful not to make any sudden movements.
“The previous Jaklovzsky household requested I look after their son.” A promise that Andrei had also held towards Quinton-- shared and yet broken. “And while it’s proven to be… difficult in lieu of the situation, I am trying to uphold my end of the bargain.”
“I want to know about what happened the night you were injured.” His washed-out blue eyes now focused on the boy, trying to read his expressions with an almost puzzled look coating his own face. “The truth, please. Those wounds obviously weren’t caused by scissors--”
Those eyes ran over the crevices in the boy’s face. How the doctors had accepted any of their was beyond him.
“Particularly when your best friend has been the perpetrator in more than a few handfuls of murders.”
“Please--” His tone had changed, from probing to almost pleading, “Give my trust in him some credence-- any at all.”
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 11:01 pm
He hesitated, though he didn't show it, staring stolidly back with that implacable Carnegie fortitude.
Nathan knew, but didn't know. That much was obvious by his question. He wished he'd bothered to listen to more of what he'd heard about this man; he knew that both Winters and Jaklovzsky were in the same program, but he hadn't known that they knew each other that well. Well enough to request such things.
"I've heard," he acknowledged, the lines in his forehead creasing slightly with a shift of his eyebrows. "You're the one who, probably, saved his life." Valeriu tended to underestimate flesh wounds; he had a strange sense of invulnerability that cropped up, even when he lay on the brink of death. The only time he'd ever seen the boy scared to die was after that night, and he didn't blame him; guns meant death, through and through. Having one pointed at your head was probably the single most terrifying thing someone could undergo at that age.
Although Valeriu had confessed that he suspected Nathan had lied about a lot when the boy was too drugged to notice, Nathan knew enough. And Seamus was more than willing to defend his friend's integrity.
"He didn't mean it." The lines on his face had turned grimmer. "How much do you know?"
Seamus didn't want to spill too much.
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 11:55 pm
He sighed, letting his age show for a moment before looking back to the boy’s face. This was going to be a difficult conversation, after all.
“I am going to assume that you know everything-- if not, I will inform you as your right as the victim of these attacks.” Professionally as he could be, he continued without allowing Seamus any room to interject. “Valeriu has been attacking-- hunting, so to speak-- various citizens. Diplomats, businessmen, those with ties to the Mafia.” His face darkened, blending with the bags under his eyes, “The connection being that he has removed their hearts. Some claim he has eaten them, as ludicrous as it sounds.”
“I’d have assumed that you were also a part of these ‘hunts’… But that doesn’t add up. You are clearly alive, heart in tact. If he were doing this with calculated plans, he would have finished his attack. And yet… If he were simply mad… I doubt he would have noticed that you were any different from the rest of his victims.”
His fingers interlaced, resting his elbows on the armrests of his chair as he speculated aloud.
“He clearly has been selective about his targets… Yet he did begin to attack you.”
It just didn’t add up. Not at all.
“Not to mention the monstrous state the bodies--yours included-- have been found in.”
Another sigh. This was far heavier than he would have liked to deal with.
“There are too many pieces of the puzzle that are missing. Too many details left unknown.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:09 am
All of this, Seamus already knew. He was surprised, though, by the extent of Nathan's knowledge; Valeriu had been careful in not being connected with the deaths. Careful as the boy could be, after all.
"It isn't ludicrous," he admitted, slowly, weighing how much he should tell this man. "He's involved in something bigger than you or me. And his involvement's got a price."
He paused, wetting his lip thoughtfully as he figured out how to continue.
"I can't tell you much, so we'll just call this a curse. He's cursed, poor kid," he swore under his breath, lips twisting unhappily. "He has to. Has to do all of it; has to eat hearts or else he'll starve to death. So he picked bad people."
He shrugged; Seamus didn't really care about the deaths of diplomats and businessmen. He knew Valeriu didn't attack willy-nilly; he would wait, watch, catch these men in the act of some terrible, unforgivable deed, and then he would end them.
"When he attacked me, he was starving. It was instinct. You know, he's got the cat thing going on. Like a lion taking down a gazelle or something. He stopped when he looked in my eyes."
He frowned, and directed a severe look toward Nathan.
"He didn't mean it. He's a good kid who's doing his best with the cards he's being dealt."
Just a kid trying to hold onto his humanity while his god keeps conniving to rip it out of his grasp.
"He's not insane. Just a kid."
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:32 am
He frowned at the answer-- It was certainly far more than he expected. But this revelation, taking this ‘curse’ into consideration… It put the man at ease. If he could assume that Valeriu was not to blame, that he was not some mindless killer, or worse, some cold assassin--
No. As comforting as it was. It couldn’t possibly be true. The boy was jerking his chain. Trying to keep secrets for his friend. Even… Even if there was the strange growths, and the disappearances, and all the other strange occurrences--
Truth be told, he wanted the story to be true; he wanted Valeriu to be a victim.
“I don’t know.” He head dropped into his hand, still resting his elbow on the armrest. “This all sounds a little contrived, if you ask me. I’m finding it hard to swallow.”
His eyes raised, looking up towards the boy for the smallest of hints that this was all some honest yet terrible truth.
“God, though, I want to just believe you.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:42 am
"God's got everything to do with it," Seamus muttered, half to himself, glaring back at the man stubbornly. "Believe it or not, it's the truth. I won't deny that the poor kid's FUBAR in the head, but I wouldn't be half so well off as he is if I was in his position right now."
His fingers tightened around a clump of his blankets.
"Poor b*****d's killin' himself over what he accidentally did to me. I can't even imagine what it's like for him to have to do worse to others." Seamus knew that Valeriu liked to stop thinking when it came to that; he'd let it happen, and he wouldn't be upset until he'd got home and washed the blood off and called them crying on the phone--
"I think his sister's the only thing keeping him holding on, really. Her and Tepin. And Quinn, sometimes, but only when that b*****d gives a damn."
Seamus didn't like to think of that happening; losing Sydni. What it would do to them, to Valeriu. There was a chance, a growing chance, that he'd survive with their help.
But the outlook was still pretty bleak.
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:24 am
His eyes wandered the floor tiles, taking in the information that he could. While it was true that Sydni was another in his charge… The thought had never really occurred that strongly to him. Valeriu… He was Andrei incarnate. As if by protecting him, he could have erased the crimes of his past…
With the current situation, he had devoted all of his time and resources on the boy.
But Sydni… As young as she was, the resemblance had been creeping in day by day. Even as little as he saw her, he could still tell that Andrei and Dana were in there, somewhere. Valeriu could, for the most part, take care of himself. The one he ought to be worried about was the girl.
With a sigh, he raised himself up, looking down in a small sign of pity onto the Carnegie boy.
“I understand.” A scratch to his forehead, followed by a bit more fidgeting. “If you would, please keep watch over him like before.” It would be a valuable asset to have someone else in his network-- particularly someone on the inside.
The man had inched, slowly, nervously, but steadfastly towards the door; his hand resting on the handle, yet withholding turning it.
“Thank you for the information--” He still had a lot of debating before he determined its truthfulness, “If you would pardon me…”
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:31 am
"Always," he replied, quite seriously. Valeriu was like the little brother they'd never had; the twins weren't about to let him hang.
He waved a hand flippantly, shooing the strange man out.
"Yeah, yeah, get on outta here," he dismissed, leaning back into his pillows in sudden weariness. "And don't go spreadin' what I've told you, or Prince won't be the only one trackin' you down. And believe you me, we'll find you a lot faster."
Speaking of---
"You should tell him the truth." The sudden, added statement bit itself out, impulsively. "He knows you were lying to him."
That sharp-eyed look was back.
Terrible rumors indeed.
"Go on. Skidaddle."
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