|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:48 am
It was an automatic climb up the hill despite his exhaustion, arms wrapped about his chest and hands holding onto his arms as he ascended the walk, a few other students making a slow trek up the walkway. There was one place to go in the end, and while he knew it would bring up questions, he just needed a place to rest that felt, even in the smallest of senses, safe.
His eyes stared at the ground, mind tracing events from his first entrance to the portal to now, and circling over spots that had gone far too fast at the time. None of it helped to put anything in a manageable, sensible, workable order.
Soon, standing by the door, Calder looked over himself. His clothes were torn, almost black hair messy with wounds from where he pulled out the vines, before looking back up to the door. There was no way to primp and polish this mess.
A steady knock came at the door, one which didn't stop.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:25 pm
Although Barth's grasp of time and schedules was hazardous at best, Calder's return date was something he had kept track of.
He'd waited for texts in the second week, with the determination to...at least ask Christof to answer them, but none ever came.
He and Christof both had been making progress with deweaponization, which was becoming more and more of a concern. Calder remained silent, and more alarmingly, Riley's mark had disappeared. There was a campus-wide announcement at the expected return of students, and Barth had been there, standing awkwardly on his skateboard, trying to see over the crowd and the swarms of boogeymen for anything but bad news.
When the survivors were Quarantined, Barth returned to his room to stare at the door and wait anxiously in his chair. Being busy never improved his mood. He dozed on and off instead, with Handsome at his feet. The woehound had been growing, and its lanky, awkward legs were too long for Barth's lap.
They both looked up at the knock.
"Calder?" Barth asked, in spite of himself, but the boogeymen were just as likely.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:06 pm
The knocking stopped, and Calder stared at the door from the other side. Despite the knocking and the whispering down the hallway, he heard Barth. Worried he was out in the open, and looking up and down the hallway for anyone or anything, he tested the door.
It opened slowly and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or concerned it wasn't locked.
Stepping into the dorm, he looked at the bed, and then to the next option, the chairs and couches. Barth was sitting there, chair facing him, and he stepped back at being startled to see him awake and waiting. "Lock yor door." He muttered, closing it before looking at Barth.
He was here. Safe. Nothing happened to Amitvyille....yet. He wished he just stayed here, in Barth's room, the entire time everyone else went to visit the clans.
Slowly moving, he rubbed his scratched shoulders. "I'm back." He whispered, stopping at the foot of the chair to look at the demon, his brow creased as he frowned back at him, ears down and looking a mess. "Did you miss me?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:00 pm
"Well I normally- I err, they didn't let us see anybody with the quarantine, and I didn't hear from you... I've got- I've got the thorns, you know, and I was waiting on you-"
Barth moved to nervously lock the door via remote any way.
"Yes, I missed you, I thought- What happened?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:47 pm
His eyes darted when he heard the door click, but reminded himself of things like remotes and hands-free, and looked back at Barth when the question was dropped.
What happened?
Calder looked around, before spotting the couch, and pulling one hand from where it was across his chest, holding his other arm, he gestured to it. "Can we....sit together.............Can't you move for me?" He wished Barth had rose up to greet him, but he hadn't moved from his chair.
Calder waited for the demon to move first to the couch before making any sign of doing the same.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:21 pm
"You can- err, alright," Barth said, following Calder's line of sight and prying himself from the chair to lean the small distance necessary to sink into the couch. As he moved, the room's thorns shrank back.
The original intention was only sitting, but Barth found himself increasingly horizontal. He made the best of it, shifting to a lounge.
"Was it...was it the Horsemen?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:37 pm
Calder followed after and when he Barth settled into a slouching sit, Calder crawled up onto his knees before he was against the boil, back out and facing the couch as he set his head against the boil's chest. Not waiting for Barth to take the hint, he reached back and took one of Barth's arms and draped them across his back, moving the demon like a doll to make him hold him. There, he pressed his face to Barth's shoulder and simple breathed him in, closing his eyes.
He was here now. Barth was here, holding him, he could smell him, feel him, know he was here, and they were in a locked room miles and miles away. Still, the feeling of security wasn't there. The whispering continued, and his unease wasn't fading, but it was far better than it had been.
"Nu...." It came as a small whine, a held in sound of tension before the last wire could break.
".....hunters." He breathed, curling his fingers into Barth's soft coat and curling it into his hands. "........the islands are goon. Aul goon." His accent was slipping in in full force. "Thay came and bluw it aul oop. It's aul goon..." He pressed his face in, as if wanting to hide in Barth entirely.
"Riley is goon." He knew that Barth wasn't friends with her, but he should know. It was more the importance of what it meant than who it was in this case. A student died now meaning that ANYONE could be next. The Hunters could go anywhere. Do anything. Kill or take anyone. Nowhere was safe. Nothing was safe.
His body started to shake. Whatever he did, it always seemed the same.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
