My Archives: August 2003

Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Evelina waved her hands around frantically, gesturing to the very, very stupid man in front of her. She and Marena were stranded at a small filling station in the middle of Germany, and neither of them knew a word of German. Marena and Eve knew English well enough to somewhat comprehend what the man was saying to a point, as the languages were both Germanic, but could not make out how much they needed to pay him; his cash register was broken, of all things. They attempted to use their fingers to point out a price, but after a while they weren’t sure if he was capable of counting high enough.

In frustration, Marena brought a rumpled 50 Koruna Ceska note and threw it at the man, hoping the 50 on it would throw him off enough until they were gone. In reality, it was very little money; comparable to one-half Euro nowadays. With most of Europe on the Euro, it was the most common currency. The Czech Republic, however, still had Koruna Ceskas flying about, and it was easy to confuse citizens of other countries who weren’t exactly up-to-date on their currency.

Marena thanked the man with the only German she knew and grabbed Eve by the arm, yanking her through the food isle and out to the motorcycle. They had sped about a mile down the road when Marena tapped Eve on the shoulder and motioned for her to pull over. Confused, Eve stopped the bike in the middle of nowhere beside a dead, brown meadow, frosted with snow. Marena hopped off of the bike and quickly unzipped her bag. She was thankful she had insisted they go back and get her things and clothes from her apartment, as it was absolutely freezing. Marena pulled out a camel colored sweater and hastily put it on over her other, black, long sleeved shirt.

Evelina looked over at her. “Um, that isn’t very covert.”

“We’re being covert?” Marena asked, reaching up her shirt and pulling out snack cake by snack cake she had stolen from the gas station. She then pulled one out of her pocket. “I didn’t think you’d want one out of my shirt, so I stuck this one in my pocket. It’s squished but, well, I guess you don’t have to eat it.”

Eve grabbed the snack cake out of Marena’s hand and tore into it, famished. Marena proceeded to do the same with another cake. They stood in silence next to the motorcycle for a moment, eating, before Marena spoke up.

“So...what exactly will we do in London?” she asked, crumpling up the cake wrapper and throwing it in her bag; no need to litter.

Evelina shrugged. “I dunno. Get a hotel room, look around, enjoy the nightlife. I’m sure we can arrange that cheaply enough. And after that...I don’t know.”

“Sounds good to me.” Marena said. “I like a little adventure. And don’t worry, I’ll get us some stuff while we’re in London.” she winked. There was a slight pause, and Marena motioned towards the bike. “Let’s go?”

Eve made a grunt-like noise and got on the bike.

**

The ride across Germany had been long and boring, the two stopping every once and a while to rest and warm up, then back on for the next stretch. After nearly fifteen hours of driving - and not much else - they had reached Belgium. Looking at the little map they had stolen from another gas station, they figured they would go to the coast then work their way south, into France and on their way to London.

Belgium was a nice and, thankfully, very small country. They knew they could make it across in very little time, which was definitely a plus. Riding a motorcycle across Europe in December weather, however, was not a plus, and midway through Belgium the two stopped at a small diner to slow down the frostbite. It was a cozy little place, run by a very fat, warm faced woman and her equally fat, warm faced husband, as they assumed him to be.

For most of the trip the pair had been relatively quiet, only chatting when they stopped and even then not chatting about much. Marena had ordered very, very hot coffee and was stirring it, attempting to stay both awake and warm while it cooled enough for her to drink it. For the better part of the time they had been in the diner, they had been in an awkward silence, so Marena attempted to remedy that.

“So, Eve, where were you born?” Marena asked. Eve shifted her eyes down to her own drink and she also shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable. Okay, maybe not the best plan. “I didn’t mean to-”

“Oh, no...it’s okay.” Eve muttered. “It’s just that...all I remember is waking up in a Prague apartment building with Golem and with a bullet in my chest when I was thirteen. So, I don’t really know where I was born.” she looked back up. “Sorry.” she added quickly.

“No, it’s...don’t be sorry. I was just curious.” Marena said.

“Well...” Eve began, “I‘ve been in Prague all my ‘life.’ I’ve always kind of thought of the Nightriders as my family, of course, but...I felt I owed them a debt. That’s why I’ve been working for them. ” she stopped abruptly before beginning again. “Actually, I’ve been to London before, it’s where I met Ghost. It’s nice.”

“Good, I was hoping it’d be much better than Prague.” Marena said, excited.

“Yes, much better than Prague.” Eve said. “It’s beautiful...in a special way, I guess.”

“It’s one of the cities that wasn’t ruined, right?” Marena asked. Eve nodded. “Ah, so it must be lovely.”

Eve nodded again and stirred the drink in front of her. “What about you? Where are you from?”

Marena smiled. “I was born in Morocco. By the beaches; they were such beautiful beaches. We kind of moved all around the country though, and then I was sent to Spain.”

“Spain...” Eve thought about it for a moment. “Why ‘sent’ to Spain?”

Marena paused for a bit before continuing. “Well, it wasn’t really my choice, you know?”

“Oh.” Eve said. “Where in Spain?”

“Seville.” Marena answered simply; there wasn’t much more she needed to say. It was well known that Seville had become a major center for prostitution in Spain, as it had been legalized in the same manner as in Las Vegas, United States. It was never publicly announced or “condoned,” but Seville was also a popular place for poor families to sell their daughters, as most houses would take just about anyone. Marena, fortunately, had gone to one of the “better, cleaner houses,” but in reality that didn’t mean nor matter much to her.

Eve was quite for a moment. “Oh, I didn’t mean to bring anything bad up.” she said, sincerely.

Marena let out a small laugh. “What do you mean? I wouldn’t have said anything if I had cared. I’m not ashamed of it, or anything, I mean, it wasn’t my choice.... Not exactly something you bring up over dinner, but still. Seville is a very pretty city though, once you get past the filth.” she smiled again. After a moment, she continued. “I saved up my money and I ran away after about five months, hung around Toledo for a while to, ah, save up some more, then booked a train to Prague. It was the cheapest place to go, the history books make it look gorgeous, and it sounded like easy money. It wasn’t so easy, but that’s okay, I wanted to be as far away from my father as possible -- then anyways -- and what better than smelly, grimy Prague?”

Evelina laughed, albeit softly.

**

After what seemed like another eternity in the freezing cold night, they reached the toll for the English Channel Bridge, as that’s what it was; an abnormally long steel structure spanning the entire distance from France to England, as the old tunnel had been destroyed by a freak missile discharge during the War. The bridge had been constructed almost too quickly after the previous bridge’s destruction that many people feared it was not safe and actually refused to use it, taking boats instead. It had been nearly 75 years later, however, and the bridge had shown it was definitely safe to cross. There was a nearly constant pour of traffic across the bridge, and to Marena it was absolutely stunning; she’d seen traffic, but never like this.

“Do we have to pay to get across?” Marena asked. Eve nodded and Marena drew a few silver buttons from the pocket in her coat. “Change?”

“It’s not that much, don’t worry about it.” Eve said, drawing real coins from her pocket that almost amounted to just about nothing. Tolls had apparently gone down. Marena shrugged and looked at the lights again.

They drove past the booth and started across the bridge. Marena looked out into the inky black ocean in absolute awe; it was 9 at night and you could barely see anything, but it was one of the most spectacular things she had witnessed. It was amazing what man could do when he put his mind to it. It gave Marena slightly more confidence in the human race. Slightly.

**

It was a only a short, but cold, ride from the bridge before they started to see the glistening, glittering lights that were London. If the world had already ended, the bustling and vivid city showed no signs of knowing this fact; there was a liveliness in the air - and in the surroundings - that was unlike anywhere else the two of them had seen. The architecture was unchanged from before the perpetual eve, and the lights of the traffic spilt across its concrete streets brilliantly shone against the buildings of the breathtaking cityscape.

It was so different from Prague, which had not only been blanketed in darkness, but a cold melancholy. London, however, was completely devoid of this. Its beauty was not hidden, nor forgotten; rather, it had only shined brighter as time went on. People walked the streets freely, carelessly. Not just a few people, either, but crowds. It was an entire, restless population that saw no reason to seek the comfort of their (rather picturesque) homes. The nightlife loud, and obnoxious, and enchanting despite this, basked in the neon glow of the brilliant array of lights that store signs and buildings that had few, if any blemishes. It was remarkable, to say the least.

As they drove down the “strip,” (is it looked more like that than anything else) they noticed a fabulous hotel. The outside was decorated with flashing lights and holograms twirling about, with giant movie-size screens blaring coming attractions at them. After little discussion, they figured it was as good as any. Eve rode the motorcycle into the parking garage, bypassing the ticket machine, and sped into a spot next to a wall. They dismounted and Marena began to walk away, luggage in tow, but Eve stayed behind.

“Something wrong?” Marena asked.

“No...but I like this bike. If someone steals it, I’ll kill them.” Eve muttered, and slung her own bag over her shoulders and walking over to meet Marena and they both began towards the entrance of the hotel.

The inside of the massive hotel was just as lavish as the outside; the walls and ceilings might as well have been gold plated. Inside it was obvious to see that it was a casino, and everything inside glittered and shined with wealth and intoxication. It was exhilarating.

“How are we supposed to get a room here, Marena? We don’t have any money.” Eve said, looking around at her fantastic surroundings.

Marena winked. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I said I’d take care of it, right?”

Eve shrugged, and they began to walk casually over to the elevators and picked the elevators that went to the highest rooms. After a friendly debate, they decided to pick the room that was 5th from the top, as to not arouse suspicion by going into a full blown suite.

On the 45th floor, most of the rooms looked the same, the only real distinction being the numbers on the doors.

“Okay. Now pick someone unsavory.” Marena said simply.

They perused the selection for a while, watching the people that came in and out of them; quite a few families and couples, a few newlyweds. Neither of them were exactly sure what kind of victim they wanted, but Marena felt slightly squeamish about beating up families and newlyweds. It just didn’t seem right.

Soon, however, the duo spotted a couple of drunk, American accented, 20-something guys, stumbling out of their room and heading towards the elevators to go to the bars and get another drink, Marena figured. She made a nod of approval and Evelina started after the two, Marena in tow. They stood behind the two as they waited for their elevator to come and, impatient as always, Marena tapped one of the shoulder. The hulking, very intoxicated man spun around and a smile immediately crossed his face as he started at Marena, who had put on a face no drunk man could refuse.

“Hey,” the guy said, elbowing his friend and motioning for him to spin around and look at Evelina. “Check out these girls, maybe we should stay up here, eh?” the man laughed and his friend, who was remarkably more drunk than he was, attempted a laugh but was a little more interested at groping for Evelina. Eve took it with admirable calmness as she and Marena let the two guys lead them back to their room.

The two guys pulled Marena and Eve into the nearly pitch black room, and quickly attempted to divest the girls of their clothing as quickly as possible. Marena pushed the first guy away and motioned for Eve to do the same. Marena pushed her victim onto the bed and Eve, sensing a plan, followed suit.

“Hold on...why don’t my friend and I give you a little show first, hm?” Marena said, picking up her bag and heading towards the bathroom, Eve following. Outside the door, they could hear the guys conversing in jumbled voices. Marena calmly reached into her bag and withdrew her two Jerichos, checking to make sure they were loaded, just in case. She looked over to see that Eve had the same idea, and already had her guns withdrawn.

“We’re going to knock them out, okay? Not kill.” Marena ordered. Eve nodded, but it was a disappointed nod. Marena listened for a few more minutes to the guys conversation but finally had enough and kicked open the door, pistols locked and pointed squarely at one guy while Eve did the same with the other. Both of the guys nearly had a heart attack, and one actually threw himself on the other side of the bed. Marena walked over to said guy and pulled him up by his shirt and threw him back onto the bed, then resumed her former place in front of him.

“Hello, guys. Enjoy the show?” Marena winked.

“What the fuck!?” one guy yelled randomly.

“Boys, we need a room and well...we really want yours. Either you will leave peacefully and not tell anyone we’re here because, well, we are the ones with the guns, or we’ll have to do something else.” Marena explained, then looked over at Eve. “I’d pick the former; she’s pretty mean.”

The other guy decided to speak this time. “No way we are going to let two girls kick us out, you’ve got be kidding me. No way. Now get the fuck out of here before we call the cops on you guys. Shit.”

Marena thought for a moment. “Hm...no. I think that was probably not the best answer.” she finished, and motioned to Evelina. They then both advanced towards their prey and, with carefully placed blows to the head with the butts of their revolvers, knocked them completely out in such a manner that would keep them that way for quite some time. Marena quickly walked back into the bathroom and returned with four ropes and a roll of duct tape. Evelina gave her a strange look.

“Well...” she explained. “We need it, don’t we? I prepare for these things.” she muttered and she proceeded to rope, tape, and throw the two guys in the closet, taping the handles together and sitting the only two chairs in the room against it.

“Well, then.” Eve stated simply. “It is a nice room.”

Marena laughed.

Posted by Liz @ 08:04 PM CST [Link]

Sunday, August 24, 2003

“So… Have you seen it?” The cargo lift lurched slowly every second or two, as it escalated gradually towards the surface; so slowly, in fact, that Evelina was quite distraught over the lack of noise – the whining, melodic grind of metal that would have surely better accompanied Marena and herself, rather than complete silence. Eve felt rather awkward, primarily because she had agreed to travel with a woman who was, just a few hours prior, prepared to reap the rewards of her bounty. And the fact that Marena herself showed an obvious anxiousness in Eve’s presence didn’t make things better at all.

It was beginning to get on her nerves, the lack of speech between them; she would have figured the lithe mercenary would have something to say to the person that had killed not only her ‘friend, but pretty much the entire, tightly knit group of people he associated himself with. Sadly, this was not the case, and she realized that in fact, neither of them had said a word since they had left her room, all too occupied with doing their best to avoid any other residents, and more importantly, all of the Nightriders.

‘I’ll just be out for awhile. That’s all, just awhile. They’ll understand- God, I need a break, I need to get out of here…I need to think.’

Natalie. For some reason, Evelina felt she’d only be letting her down. Her actions as of late had been nothing but cowardly, and utterly embarrassing in a sense. She had brought Natalie into Prague, and the woman, from such a healthy background, had showed extraordinary resilience in both combat, and emotionally. Ghost was, and had always been, an unnaturally cold woman, and while she had learned much from Eve, she seemed even more adept in her role in the deadly, ongoing territorial war they took part in. Evelina, however, overtime, had only become broken, and unstable.

The minute she doubted why she fought, killed, and took the life from the eyes of those she had never knew, and would never know, she realized she was incapable of continuing. Evelina Maruska, born of the night, and infamous in the eyes of those who had ever seen her pick up a firearm, was now seeking an easy escape from the very place – and the people – who had given her purpose.

She blinked for a few moments, reaching over and massaging the back of her neck with her free hand, as she looked over to Marena. It took her a moment to realize that she had fallen into the recesses of deep thought, and had forgotten that she had even asked a question. The bronze-skinned woman of equal height and rather beautiful, dark hair was watching her intently, if not slightly confused. She shook her head slowly, and silently, with a faintly raised eyebrow, and Evelina looked back ahead. Marena soon followed suit; Eve’s attempt at conversation failing to remove the ever growing, and ever present tension between them.

“…The surface, the Chatrani, it’s nice.” She continued, her voice trailing a bit, as if completely prepared for her latest attempt to also be in vain, but Marena responded rather quickly, much to Eve’s surprise.

“Ohhh, yeah, I have. Well, I mean the outside,” She nodded and quickly added, “From a distance.” Which seemed rather awkward itself, but it was apparent she was trying, at least. Marena waited for a moment, and then looked back to her left at the ebony clad woman, who stood nearly shoulder to shoulder with her. Evelina, nodded fairly slowly to the reply, and continued to stare ahead. She seemed transfixed on the endless shuffle of luminosity between the parallel beams of the cargo elevator’s gate, in partial thought, and partial boredom.

“It’s much nicer inside, you’ll see, this lift… It leads up to the basement level.... It’s the only one that still does.” She broke her gaze from the rusting gate before her, tilting her head back and watching the shoddily paneled ceiling, mumbling for the damned lift to speed up, already having set records with it’s seemingly, pure lack of speed. She blew air from her lips, fervent and annoyed, and already tired of holding the dark and worn suitcase at her side. It was worn not by excessive use, however, but age; Evelina had just happened to have the old thing around, and in the back of her mind, was worried that it would fall apart at the seams at any moment. She had managed to over pack it, despite not having many valuables to call her own, and the handle which her fingers tirelessly gripped was cheap and thin, and rattled in her palm as if it were about to snap.

“I’m sure… I um, I don’t mean to seem rude, but… Why didn’t you... Have guards, I mean, in case someone just… Decided to take a trip down here…?” Marena inquired, rather abruptly, and then became quiet once more. She was casually swinging her arms about as their transport crept closer to its destination, hesitant to add more. Evelina looked over to her, raising an eyebrow, and wondering why Marena even cared; as far as she was concerned, it really didn’t matter. The hired hand shifted uncomfortably, realizing this, and continued, “Just curious, really…”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

“What about the others? You know, friends, family back at the Chatrani…”

There was a bit of silence, and Evelina slowly smirked; something that made Marena nearly exhale in relief. “…I don’t have very many of either, though I suppose you’ll do alright for now.” The dark haired girl looked at her sideways, watching her with an ever present grin.

“…What do you mean?”

“I’m going to be traveling with you, aren’t I? I guess that makes us friends now.” Evelina looked away and upwards, as the lift finally reached its destination, and a breeze of cold, if not, stale air swept past both of them.

“…I suppose it does.” Marena turned nodded, almost smiling herself.

They came to a sudden and rather noisy halt, though into where Marena could not tell. As the passage ahead of them was revealed, the iron gates of the lift slowly sliding away, their visibility had lessened greatly. They were beyond the vibrant lights of the shaft, and neither one of the two women could see much more than a few yards ahead of them. As they prepared to exit and get moving, Evelina quickly extended her arm out in front of the anxious looking girl that was accompanying her. “Wait.” Eve nodded and took a few short steps forward, while Marena paused in mid step, looking slightly perplexed.

Evelina’s dark, leather coat rustling as she moved ahead, she raised a hand, and in the room beyond the lift’s exit, two crimson lights suddenly came to life, and a mechanical noise was made as the gun cameras hoisted against the corners of the ceiling were roused from stand-by mode. They locked on almost immediately to Evelina, dark, arm length barrels loaded with machine gun ammunition poised directly in her direction and ready to fire if the distance between them was closed any further. She brought her hand to her neck quickly and motioned at them with a kill signal. There was a pause, and slowly but surely, the glowing lights on the twin, mounted – and heavily armed – motion-detecting camera’s changed to green, the artillery reverting back into their previous, lowered position.

“Security… So there is security…”

“More than you’ll ever know.”

“…Meaning?”

“They already know I’m leaving, by now. Come on.” Evelina motioned for her to follow quickly, before striding over to the staircase at the end of the small room. Marena hastily followed Nightrider, who covered the length of steps rather swiftly, and undid the bolted lock on the door at their end. Moments later, she forced the heavy entryway open, and revealed the large, and somewhat better lit, expanse of the amphitheatre’s backstage area. As they made their way inside, and Evelina closed the passageway behind them, she grinned, watching Marena closely as she examined her surroundings.

While many loose items and miscellaneous, outdated objects that were dust ridden, old, and for the most part, incapable of being used were littered in the wings of the theatre, there were many other, more grand things of notice in the spacious venue. The floor was a rich, sleek black that stretched on into the darkness of the ends of the area, and the walls both ahead of, and behind the pair, were an almost velvet, fascinating shade of scarlet, only tainted by settled dirt that had been blown about. Towering set pieces – most noticeable being what seemed like the seemingly stone, vanilla figure of a lion just to the side of Marena and against the wall, that could have passed as quite the piece of art at a museum – that seemed eerily well preserved were scattered about the area, and in a vicious contrast to the confined and shoddily made corridors of the underground complex, everything was so spacious, and grand.

“I want to see more.” Marena spoke, slowly breaking her gaze from the lofty pseudo-sculpture at her side to face Evelina, who was already heading off to their left, the heels of her boots clicking softly against the fresh-looking floor. Eve did not reply, chortling to herself quietly, and the girl known as Gemini took the incentive of following her, as they weaved quickly around the corner of the end of the offstage span.

Evelina remembered with when Julia had showed her what it was like, on stage, inside the Chatrani, years ago.

It had not yet changed, since then. And it was one of the few things of recent memory that had made her glad. Evelina had never known much outside of Prague. Its decadent, grime ridden streets, silent, violet and bleak ‘afternoons’, its violent evenings were devoid of any sense of beauty or intrigue, and yet she was always forced to call it a home. The bustling streets of London, while more lively, bright, and well kept, were no better, no less ailing from its lawlessness. The rest of Europe she had seen was just as withered; cities, peoples, and towns that knew nothing but drudgery, and seemed surrounded, perhaps even engulfed by it.

However, the Chatrani was nothing short of magnificent. It had not gone unchanged; it’s outside décor showing signs of age and erosion from hard times and the battles it had been embroiled in. But not unlike the cathedral that the deceased man once known as Priest and his followers had found safe haven, it was a sanctuary. For Evelina Maruska, and the rest of the Nightriders, and even the residents of the Chatrani who had no place else to go, it would always be their home, and one single, standing monument of splendor that they would risk their lives to protect.

Evelina gazed about in wonder, into the vast and grand amphitheatre that stretched on far beyond the edge of the mahogany stage. The air was still and quiet, as her eyes scanned along the rows of burgundy seating, the carefully crafted balcony’s that stretched on four entire stories upward, the walkways and pathways, and her eyes finally found the extravagant ceiling that spilled over across the rest of the amphitheatre. At its center, seven marvelously done portraits of angelic figures, and a majestic, ever present chandelier that gave out the most brilliant glow when illuminated.

She smiled slightly to herself and continued walking downstage until she reached the end, its sudden incline into the crimson carpeting, and she crouched, staring onward in perpetual and silent thought – only broken by the footsteps of her patron who unhurriedly sat at her side.

“There used to be a time when this would all be… Lit up, you know. People would live up here, in the gallery, until about a year ago. Yeah, things… Have been getting more dangerous… People would be risking their lives so,” She looked over to Marena sullenly, for only a second or two, before once again returning her gaze back into the dim vastness. “So they tend to just stay underground. No one comes out here anymore… No one turns on the lights.”

She laughed quietly, though it was a shallow and rather distraught laugh, and Marena seemed to sympathize, though her eyes continued to wander about the hall, undoubtedly intrigued by it. Her only response was a mere nod, and Evelina didn’t really expect much more than that. She stretched, letting her suitcase slip to the floor, and continued to stare off. As she resumed speaking, she tried her best to keep her words from slipping into an inaudible mumble, but to almost no avail.

“You know, Julia… My friend, yeah, she used to come out here a lot. We don’t mean to keep anyone confined down there…” She turned to Marena and trailed off, her voice obviously strained, “Sorry… I mean, about… Priest and anyone else… I mean, he was your friend and…”

”Don’t worry about it.” She quickly pushed off the end of the stage from her sitting position and began walking down the main, center aisle that went down the heart of the amphitheatre towards its entrance. Her voice was suddenly cold, and her dark hair swayed from side to side as she strode ahead of the Nightrider. “It isn’t the first time. We should go, right?”

Evelina paused for a moment, Marena voice far off, drowning into the space of the amphitheatre, and she nodded, reaching down and lifting up her worn suitcase and heading off right behind the unlikely ally, Gemini. “Yeah, we should go.”

Marena came to a stop at the end of the area, looking through a pair of gold framed, classical glass doors that lead to another section of the amphitheatre. Evelina came up beside her and pushed the doors open, turning to the right instead of straight ahead toward the exit, in the foyer. She directed Marena not to follow her, telling her to meet her outside in a few moments, and the bronzed mercenary did exactly that, making her way outside and to the sets of stairs that cascaded down onto the winding street of Prague below.

She sat down slowly, running a hand through her hair and obviously chilled by the cold night air; not to mention looking extremely tired, having gained little to no rest as of late. The roar of the motorcycle engine pulling around the curve of the Chatrani building, however, awoke her intensely, as Evelina’s strikingly sleek and swift ride pulled up to the court just to the front of Marena. It came to a skidding standstill; its jet black, smooth surface matching Evelina’s coat unerringly and certainly seemed as if someone had spared no expense towards the quality of the bike, and its looks, as well.

Marena leapt to her feet and jogged down the length of the steps hurriedly, grinning at the visually impressive vehicle and raising an eyebrow in wonder. “Wasn’t yours…”

“Wrecked? Let’s just say I borrowed Ghost’s ride earlier.” Evelina frowned and looked off to the side, revving the engine as Gemini took a seat on the bike herself, still looking inquisitive.

“Uh, isn’t she going to be pissed when she finds out?”

“Most likely – One question, though: seriously…” She turned her head to look at Marena out of the corner of her eye. “Why do you want to come with me…?”

“I’m contractually obligated to work for the Nightriders now. And you’re one of them, aren’t you?” She smirked and added, “Besides, I have plans for where we’re headed.”

“Contractually…” Evelina nodded quickly, as the purring engine was quite ready to head off, and she turned and looked at the Chatrani once more, giving it a silent - and hopefully, not permanent – farewell.

‘Nat, Marcus, everyone… Julia. I’ll come back. That’s a promise.’

She looked ahead almost morosely, closing her eyes, and once again falling victim to her own, deep thought. “Alright, to London…?”

“To London.” Marena answered, restless in tone.

Evelina opened her eyes, and the engine of the lustrous motorcycle roared viciously as they sped off into the night.

Posted by Jubilation Link @ 06:07 PM CST [Link]

Saturday, August 23, 2003

Alix sighed heavily and ran her fingers across her neck quickly and tensely. Hearing about the girl had shaken her up and she needed something to calm her down. She thought, amusingly, that sleep would be nice but for someone in her position, that sort of thing rarely happened. She was also positive it was not about to happen tonight, either.

She gave a grunt and pushed away from the wall where she had been leaning, starting for the elevator. Luckily, her wait was short. The inside of the elevator was as impersonal and cold as the rest of the building. Since the destruction of the classical White House and most of the Washington D.C. monuments in the early 2070’s, most of the buildings in Washington were hulking skyscrapers of steel and glass; glossy, white, and clean, but cruel. Airships buzzed by at all hours. Most people actually lived where they worked; Alix was no exception, as most of the White House staff lived in the gargantuan structure which just barely surpassed the Taipei 101 tower. From the top floor you got a perfect 360 degree view of the city, but for the most part the top floor was inaccessible.

Alix pressed the button for the second highest floor over and over again, as if in a futile attempt to get to her room any faster. She either needed to lie down or needed a hit, and seeing as how she was never going to get to sleep she opted for the latter, now even more anxious to get to her room, anxious to relax.

As the elevator passed over the 40 floors into the low 50‘s, it slid to a smooth stop and Alix let out a load moan as she realized she’d have to spend alone time with some lackey she knew she wouldn’t know; people on the 50-60 floors were technical support and all of that shit behind the scenes she really didn’t care about, so never really bothered to visit. The door slid open almost soundlessly and Alix focused her attention from the ad on the wall onto the unfortunate individual who had to spend time with her.

“Oh,” she stated simply to the person in front of her. “Hello, Mr. President.”

The meticulously groomed man in from of her let out a laugh and stepped into the elevator beside Alix. He made sure to stand on the left side of her, then casually reach across her to press the keypad for access to the button for the top floor, then proceeded to press the button. He smiled a pleased smile and settled, leaning against the wall next to her. “Cute.” he paused, in thought for a moment on how to word what he wanted to say. “I’m angry and disappointed in you.”

Alix frowned. “You say that as if I went in and handed the girl and the gun to the Angels, Eric.” she spat at him, angry that he would act like this with her.

Eric looked over then down at the ground, and momentarily afterwards the door opened to Alix’s level. “You know what, Alix...” he said, pressing the close door button. “Why don’t you come upstairs? I need to talk to you.”

Alix stared at his then at the still open door; the close door buttons didn’t actually work, they never had in most elevators since they had been invented. “I really need to --” she stopped, deciding just to leave it at that.

“Just come on.” he insisted, putting his arm across the elevator doors as they slid shut. Alix clenched her hands and looked off to the side, but stayed quiet until the doors slid open into Eric’s quarters.

It was a handsome room; off to one side was a sparsely decorated office, where most people came if he had some sort of business to talk with them, as it was the most aesthetically pleasing office in the White House. Off to the right she could see his penthouse; it was generally closed off and one would never know it was there. He had it open now, for one reason or another.

“I don’t know what you want but I’m not in the mood for it, I assure you.” Alix said sharply, turning to glare at him. She knew Eric well enough to know what he was thinking. Or at least she liked to believe so.

“I don’t want anything, Alix, except a little competence from you every once and a while.” he grit out.

She recoiled. “There was nothing I could do about that and you know it, so why don’t you stop this before I rip your throat out.” she spat, her nerves grating.

“Calm down.” he demanded. He reached into a desk drawer and retrieved something. “Catch.”

He threw a small pen shaped object into her hand. She looked down, slightly caught off guard but relieved none the less. She smiled, then looked back up at him. “Is it my birthday?” she said sarcastically.

“When did you start using that shit?” he asked bluntly, ignoring her question. That shit referred to the substance Alix now held in her hand. Originally designed as another form of morphine, it basically gave the same effect as heroin but with far less risk of addiction. It was still in high demand, though, for the simple fact that it wasn’t addictive. It was as if people were addicted to the idea that they would never really “need” it, so therefore used it whenever they could. The pen shaped needle, however, had been invented to ease the pain of immunization and to lessen the bleeding to practically nil. It was perfect for injection but hard to find outside of hospitals.

Alix cocked her head. “About the same time I started working for you.” She replied, then smirked again and flipped the end case off of the needle. “Why do you have it?” She added.

“I found it in your bedroom.” he said, walking to the same side of the desk as she was on, his hands in his coat pockets.

Alix narrowed her eyes. “Why were you in my bedroom?”

“I was looking for you.” he returned her smirk.

Alix rolled her eyes. “Cute.” she said, mimicking him. She started to walk out of the office and towards the door, but Eric steered her into the house area.

“That’s not all.”

Alix walked into the house area, noting a old burning smell she couldn‘t quite place. It was a lavishly decorated home, with windows completely around it; a fantastic view, she had to admit. She walked slowly over to a large couch and slumped down into it.

“Eric, why the fuck does Vincent have to come with me?” she suddenly blurted. “You know I could do this by myself, I don’t even want to hear the excuse. What the hell is he doing to do there?”

“Well,” he paused, thinking about his answer. “I know it‘d be a shame if he got caught by someone he couldn‘t handle...”

Alix was thrown off guard for a moment, then a smile slid over her face. “Oh. That’d be tragic.”

Eric let out a laugh and sat down next to her on the couch. “Well, you know I don’t like to share unless it’s someone I like, and I like Vincent just that much less.” he said, illustrating his statement with a hand on her thigh. She looked over at him and shifted enough for his hand to slide back off.

“No, no.”

Eric made a tsk noise and moved his hand just slightly to lie beside his own leg. There was a small pause afterwards, but to Alix it seemed at eternity, the needle burning a hole into her hand. She hesitated; she wasn’t ashamed of her “addiction,” which it wasn‘t really. She just didn’t think getting high in front of Eric was the best thing to further her career.

In frustration, Alix looked forward and started spinning the needle in her hand as if it really was a pen, almost subconsciously. Eric watched her do this and grabbed her hand, stopping the spinning.

“If you don’t want it, fine. Give it back or use it.”

Alix pulled her hand from his grip. “Take it, fine.” she pressed the hypodermic into his hand sideways and he closed his fist around it, both ends sticking out the sides.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence as Alix grew more and more impatient and Eric just smiled back at her, holding his hand exactly where he left it.

Only a few moments later, Alix found herself effortlessly digging her fingernails into Eric’s forearm. His grip loosened and the needle dropped onto the cushion, unharmed and completely intact. Alix loosened her grip as well and saw five half moon blood marks on Eric’s arm. Good. Alix reached down and plucked the needle off the cushion and held it tightly in her hand. Eric continued to stare and smile. Alix returned his stare with fury in her eyes.

“Fuck you.”

Alix slammed the needle into her neck and pressed down, feeling the drug flow through her veins. She suddenly felt uncharacteristically calm and slumped over to lie down on the couch, but managed to swing the needle into Eric’s palm for good measure before she did.

“Alix, please.” Eric said, as if reprimanding and small child, then pulled the needle out of this hand and threw it across the room.

Alix drew her legs up onto the couch and slung them across Eric’s lap. He looked over at her out of the corner of his eye as her stiletto heel stabbed into his thigh. He waited for a few more moments, silently, before he shoved her legs back onto the floor.

“No, no.” he mocked.

Alix gave a grunt and sat herself back up, woozy but not completely out of it. She turned her attention back to Eric, smiled, then let out a laugh. He just kept staring at her like she we some sort of freak.

“You’re still mad at me, you bastard. You shouldn’t be.” she said, glaring at him.

“Oh really?” He said, anger rising in his voice.

“Really. Maybe if you knew two things about being a President we wouldn’t be in this situation, but you can’t even handle your own army well enough to keep that place safe from the Angels.” she criticized, eyes narrowed.

Eric just sat for a moment, digesting what Alix had said. He was still and quiet for a moment, then turned to face her. “Who do you think you are?”

“I think-” she attempted, but was cut off by Eric’s hand around her throat. She was pressed down onto the couch with a very intimidating Eric over her, who now seemed much more threatening than he had before. She felt like her senses should have been clearing, but they weren't.

“No, wrong.” he spat. “You do NOT think. You do exactly what I say, when I say. Do you understand that?”

Alix truly felt fear now; she was still a bit confused and not prepared for this. “Eric, I-”

“What do you do, Alix?” he commanded. Alix recoiled at the force of his words.

“Eric, what-”

“What the FUCK do you do, Alix?” he screamed into her face.

Alix felt herself shrivel inside; she wanted to die. “I do what you want, when you want.” she whispered timidly; shamefully.

Eric loosened his grip on her throat and put his hands on each side of her head. He seemed as if he was going to get off of her, but instead leaned down next to her ear and whispered. “You’re nothing. That‘s what I think you are.”

Alix bit her lip and cursed herself for ever holding that needle; she was too disoriented to even disagree. “Eric, please.” she pleaded, hoping.

Instead, he laughed. “You are nothing but a whore. A whore that goes out and does my dirty work while I sit here and drink expensive wine and wait for you to come back and tell me how you fucked up again. Because that’s all you do, Alix. All you do is fuck. everything. up.”

Alix felt her eyes well up involuntarily, and she wanted to crawl under a rock. She attempted to shift her position to try and get out, but it was no use.

Eric smiled and she felt it against her cheek. He put his mouth right next to her ear, nearly touching it, and repeated. “You are nothing but a whore.” he kissed her neck lightly. He then lifted up to stare her straight in the eyes, their noses nearly touching. He kissed her roughly.

Alix made a move to hit him with a free hand but he grabbed it, twisted it and put it back down beside the couch.

“My whore.” he whispered, in an almost affectionate manner that scared her more than the yelling. There was a silence as he stared her square in the eyes and she met his gaze, fury showing through and through on her face. He smiled wickedly. “And I will alwaysbe on top.”

Posted by Liz @ 02:23 AM CST [Link]

Tuesday, August 19, 2003

“I swear to God, Dominique, she won’t last a week. Not if she fucks with me again.” Livewire gave a murmur of frustration and slight pain as the man at her side finished wrapping the gauze around her wrist and forearm, giving him a look before turning to the rest of the group. Dead silence, typically, would have been the topic of the conversation, not to mention nicer. However, for the azure-metallic nineteen year old, the incident concerning the child had been all to interesting to just drop. Mixed with her argumentative nature, the Angels in the vicinity were being given a lot of unwanted insight on her opinion.

But for some reason or another, the fellow occupants of the room were still listening. Not that they wanted to; rather, be it fatigue or even laziness, they just didn’t care. Normally, Dominique wouldn’t care either. Every other week, she and the arrogant teen had their disputes, and while her mouth had always been an irritation, it was easily ignored or silenced. Unfortunately, though, this wasn’t the best of times, and the lack of nicotine entering her lungs had unsettled her greatly; not mention triggering another fierce headache for the weary pilot.

Dom had her eyes fixated on the corner of the room, looking over the LSR cannon that stood propped against the concrete surface. She had become tired of Livewire’s ranting; her eyes were almost drooping, chin rested against her palm, and she was beginning to ponder of various ways to execute the fellow crewmember as quietly as possible. A shame her new-favorite-toy wasn’t capable of quiet mode.

The Furious Angels who had decided not to fall asleep immediately after the alarm and the short episode with Psyche that followed it, had made residence back in the area where Dominique first introduced the child. The area was certainly a lot more vibrant, and the strained tension between them and the discussion being held had lessened, but that wasn’t saying much. It was becoming apparent to them all- except her, sadly- that Livewire’s banter was turning into a droning whine within the group, and if it continued, the aftermath wouldn’t be good.

’…And as always, there doesn’t seem to be an off switch on her skinny ass…’

Somewhere along the line, Dominique had lost her pack of cigs, and wasn’t exactly in the position to head out over to her room and pick up another. She was becoming extremely irritated, and as a lock of her sleek, blonde hair fell back in front of her eyes, she parted her lips and blew it away quickly, speaking up. She thumbed away at the lighter in her palm, at her side, sparking it irregularly and obviously unsettled in tone.

”You spooked the poor kid. Get fucked, you got what you deserved.”

Cube, one of the other occupants of the room, who sat crouched at the far wall, lifted her head slightly, as if brought back from the verge of sleep. It had been awhile after the mission, and she had reason to be tired, as well as cold: the Atlantic wasn’t exactly the best environment for one to clad themselves in only tank-top and working shorts. But then again, Cube never wore much else anyway. Along the opposite wall of her, and next to Phoenix, Raven turned her head to seemingly stare at the blonde, though her eyes remained hidden under a veil of long, dark hair. Dominique always assumed she never cut her hair, and it was an eerie rarity to ever see those dark eyes, which was probably her intent anyway. Having caught her eye, Dom returned the glance, and for a moment, she wondered if Raven was actually smiling under there.

And then her attention was averted, as Livewire’s fingers visible clawed into Haven’s knee, causing the auburn haired man to wince and push her hand away. He glared at the girl as she stood quickly, obviously angry, before resting his eyes against her ass, unashamed. Low-rise jeans were a commonality for her, and he was always one to take advantage of that fact. The Phoenix began removing her trench coat and thumbing her lighter once again, as LW continued.

”She tossed me into the fucking air, Dominique,” She stated a-matter-of-factly, obviously intent on getting the point across that a scraped wrist and landing on one’s back was a brutal and violent near death experience, even for a sky-bound criminal like herself. “She nearly broke my goddamn arm, and she’s nothing but-“

Dom’s hand clenched the lighter tightly, her eyes slowly gliding over to stare at Livewire, who was now pacing in her general direction. Becoming a bit edgy, she spoke quietly, yet in a commanding tone. “Sit down, Livewire…”

Fuming, and not taking the hint, she continued to traverse over to the taller woman, which even Haven began to taken notice at, despite the lewd stare he previously had initiated against her rear. ”Don’t fucking tell me to sit down! You tell Little-Miss Short Cake to keep her bitch ass out of my hair.” Her eyes flared in a bout of anger, as she stepped even closer, and Dominique cut in to keep her from saying anymore. Her fingers flicked away at the lighter even more erratically, as she decided to speak once more.

”Sit down, Kaitlyn…” She spoke through clenched now, letting out a sigh after a moment.

The addition of her name didn’t seem to help, though. It only fueled the fire, and the ranting increased in volume, worsening. “We should have tossed her in the fucking ocean- I’m going to toss her into the fucking ocean. God, if you hadn’t have-“

Dominique quickly jolted to a stand, grabbing Livewire by her collar and twisting the upper end of the shirt in her hand, choking the girl, swinging around, and slamming her into a nearby wall. The lighter flared to a start, to the side of the young woman’s neck, almost as if being brandished as a weapon. Her eyes stared viciously at Kate, who was caught off guard and incapable of breathing the way she’d like, nearly being lifted off her feet, and level with burning, angered eyes. Raven took a step back slowly, to give the two a bit of room.

”Since when in the hell do I listen to a damn thing you say, Livewire? Since when do you have a word, a fucking syllable in disagreement, over my decisions? Since when do I put up with your lip, and your selfish, conceited attitude? Drag. Your. Sorry. Ass. Out. Of. Here. Now. I really, truly, don’t want to hear a word anymore. And I especially don’t want you fucking with the kid, with Psyche, ever again. Or else I’ll suspend you from flying- No, fuck it, I won’t even suspend you. You will take your shit and hit the road. And if it ever comes to that, believe me, Kate: the only person that will be tossed into the ‘fucking ocean’, on my watch, will be your scrawny ass. I’m tired, Livewire. Now go.”

The flame, as well as the lighter, retreated into her palm, as Dominique’s grip released. She aptly turned away, resuming a previous search of her pockets for a rogue cigarette, and looking about the room at the rest. Haven had his head down a bit, either trying very hard not to make a comment, in fear of his own well being, or stifling a chuckle, again, in fear of his own well being. Cube gave a gracious smirk toward her captain, inwardly chortling herself, and Raven pulled back the dark curtain her hair with one hand. Raising an eyebrow at both Livewire and Phoenix, she gave them a look, and then shrugged, staring off in discretion.

LW stood still after a moment, brushing back her own multi-shaded hair and feigning composure, yet still obviously embarrassed. The lunge had made her quiet, at any rate, and that’s all Dominique really cared about. Lowering the bandaged hand down to her side, and picking at the end of the dressing with her other hand, she nodded in partial agreement and looked over to Haven, before heading to the door. He seemed to get the message, and stood up, following, and doing his best to avoid pissing off Dom before he made his leave. The far exit to the area slid open quietly at her approach, and she plastered on a fake smile. “…Well then, I am… Glad… To be a part of the Furious Angels’ Daycare Center.”

Dominique stretched for a moment, watching the exodus of the two, and stood still. As always, footsteps in the outside corridor could be heard, and when they became faint enough for her liking, she mouthed something obscene at the door, a smile curling on her lips.

“I believe Livewire should have diaper-duty,” Raven suddenly spoke, in an informal, but quiet tone, shaking her head. “She’d fit right in with the toddlers.”

Cube leaned forward and let out a jovial laugh, impressed by the display and the comment from Raven. “Well I’ll fucking be, did Raven just crack a joke? This night is just full of surprises…” Raven nodded slowly in agreement, and Dominique was quite sure she was smiling, this time. Cube slowly stood, stretching and watching the other two. “So, we’re just going to lay low for the time being, right? I think it’d be best if we didn’t start any fires for awhile.”

Raven stayed quiet and nodded, and Dominique replied quickly, albeit, still pretty grieved about her lighter going unused for the moment.

‘Good luck with ever trying to quit, Dominique…’ , she thought to herself, not too impressed with the fact she hadn’t had a smoke in an hour, and already was jittery as fuck.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll talk about that tomorrow. We need to figure out how the Chilastra went down; we can’t have that happening again. No more close calls. As for me, no, I need to check on the others- Oh, and by the way…”

Cube nodded and shook her head, as if knowing what the blonde was ready to say. ”Listen, Dominique… I respect you as a leader, and as for the kid, you know… I just want to let you know what you did, I mean, bringing her back, we’re cool with that. Right, Raven?” She looked over sideways at Raven, still partially removed from the conversation, off in her own little world.

”I really don’t care.” She said bluntly.

Cube blinked and nodded, trying her best to smile, despite it. “Err... Right, well, the girl, Psyche, was it? I fully support her staying, yeah. After all, she’s just a kid and-” She was turning as she talked, as if speaking to the air, and Dom abruptly cut in, snatching her brown trench coat back up and preparing to leave.

“That’s good then; Listen, I got to do some stuff, I want you to go check on her. You know, spend some time with her, she doesn’t feel exactly comfortable with the rest of the Angels, and if she’s staying here...” She trailed off, nodding.

“Okay, what the fuck? You mean I have to go play babysitter?” She looked a bit startled, almost verging on annoyed.

“Yeah, whatever- Just do it, alright?” Dominique didn’t feel like arguing, and instead, decided to head the large double doors, pushing her way through and pausing in wait for a reply.

“… Oh, no. No, you have got to be kidding. Why can’t Raven do it?”

Dominique grinned devilishly and looked at the both of them silence, gesturing a hand toward the gothic throwback that stood motionless at Cube’s side. “Would you want to spend your time alone in a room with her?” She pulled away from the door, heading en route to her room, and it closed slowly, scraping against the floor as it slid back into place.

“…Point taken.” The pony-tailed woman rolled her eyes and gave an apathetic sigh, looking over to the other occupant of the room, who seemed to have no intention of leaving, unlike the rest.

Raven raised her hand and her fingers tauntingly waved in good-bye.

Cube raised her middle finger in appreciation soon after, and muttered incoherently, not too enthralled with giving the child company. She left on a rather low note, spitting a remark half at Raven and half at no one in particular. “Thanks. That’s just… Perfect.”

* * *

“Come off it, it’s not that bad, you know. As for the little girl, who cares?” Haven grinned and slowly moved his arms around Livewire’s waist from behind, attempting to lower his head against her shoulder, but failing, as the lithe woman slid from his grasp and turned to face him. She stopped completely as they walked through the corridor and only their footsteps and once, whispering voices could be heard. Her tone was haughty, almost verging on a pout, and her hands rested at her sides. Blue eyes narrowed at him in semi-disbelief, and her collection of earrings vibrated and chimed against each other as she spoke.

“Ugh, I can’t believe you. You act like… You act like I wasn’t even hurt!” She was beginning to start fuming again, which was something Haven was hoping to avoid. Her mood, as of late, was extremely tenacious. While she had good reason, it had sincerely begun to irritate everyone, and it would be not only to his benefit, but the benefit of others, if he kept her quiet. The halls of the Typhon rig were good at carrying sound; something they had all learned as of late, and had become a problem for those aiming to get sleep.

“I didn’t say that, I’m just saying, it’s…” He was careful with his words, but under the pressure of her cold gaze, what was said didn’t come out as well as he had hoped. “It’s… More of a scrape, rather than a wound…?” He quickly plastered on a smile and shrugged, methodically slapping himself over and over in his mind.

‘You’re an idiot.’

Livewire sneered and looked off in a fit of angst, mumbling something that was more than likely obscene, and faced him once more after a long and quiet moment. “Alright, whatever, I guess it wasn’t that bad.”

Haven raised an eyebrow and replied slowly, “You’re not still upset about Vegas, are you?” She wasted no time in snapping back, though her touchy demeanor had lessened.

“What did you say? No.” She answered her own question for him, but it was apparent he had struck a nerve. The incident at Vegas two weeks ago had been a wild one – and nearly got her killed – after the covert operation was spoiled when Cube tried to befriend one of the local gamblers and the botched robbery almost had Livewire pinned down by Grav-Police units. Ever since then, she had become extremely adamant about the group and their interaction with outsiders; enough to cause her to become more confrontational with Dominique than usual. Her mood had slowly worsened, and Haven had been doing his all to mend it.

“I think you just need to relax Katie.” He smirked, and with that, quickly moved her against the door to the closest room, arms around her waist. The movement was quick and obviously not practiced, but Livewire certainly got the idea.

“You really think so…?”

“Yeah, you do…”

“I like your thinking.”

* * *

Seth didn’t bother to join the others; he didn’t want to hear the complaining. He was too tired to listen to Livewire complain about the girl again. He just stuck himself to the halls, drowsily walking along, keeping himself to his thoughts. He decided to finally go and join the others, if anything to see if the girl was all right.

As he walked toward the room he saw Dominique leave. He stopped his walking and looked over to her. He wanted to ask her something, though she seemed to be preoccupied with something else and she looked a bit grumpy, tired even. He went ahead anyway, as he may not have had the chance anytime in the future.

“Hey Dom…I wanted to ask you something. I’m not going to complain like the others, though I would like to know why you brought the girl back. I’m just curious.”

"Hey, Seth. Just felt like a good idea at the time."

“Oh, well, what exactly are we going to do with her?”

"What do you mean, 'do'? She stays here for the time being. I don't know. I'll think it out."

“I saw what she did to Livewire though. What exactly are her powers? I know she’s just a kid, but what if she decides to do that to someone. Or even use them again to try and escape…”

Dominique paused for a moment then replied. "...Escape to where? We're in the middle of the Atlantic. I doubt her ass can fly a couple hundred miles."

Seth chuckled. He knew the question was stupid. “I don’t know. I just don’t know how you expect us to be able to trust her. Not with what she’s done already.”

"Seth, we're a couple of con artists and convicts. Surely you can control your fear."

“It’s not fear. Maybe we just need to adjust. Sorry I bothered you about it, you’ll figure something out I guess. I do have another question though…”

"No, it's cool Gryphon. Things have been hectic lately... And just what would that be?"

“Well, I’ve always wondered why I’m here. Why’d you take me in? I’m probably just dwelling into things. I just haven’t been sleeping, and when I do I’m not exactly dreaming peacefully. I just don’t know what my purpose is…” Seth leaned against the wall. He didn’t know why he asked, but he did and he’s already begun to regret it.

"You say it almost as if I needed a reason, Seth. Don't worry about it. Think of it as... An escape, you know?"

“I would, but I haven’t escaped. My past comes back to haunt me every time I go to sleep. I see all my memories over again. I’m still trying to escape.”

"Then I really don't know what to say. We all have bad dreams sometime... And as for you, I suppose it just felt like a good idea at the time. Hell, maybe you're right about the kid."

“So... What, do you regret bringing her here…?”

“...We’re criminals. We live in our own world, here. What did I really do? I plucked her from one prison and tossed her right into another. I don’t know what went on there, but… Come on, she wasn’t the only one. I regret her still being in a fucked up environment. You know what that’s like, right?”

“If there were others, she’s one of the lucky ones.”

“Not to sound poetic or anything… But in this world, there don’t seem to be any lucky ones. Get lots of rest, tomorrow we’re going to see what the hell went wrong.”

“That should be interesting. Getting lots of rest is easier said then done.”

Seth walked away, as well as Dominique. He thought of seeing the girl, maybe he could get her to talk. He doubted it, but he could try, and he didn’t have much else to do. He passed by the deck along his way, where Icarus was attending to something. Seth and Icarus never did get along. He never did know why either, he just ignored him most of the time. Seth would have ignored him now if he didn’t call out his name. He turned around to face Icarus, for whatever he wanted.

"Just came out for a bit of fresh air, eh?"

“Uh, no. I’m on my way to see the girl, so if you’ll excuse me…”

"Funny how she doesn't even have a name. Isn't it?"

“She does, I’m sure. She just doesn’t want to give it away I guess. I don’t blame her.” Seth was a bit confused at Icarus’ friendly manner, especially toward him.

"Yeah, neither do I. Though, she wouldn't even be here if the crash hadn't have happened. In fact, Gryphon, what did happen out there?"

“Good question, really it is. Why don’t you ask the Twins?” Seth knew where this was going now.

"No, I thought I'd ask you. That is of course, unless it's a problem."

“It’s not a problem. But since I had nothing to do with it, you’re not going to get anywhere by asking me.”

"Oh, I wasn't assuming anything, don't worry. It's just dangerous out there. I suggest you be more careful- A lot more careful. We wouldn't want another incident."

Seth chuckled. “Me, be more careful? Right, well, I don’t know why you’re telling me that, since I had nothing to do with the incident.”

"Cut the bullshit. I will find out who did it, and believe me, when I do..."

“What bullshit? And, what exactly will you do Icarus?”

"It's late. See you bright and early, later, my friend."

“You never answered my question.”

"As if I have to?" Icarus walked away.

Seth just smirked. “I guess you don’t have to answer, if you don’t want to. Just one last thing Icarus, I’m not your friend. Later, boy.”

"Have a good one." Icarus said it with a sneer and pushed Seth back, causing him to stumble a bit. Normally Seth would have just let it go and walked on, but he perused it, if anything because he was in a lousy mood and didn’t want to put up with an attitude from the likes of Icarus.

So instead of dropping it Seth walked up behind Icarus and pushed him back. It made him feel a bit better. Icarus turned around with a grin on his face, while Seth remained emotionless. Icarus kept grinning, but in an instant his formed a fist and swung at Seth. Seth managed to dodge it however and merely jumped out of the way.

“Trying to hit me now Icarus? That’s real noble like of you.”

Icarus didn’t respond, instead he came at Seth once more, though Seth failed in dodging this time. Icarus managed to punch Seth in his stomach, which disoriented him for a second. Once Seth regained his composer and came back at Icarus, delivering a blow to his side with his fist. Icarus jumped back, but kicked Seth as he did. Seth fell backward, but rolled and threw himself back up.

Icarus came at him once more, only to be thrown to the ground when Seth threw his foot into Icarus’ stomach. Icarus fell to the ground but quickly got back up. Icarus was still ready to fight, but Seth wasn’t as into it as Icarus was. This wasn’t Seth, he wasn’t the “let’s fight for no reason” type of person. Either way he would end it somehow, before it became too serious.

Icarus came at him again, but Seth barely dodged his attack. Once Seth tried to get his balance once more Icarus grabbed him and threw him into a nearby wall. Seth hit his head, which caused him to bleed. He was a bit upset now, so instead of shaking it off and grabbed Icarus and swung him around until there was enough momentum for Seth to slam his elbow into Icarus, which he did. Icarus stumbled back, then ran up to Seth and got in a few punches. Seth kneed Icarus in an attempt to get him away from him.

Icarus stepped back, and then attempted to swing at Seth once more, but before he could he was stopped by Sphinx, who must have heard the fight from the other room. Icarus gave Sphinx an annoyed glare, then left the deck. Seth sat down on the ground with his back leaning against the wall. He touched his forehead and winced when he touched the cut.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“Good. Now get the hell up and take care of that cut. Don’t want it to get infected.”

“Yes sir.” Seth said mockingly as he left the deck. Sphinx stayed behind.

“I’m sure Dominique will love to hear about this. Fucking idiots.”

* * *

'Thank God, time to get reacquainted with the long, sleek and handsome Mr. Nicotine. Where are you, lover…?'

For a moment, Dominique’s headache had dwindled as she approached the entrance to her living quarters aboard the Typhon, and her eyes closed in loving approval as the door slid open silently, whilst, in her mind, a concerto played that could instill happiness into even the most irritable of pilots.

The lights weren’t on, but it didn’t really bother her; the gentle glow from the hallway was light enough, and she seemed to have left the bathroom light on, as from under its door shone a smooth beam of luminosity. She immediately passed by her bed and made her way to the desk, tossing her coat carelessly onto to mattress and quickly snatching up the pack of cigarettes that she had so callously left behind.

She loathed smoking, but loved it just as equally. It wasn’t the lack of a decent cigarette that had caused her to be jittery, as without it, she’d have pretty much been the same. The fumes calmed her nerves.

And in her business, she needed that. It was her only way of handling her rather nasty mood swings, and for the last year or so, it had worked well, though there were instances – like earlier, with Livewire – that it wasn’t always foolproof. It wasn’t the healthiest of practices, but it got the job done well enough.

‘Besides, life is too short anyway, so what the hell, eh?’ As she brought the cigarette to her lips and lifted the lighter proudly against its end, and taking a slow, euphoric drag of the newly revived smoking habit, she smiled to herself in the partial darkness. Unfortunately, the smile was never meant to last; a fact which annoyed the Phoenix greatly. It quickly faded, as she realized that she never left the bathroom light on, and for a second, she could almost hear conversing.

’What the fuck…?’ The lighter snapped closed and she aptly dropped it to the ground, walking over to the entrance of the washroom and opened it quickly, pulling the cigarette casually from her lips to exhale.

As the door slid open, propped up against the counter that was home to her personal sink, was Livewire, clinging to Haven, and for a few long seconds, blissfully unaware of the presence of the blonde. She was a screamer – in more ways than one - it seemed, and the auburn haired man didn’t realize it too soon either, caught up in utter carnal lust as the scene of lovemaking was interrupted by the intrusion of the room’s owner. It would have been humorous to an observer, but as the cloud of smoke billowed ahead of Dominique, and her eyes fixed itself on the scene of partially clothed couple engaging in an act of pure, unadulterated sex, something snapped inside of the Phoenix. A boiling feeling, that seemed to rise within her for an eternity, when in reality, it was mere seconds.

She was angry. And tired, and hungry, and now the cigarette had slipped from her fingers. It landed silently against the tiled floor at her feet. And now she was angry.

There was a bit of yelling, mostly on Livewire’s part, as Haven was quickly pulled away and tossed abruptly and violently to the floor of the room, wincing in pain and acknowledging that the impact of her boot against his chest wasn’t a happy feeling. Dominique ignored the ranting of Kaitlyn, standing at her side, and trying her damned hardest to stop the enraged blonde from harming Haven, but failing miserably, as he continued to be used as a means for which Dominique could let off pent up stress.

”What the hell are you doing! Stop it, just stop it, alright!?”

“Fuck- Damn it, Phoenix- Christ!”

A chain of nonsensical, and anger ridden obscenities were uttered from her lips, as she finished with a sharp, and unnecessary blow to his gut, causing him to make a noise in the wake of the kick, signaling that it had done a great deal of damage. She pulled her arm away from Livewire vehemently and pushed the girl away, nearly sending her to the floor stumbling. Her eyes flared and she became totally silent, though the look on her face said enough: Leave. Livewire protested, only to be met with a toothbrush to the forehead, and a comment about fucking amongst her personal hygienic tools, and how someone or something was going to die. Haven carried himself off, dazed and broken in both ego and, most likely, ribs as well.

And Dominique felt the resurgence of the sharp, stabbing pain throughout her head, almost causing her to blackout. She reached around the floor for the cigarette, hoping that in the few seconds it was abandoned, it was still lit, and thankfully, it was.

She sat down against the wall; her legs sprawled out along the floor, as she took a long, calming drag from the cigarette. Her fingers slowly found her brow and she brushed back her hair slowly, doing her best to rid herself of the desire to annihilate something.

The anger subsided, and soon, the restless angel found her self lost in a dreamless sleep, and hoping that perhaps, tomorrow, would be a little easier on her weary nerves.

Posted by Jubilation Link @ 08:26 AM CST [Link]

Saturday, August 16, 2003

Sofiya, Bulgaria
15:30pm
Only two people noticed the couple walk into the small roadside café. A sallow-skinned old woman momentarily glanced up from her newspaper as they sat down.
Antigone couldn't help but feel unnerved when she noticed a young man staring at her through great grey plumes of cigarette smoke.
She quickly looked away, and feigned a strong interest in the folded paper menu on the table.
Osiris spotted her darting eyes, and her reached across the table & squeezed her hand gently.

"Why are you looking so scared? We are safe here," he said, smiling.

She looked up into his dark eyes and smiled back weakly.

"I know, I'm just a little, well, anxious, just ignore me I'm just being paranoid."

She stroked the back of his hand.

"There's no need to be anxious or paranoid Tig, I'll-"

He was cut short as a pale, almost skeletal woman approached the table, notebook in hand.
Osiris ordered himself some tea, and when he asked Antigone what she wanted, she mumbled "Orange juice please."
Osiris felt hungry, so he also ordered some beef kavarma, and a Shopska salad. He was glad he had been thrifty during the trip from Greece to here, it meant they could enjoy a nice meal once in a while. They had taken all the money they had when they left Athens to embark on this journey, and they were running rather short now.

As they ate, Osiris pointed out how peaceful Sofiya seemed to be, almost as though the events over the last 100 years had not done it any great damage. The people seemed to live a very pastoral existence, but seemed happy.

"I wonder what Cairo will be like now," mused Antigone, twisting a strand of her long hair idly between her fingers, "Do you think it will eventually fall into the ground like everywhere else. I'm surprised it still stood through the Twilight, it seemed to be so prosperous when we were there last."

Osiris looked out of the café window, saw people getting on with their lives, going to and from work, meeting friends, partners, as though the outside world did not exist atall, except in a memory or a dream.
He couldn't bear the thought of their city in ruins. They had heard about the horrors that had befell other countries.
He looked back at his sister.

"I don't believe for one moment that the Gods would allow Cairo to fall into the dust, you know it Tig, we're made of stronger stuff."

She smiled at him, a warm, broad smile that lit up her face, and he was so happy to see her smile like that. Unfortunately, with the pressures of the long journey, and the uncertainty ahead of them, smiling came to Antigone less and less often. But he loved it when she let herself relax & be happy, even if just for a moment.

Still smiling, she said to him "Once our journey is over, I would like to go back."

Osiris looked doubtful at this. Many unhappy memories lay for him in Cairo.

"We will see."

17:00pm

Osiris leaned on the counter of the café's makeshift bar. His grasp of the local Bulgarian dialect was shaky at best, but he managed to remember enough of it to ask the manager if the airport in Sofiya was operational.
The manager, a vastly obese balding man, informed Osiris in a haughty tone that there hadn't been a working airport for over 20 years.
However, all was not lost, he also told Osiris that there were still long distance trains running, and gave him directions to the main station.

They paid for their lunch & left. As Antigone followed Osiris out of the door, she glanced back at where the staring man had been, but he was gone.

They made their way across the city to the location the café manager had given them. They entered the railway station, and Osiris headed straight for the information desk, while Antigone absent-mindedly looked at a display of postcards, all dusty & forgotten, along with most of the tourism.
It was a surprisingly big station, many people were milling around, and at the end of a long platform were several trains waiting to depart, and beyond them was a great chasmic tunnel.
Antigone wondered where the trains were going, would there be one that could take them closer to Prague?

After much gesticulating & talking in a loud voice, Osiris found out that there was a train that was bound for Denmark, but passed Prague en route. He promptly bought 2 tickets and returned to the foyer.
Antigone was waiting for him, seemingly quite disorientated by the crowds. She saw him approaching & looked at him expectantly. He smiled at her & held the tickets up. She grinned broadly & she jogged over to meet him, flinging herself into his arms and holding him tightly.

"Is it going to Prague? When does it leave? Which one is it Osi?"

He laughed, she was so cute when she got excited.

"It is going through Prague, it leaves in twenty minutes, and it's that one."

He pointed to a very long burgundy sleeper train, the curtains in the windows drawn. It was going to be a long trip, but Antigone didn't care, the Gods were on their side.

Osiris boarded first, and quickly dashed to a double seat. He hated to be cramped up on journeys. Antigone stepped onto the train & joined him, laughing as Osiris jostled their 2 hold-alls into the luggage rack.
When they sat down, side by side, Antigone yawned, and nestled her head into Osiris' broad shoulder.

She hadn't noticed a young man boarding the train, who was now sitting at the opposite end of their carriage.

Smoking, and staring.

Posted by Calliope @ 12:20 PM CST [Link]

Wednesday, August 6, 2003

He wished for one night of peace. One night where he wouldn't be plagued by memories which haunted him to this day. Why couldn't he forget? He almost became afraid of sleep. Too worried to see what he saw every other night, he would force himself to stay awake. He would pretend, like he pretended with everything else. He was sick of pretending, but it had to be done. He wondered if someday he would be free of these troubles and live a normal life. A life in which he would finally be needed, finally feel loved.

Tonight was no different. He was hit with the same memories as all the other nights. He didn't dream, he remembered. How he longed to forget. He would tear away at his mind if it would get rid of these memories, if only for one night. He wondered, often, if he would ever sleep for more than an hour without being woken up, only to spend another hour trying to regain that move less state. How odd, his life being his curse.

**

It rained exceptionally hard that night. Not a soul lay foot in the cold streets of London. Windows from homes lit the dark streets, though not enough to stop the nightly rapes and murders that diseased the streets. Those who dared go out at night were stupid, or just wanted to die. There was no pity for those who died each night. It was their own fault, wasn't it?

He had gone out. Though he knew how to defend himself. He being Seth's father. Seth never called him Daddy, or Dad or Father. He was always he or him. And he would risk anything for a bottle of liquor, even if it meant risking his life. It's a pity he did know how to defend himself. Maybe if he had died one of those nights everything would be okay.

Seth merely sat in the living room, playing with what few toys he had. The toys he did have were broken though. His mother, who he'd always go to for anything, stayed in the kitchen doing something that was probably ordered by Seth's father. She was a broken woman, but always acted strong around Seth. Maybe that's why he’s lasted as long as he has. Seth, even at the age of seven would pray his father not return. That would make him happy, as well as his mother.

He did return that night though, to Seth's disappointment. He was still drunk from before and now would only drink more. He sat down on the couch, as if he had never moved. Seth’s mother walked in shortly after, placing Seth in her arms and putting him in his room. She stroked his hair with her hand and planted a kiss on his forehead, then left the room and went back into the living room.

Seth heard his mother say something, but he was too far away to hear what she said. His father responded, his voice growing high. Seth knew what to expect so he crawled his way into a corner in his bedroom. His parents were going to fight once again, he could tell. His mother told him to find a corner in his room and sit there until the shouting stopped. She only wanted to protect him. Seth heard them both now, he can hear some of what they were saying.

“Your useless! Nothing but a stupid bitch who can’t do a fucking thing!” Seth covered his ears. He was use to it by now, but he didn’t like hearing it. Seth heard his mother scream and then heard a loud thud, then a smack. His mother screamed once again as she feel to the floor. Her face stared into Seth’s room, right at Seth. They were in the hallway now, fighting. Seth covered his eyes and pushed himself into the corner what little more he could. His father picked his mother up and pushed her into the wall, Seth could see everything.

“No! Stop it! Not in front of Seth!” Those were her last words as she attempted to close Seth’s bedroom door but failed as she was slammed into the wall once more, this time she fell but didn’t get back up. There was blood on the wall where she hit her head, Seth’s father ignored it and her and merely walked off.

Seth heard the door slam and decided he would go and see if his mother was okay. He shook her but she never responded. He kept trying, but she was gone. He didn’t give up for several more hours until he finally cried himself to sleep right next to her. His father didn’t come back for a few days, but once he did Seth’s life only got worse.

**

It was raining, again. Ever since everything turned to dark London seemed to become even more dreary then it was before. Seth hid in the shadows of an ally way, watching a man who stood only two feet away from him talk to a woman. The woman herself was very beautiful, but that wasn’t why Seth was here. He was there to steal the man’s wallet. Seth was fifteen now and already dragged into a life of crime.

He was running out of time, the conversation wouldn’t last forever. He would need to be very careful if he wanted the wallet. To make things worse, getting it without the woman noticing it would be especially difficult. Seth breathed in deeply then he went for it, slowly putting his hand into the man’s pocket and pulling out the wallet. He got it and smiled to himself feeling a bit of pride in being successful. His feeling faded away when he saw a shadow form on the ground below him. He looked up to see the man standing over him with a look that was anything but happy. Seth smiled at him and then crawled under the man running once he got behind him.

Seth was small so maneuvering around the tiny street would be easy. The man however was far too old to catch up with Seth but he remained on his trail, persistent in getting his wallet back. Seth took a short cut into an even skinnier ally way. The man finally reached the ally way but stopped as he looked down it. He saw Seth quite a ways away, jumping over garbage cans and dodging boxes. The man could never get through that mess without taking it slow so he kicked the side of a building a fit of anger and gave up.

Seth looked behind him, seeing the man was nowhere in site. He smiled then continued along his way. He stopped in front of a large run down building and opened the wallet. He kicked the side of the building when he realized only a measly twenty bucks rested within. He pocketed the wallet then crawled through a hole in the side off the building.

“Greg Isn’t going to be happy with me...” Was all he muttered as he entered the building.

He walked along the cold bare less floor passing by several sleeping people. All these people “worked” for Greg. At least that’s what Seth thought. Each one of them got food and a place to sleep as long as they went out and got money for Greg. That was how it was for Seth anyway, and he was always told that’s how it was for everyone else.

Seth stepped over as well as on several people along the way. The floor was littered with sleeping drunks and trash. Seth despised it but he had no other choice but to live here, he had nowhere else to go. If anything he should worshipping the ground Greg walked on for taking him in. Though sometimes he wished he’d be taken out.

He finally reached a room in the back of the first floor of the building. It was the only decent looking room. But of course the leader of… the gang, if you could call it a gang, would get the room. Greg was in the back drinking and talking to some girls. Seth threw the wallet on the couch and looked down to Greg.

“Ah, what do we got here?” Greg asked, examining the wallet. He opened it up and looked in, then huffed and threw the wallet to the ground.

“Your gonna have to start doin’ better then that if you wanna stay here kid.” Greg said, then picked his drink up again and focused his attention on the girls once more.

“I’m sorry Greg…I thought there would be more, the guy looked like he had some money. I’ll try to do better next time…” Seth looked down, acting like he was ashamed. If he acted like he was sincere people usually took pity on him.

“Yeah, well ya better do better next time or there ain’t gonna be a next time. Now get the hell outta here.” Greg flapped his hand telling Seth to get out.

Seth walked out of the “office” and into the large room where everyone else was forced to stay in. He walked over to his bed, or whatever you want to call it since it wasn’t really much of a bed, and sat down. He pulled a picture out of his coat pocket and stared at it for awhile. It was a picture of his mother, one he’d managed to keep with him for all this time. It was his favorite picture of her. In this picture she wasn’t bruised or sad, she was genuinely happy. That was why Seth liked it so much.

Seth stuffed the picture into his coat pocket quickly when he heard footsteps outside. No one else heard them because everyone else was either sleeping or too drunk to care. He jumped to his feet and quickly walked over to the opening in the wall. He made sure not to step on anyone, though that was a hard something to achieve. He made it though, with little disturbance.

Seth stood still for a moment, listening to the steps. He decided to take a look, so he stuck his head out and looked to the left, nothing. As he attempted to look to the right someone grabbed the collar of his coat and dragged him out of the hole, throwing him into the opposite wall. He rubbed the back of his head then looked up only to realize it was the same woman he saw talking to the man he robbed.

“Ah, there you are.” She had an accent, a British one of course. Seth found it intriguing, if not sexy.

“You stole a wallet from one of my….Clients. I’ll need it back. It’s not like there was much in it, so just hand it over so I can move along.” She looked straight into Seth’s eyes and held out her hand.

“I don’t have it.” Seth said, looking away from her glare.

“Oh please. I saw you take it and I tracked you down. Now hand it over.” She was getting more demanding now, but Seth kept clam.

“I said I don’t have it! Now let me go!” He shouted and tried to pull away from her but she had a firm grasp on him. He hoped someone would come to his aid if he shouted, but of course no one did.

“I won’t let you go, not until you give me the wallet, or tell me who has it.” Seth knew she was serious. He couldn’t tell her Greg had it or Greg would kill him, she wouldn’t have to. Maybe it was best he died, he was worthless to the world anyway. Seth remained silent, his face pointing away from hers the entire time.

“I get it. You can’t tell me who has it because they’ll hurt you. No worries dear, when I’m done with them they won’t hurt you.” She then pulled a gun from inside her coat and showed it to Seth. He got the picture. Maybe he’d be okay after all. He didn’t really care if she killed Greg, he hated Greg anyway.

“How do you know I don’t have it?” Seth asked. He was a bit surprised she stopped believing he had it.

“Because, you would have given it to me by now. Now, lead the way.” She motioned her gun in a forward movement telling Seth to go in front.

He nodded and hoped back through the hole in wall. The woman followed behind. She was a bit shocked at the amount of people in the room but paid no attention and just focused on Seth who was forming quite a distance in-between him and her.

She finally caught up, seeing Seth standing next to a closed door. She walked up to it and put her hand on the handle, holding her gun up she opened the door and walked in. Greg turned around and saw her, immediately standing up and reaching for his gun. The woman put a bullet in his head and reached down picking the wallet up off the floor. The two women in the room screamed and looked at Greg’s dead body which was pouring out an ample amount of blood onto the floor. The two girls then looked over and saw Seth, they gave him a dirty a look then got up and slammed the door once the woman was out.

The woman looked down to Seth and put her gun back in her coat. The people in the room were still sleeping. At this point the woman didn’t know if they were dead or just so drunk they were almost dead.

“There’s the wallet. You’d better get out of here before they kill you.” Seth said as he sat down next to the door. The woman arched an eyebrow and looked down at him.

“What’s to happen to you?” She asked.

“They’ll kill me.” Was Seth’s response. He said it like it didn’t bother him. The woman sighed and grabbed his collar, forcing him to stand up.

“Lets go kid. Your not staying here. I was going to take you with me anyway after I saw where you lived…With all these people. You’ll be better off with me. Come on.”

Seth followed behind her quickly. They both crawled out of the building through the hole and continued walking through the ally way. Seth was kind of glad she took him out of that place. He knew he was useless to the world but he still wanted to live for a little while longer.

“Well, I’ll need your name. I’m a bit tired of calling you kid.” She said, looking down at him.

“Seth. And yours?”

“Lydia.”

“So, Seth. How’d you end up there? Where’s your family?” Lydia asked.

“It’s a long story.” Seth said back, wishing not to dwell on his past.

“We have time. We have plenty of time.”

**

Seth was twenty three now. He was filled with many skills thanks to Lydia. She had given him so much. He could never properly thank her. He fell in love with her, but she refused him in any attempts at a relationship. He was content still, even if he couldn’t be with her on that level.

He stared at a dimly lit house across the street. It was a cold night, but his anger kept him warm. He was staring at his house. The house he left so many years ago. He knew that his father still lived there and now it was time to finally get revenge.

He walked up to the door of the house. He didn’t bother to knock, his father always forgot to lock it. And if he was still the same today then he forgot to lock it again. Seth placed a hand on the door knob and turned it. He was right, it wasn’t locked. Seth thrust himself into the room. He stared down at the couch where his father sat, asleep. Seth pulled his gun out and shot a round into his father’s leg. That woke him up. He screamed in pain and looked up to see Seth.

“Seth!? You little bastard! What the fuck are you doing! Get the fuck outta here you piece a shit!” His father’s speech was slurred, a sign that he had been drinking.

Seth smiled and lifted his father up, spinning him around and throwing him into the wall.

“Now you know how Mom felt. You’re the piece of shit! Now your going to die.”

Seth threw his father’s head into the wall a few times, to the point where it began to draw blood. He wanted his father to feel pain so he spun him around once more and dislocated his neck, then let him drop to the floor.

“Any last words, dad?” Seth said, his face void of any emotion.

“Go…To….Hell.”

Those were his last words as Seth planted a round into his head. The blood trickled down to the floor, forming a tiny pool. Seth would get away with this easily, if anything people would thank him for killing his father. His father was an annoyance to people all around the place.

Seth closed the door behind him, taking a final look back. He walked back into the night as if he was never there. Lydia and him didn’t live too far away so it would be a short walk.

He finally reached the apartment him a Lydia shared. The door to the stairwell was, of course, open. It was broken and no one ever fixed it. The super intendant would much rather put his tenants in danger then fix things it seemed. Seth walked up the stairs, making sure his weapon was concealed. Parents around here didn’t seem to care if their kids ran around un supervised, so Seth made sure they didn’t see his gun.

When he reached the top of the stairs he narrowed his eyes on the door to the apartment. It was open, and it wasn’t like Lydia to leave such a thing open. They were always keen on keeping the door closed and locked. Seth didn’t like the look of this so he rushed inside and to his horror he saw Lydia sprawled out on the floor in a pool of her own blood.

Seth began breathing heavy as he ran and kneeled over the body. He checked Lydia’s pulse but she was gone. He forced himself not to cry and instead pulled his gun out to inspect the apartment. If someone came in to kill Lydia they must have wanted Seth to.

He searched the entire apartment but found nothing. He walked back into the living room and glanced at her body once more. He threw his fist into the wall and let out a scream. He was so angry. He would repress his sadness only to let it turn into anger. He was lost and confused. He didn’t know what to do. Before he could do anything he heard several footsteps come from the stairwell. He stood and listened. As he did the police ran into the room, first looking at him, then the body.

“Drop your weapon and get down to the ground!” One of the officers ordered, pointing a gun at Seth.

Seth pointed his weapon at the window and shot it, shattering the glass. The officers attempted to fire but before they could Seth had jumped out the window. One of them ran over and looked out, seeing that it was a long drop. The officer shook his head.

“He couldn’t have survived that fall.”

**

Seth’s eyes shot open. He sat up in bed and looked around the room. He had relived his memories once again in his sleep. He looked over to his nightstand and opened the draw, pulling out two pictures. He laid back down and looked at them both. One was the same one of his mother, the one he had kept for so long. The other was a picture of Lydia. He looked at them both for another moment then put them away. He stared up at the ceiling for some time. He was trying to get back to sleep when the alarm went off. He sighed and quickly dragged himself out of bed.

Posted by Transient @ 05:04 PM CST [Link]

Friday, August 1, 2003

A fire…why was I dreaming of a fire? Where…am I? Why am I still alive?

Question after question rose in Anastazie’s mind as she awoke, keeping her eyes closed as she listened carefully. There was an incessant and unmistakable whirring of engines, deep breathing from somebody to her right, and not-so-quiet mutterings and cursing from whoever was piloting the ship.

There was also an intense pain in her side, and the young girl resisted the urge to open her eyes and examine it. Although she had barely a clue of where she was or where she was being taken, there was no question in her mind of what had happened. It was hard to believe, but, yes, she and her fellow patients had been given an unexpected chance to escape their highly guarded prison…and had killed most of the facility staff in the process.

Intensely curious as to the size and depth of her wound, Ana inched her left hand from where it lay on the armrest, to her side. It was shoddily bandaged, and she winced at even her light touch. Heather, she thought with perfect clarity. You wanted me dead all along, didn’t you? Not sorry to say you’re the dead one now…

The person to her right sat up abruptly, breathing fast. “Oh…God,” said the female voice. “I need a cigarette, now." Her voice was smooth yet verging on husky, and she was obviously young. Ana heard the clicking of a lighter and the deep inhalation of the woman, but she kept her eyes closed.

“’Nique, you got some ‘splaining to do!” said the other woman from the cockpit, who audibly turned around in her seat. Her tone turned from mock-criticism to the real thing moments later. “Look, I’m glad you’re alright and all, but…why save the kid? What the fuck were you thinking?” Ana froze up as she heard this—it felt as if her insides had been liquefied. She didn’t like the girl’s harsh tone. It reminded her uncomfortably of Heather.

As this “’Nique” woman spoke, Ana could sense that she had been in the hallway with her, and had seen the dead orderlies, the children, the missing portion of the wall…all of it. “I dunno, LW,” she replied. “I guess I wasn’t thinking. I guess I was just going on instinct. So sue me.”

LW wasted no time in replying, sounding madder than ever. “Yeah, well your ‘instinct’ nearly got you killed, and it’s gonna cause a shitload of problems for all of us.” She paused as if taking a moment to radiate her utter loathing of the situation. “The rest of the Angels are gonna blow a gasket over this, you realize.”

“Just shut up and pilot the ship, okay?” the other woman snapped, sounding like she’d reached her tolerance for criticism. “She’s my responsibility, and I’m the one who’ll be taking all the heat for this. Not you. So stop worrying what Haven will think of you.”

“Fuck you,” growled the young woman, but she shut up and spun back around in her chair.

A few seconds later there was a hand on Ana’s shoulder, and ‘Nique said gruffly, “Hey…kid. Wake up.”

Unable to keep up her charade any longer, Ana slowly opened her brown-violet eyes to survey the area. She was indeed in the cabin of an airship, propped up in a well-worn black seat and surrounded by various weapons and items. The one called LW was difficult to see, but Ana caught a glimpse of her metallic-to-azure hair and excessive bracelets. The woman who had saved her was on her right, looking at her in a wary, almost detached way. She was undeniably beautiful, with short, unruly blond hair, steel blue eyes and an elegant jawbone. Her recent ordeal seemed to explain itself on her thin visage: from the small cuts on her face and hands to the torn, bloody mess that her clothing had become.

Most prominently of all, though, was the feeling of regret which emanated from her—regret over saving Ana’s life. The woman, of course, had no idea that Ana could read her thoughts, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

“What’s your name?” asked the woman, obviously straining to sound semi-motherly.

Ana raised an eyebrow and shook her head, crossing her arms defensively.

“The little shit isn’t going to talk, eh?” called back LW. “Totally useless. Let’s throw her overboard.”

“For the last time, Livewire, shut your mouth and stop worrying about the kid,” ‘Nique said through clenched teeth, her voice dangerously level. “Just get us back to Typhon or I may be forced to use your own advice on that spiky chrome-dome of yours.”

Livewire huffed angrily but was silent once more.

“Well, you can call me Dom, or Phoenix,” said the woman, taking a pause. Ana stared at her defiantly. “Not going to talk, hm?” she continued, sounding almost amused. Annoyance shone in her eyes, however, which bore into Ana’s equally cold gaze.

“If you don’t want me around, why did you bother saving my life?” asked Ana simply.

“She speaks!” said Phoenix, standing up and raising her arms as though she had witnessed a miracle. They dropped back down to her side and she leaned back against the wall of the cabin, stomping out her cigarette beneath her large boot. The wall she leaned against was a dirty brown color barely visible through layers of various weapons, equipment and clothing that hung on it. To Dom’s right was a window, which displayed the murky gray clouds of what looked like a very dismal sunset.

“What are you, some kind of military group?” Ana inquired, though she could tell it was certainly not any typical organization. Most likely rebels, or some kind of raiding gang…

Dom didn’t reply, but she seemed to understand that the girl was piecing the facts together unusually quickly. “You…raided Dynatech, didn’t you?” she said quietly, comprehension dawning. Next to Dom, leaning against the wall, was a complicated looking weapon of enormous proportions. Her long, pale fingers were resting against it. “You stole that weapon…” she said—and her guess was confirmed when Dom’s thoughts agreed—“and found me on your way out. A Chimera helped you. Why did you listen to her?”

For only a moment, the tall blonde lost her icy demeanor and looked like she’d been slapped, but quickly regained her composure. Ana realized she had said too much, violet eyes widening as she pursed her lips together. Idiot, she thought. Now they’ll just want to use you.

“You could probably tell me my full name, family history, and first lay, couldn’t you?” said Dom with a smirk, and now it was her turn to cross her arms.

Ana did her best to give her the evil eye, but found that Dom was quite resistant to “the look”—in fact, something in her eyes was remarkably, and uncannily, similar to her own…

For a brief instant Ana could hear screams of anguish in her head, and see flashes of smoke and flames, and in that instant she realized that the dream of fire had not been her own at all, but Dominique’s. At the facility, Ana had always slept alone, locked in her room, but…it seemed that she was equally receptive to thoughts and images in her sleep as well.

“I don’t think you’d like me to discuss your family history,” said Ana carefully, feeling some sympathy for her rescuer. Although she had no memory of her own parents, she knew that they no longer lived. Actually, she thought, I was thinking that the dream was my own memories coming back… And although Ana yearned to know of her past, she felt relieved that this was not it.

Dom merely narrowed her eyes, which, somehow, managed to turn even colder. “Look,” she said, sauntering up to Ana. “What are you playing at? You either know or you don’t. Spare me the patronizing compassion, would you? I don’t need your opinion on what I’d like or wouldn’t like, because no matter what your talents, you’re nothing special here.” The woman grabbed Ana’s collar and she added, “Forget about special treatment, little girl. You’re traveling with us now, and as far as I’m concerned, you’re just another annoying kid.”

Ana winced, but it didn’t really bother her. She’d endured much worse at Dynatech labs, and she realized that she had hit a nerve with Dom, anyway. She remained motionless, watching her with her hands folded in her lap.

“Gee, ‘Nique, where was that logic when you decided to haul her ass out of the building?” Livewire called back, sounding exasperated.

Dom flung a deadly look over to LW, who suddenly became very interested in something outside the window. Looking over at her small ward once more, Dom’s expression softened a bit and she turned away, throwing herself back tiredly into a seat. “Anyway, from now on, just give me the facts. I get enough cheek from these fuckers,” she said, gesturing to Livewire, who promptly gave her the finger without turning around.

Both Anastazie and Dominique avoided looking at each other, opting instead to gaze out the window in the large sliding door.

“Dominique Elizabeth Chambers, grew up in the ruins of New York city and lives her life in a chaotic, constantly violent manner…and, Bernard Dunn, at age 13, in the back of his truck,” Ana stated.

There was no change in Dominique save for a twitching around her jaw, but Livewire gave a hoot from the cockpit, saying, “Bernard?!” and shook her head.

Silence reigned for what seemed like hours. Ana assumed it had been evening when she first awoke, but it had been quite some time since then and the sky had not grown any darker, but remained as murky and depressing as ever.

“Dom…?” she asked, despite her earlier, private vow to not speak again. “What’s wrong with the sky? It’s been that same shade of gray this whole time…”

Dom looked at her and, surprisingly, gave a wry smile. “You’re really something,” she said, and against her attempts to look apathetic, she asked, “Where do you come from, anyway? The sky has been like this since before you or I were born.” She paused. “Don’t tell me you lived your whole life in that terrible place.”

“Well, no,” said Ana cautiously, although she didn’t think Dom would explode again, she couldn’t be sure. “I…was there for the last two years, but honestly, I don’t remember anything about my past. And I don’t remember what the sky looked like.” There was an awkward silence where Ana stared down at her fingers and Dom just lit another cigarette.

After taking a long drag, she said, “So, nothing? Why is that?” A look of vague interest crossed her face and she raised her eyebrow and drew her knee up against her chest.

Ana shrugged, “I think it’s because of the medication I was on, mostly to enhance my powers. I seem to recall knowing a lot more when I arrived there two years ago, but…” she sighed. “I didn’t write any of it down, so I really can’t remember. All I know is, a long time ago…I was happy.”

They both stared out the window again, Dom clearing her throat. Ana silently cursed herself for giving so much away, although it really wasn’t very much. But it’s all I have, she thought. A bit of happiness, laughter, someone’s embrace and kiss…

“The sky’s been like this forever, or, it might as well have been, for what it’s worth,” Dom said vaguely, not taking her eyes off the window. She seemed transfixed by it, and Ana could sense she thought it a thing of beauty, regardless of its hue.

“Eternal twilight…” Ana said quietly, and she peripherally saw Dom nod just a little bit.

**

The covers were scratchy, the mattress, slightly more comfortable than the hard ground it lay on. There was no pillow. Ana once more found herself waking up in a strange new place, this time alone. “I must have fallen asleep on the ship,” she whispered, surveying the room she was in. The walls were dark and metallic, obviously very old, for they were covered in grime and rust. The floor was a charming cement gray, with plenty of bumps and ridges for stubbing one’s toe on. Metal beams were interspersed throughout. Overall the room was rather small, and filled with only the mattress she lay on, but even having never left it she could sense the enormousness of the place. Glancing over to the right Ana saw a doorway covered with only a blanket, and felt a sudden sense of relief. At least I’m not being held captive, she thought. Well, at least not too severely.

It’s not a dream, she thought, wincing painfully as she sat up too quickly and pain shot through her abdomen. No…definitely not. She really had been on the airship with that woman, Dominique, and the strange younger one called Livewire. “Such people,” she whispered, shaking her head. “What do they want with me?”

She sat there for what felt like an eternity, waiting for some sign of life; listening for voices, and for thoughts. Ana was far too nervous to venture from the bed, and contented herself counting the bolts that ran up the walls and onto the ceiling. Finally, when Ana felt she could wait no longer, Dominique poked her head into the room and motioned for the child to come towards her.

Ana paused, but then crawled out from under the scratchy blanket and shuffled towards Dom. Her bare feet, accustomed to the smooth, polished linoleum of Dynatech labs, smarted with each step. Dom showed no emotion as the girl stumbled towards her without complaint.

“Where are we? Where are we going?” asked Ana as she was lead by her wrist through the hanging blanket to the main hall, which was equally grimy, but extended so far above their heads Ana could not even see the ceiling. The rusty walls stretched up into a seeming abyss as they hurried along in the dim, flickering light, which came from little round portals in the walls.

“We’re at our base, called Typhon, and you’re going to meet everyone,” was all she said. Dom’s voice echoed eerily in the unnaturally large space around them. Ana craned her neck and looked up at the tall woman’s face, but could derive no emotion from it. Her jaw was set; her eyes staring straight forward, and even her mind seemed to be closed off to her. Ana could only gather that she was very determined, and a bit peeved about something.

They seemed to be heading in a very slight curve, and soon arrived at a large metal door, which Dom rapped on in a sort of pattern. A scraping noise as of a large bar being lifted could be heard, and Ana thought grimly, So I was being held captive. Figures.

When the door swung open she was greeted by the intimidating figure of an older, middle-eastern man who’s eyes seemed to look right through her. An insane, irrational worry that he was going to kill her jumped into Ana’s mind, and she gasped and instinctively jumped backwards. When the man just stared at her inquisitively, she gulped and stammered, “H…hi,” then lowered her eyes to the floor.

“I see,” he remarked, and him and Dom exchanged a look. “Well, come with me,” he said, and without another word they headed a bit further down the circular hallway (the curve is so slight, this place must be huge, Ana observed) until they stood before two doorways. One had light seeping from the bottom and top, so she figured it was the door to the outside. It, like the one directly across from it, was a double-door, only it was fastened securely with a large metal beam, and the other one had very dim light beneath it and was not secured on this side. It was this one the man headed towards, knocking in the same manner as Dom had, which must be some sort of code.

The doors scraped open unpleasantly against the cement floor and a dim, unnatural, bluish light shone out into the hallway. Still holding her by the wrist, Dom lead Ana into the room, followed by the middle-eastern man, who locked the door behind them. This put her even more ill at ease. As she scanned the room with her large, curious eyes, she was visibly trembling.

And what a sight it was to the ten inhabitants of the room. The girl was no more than five feet tall, rather thin, and was shivering not only from fear but also from the cold of the room. She lowered her eyes to the ground and crossed her ankles, and put her arms behind her back, moving them back and forth anxiously. Her nightgown was still pale green at the top, but from the stomach down it was completely soaked in blood, which had long since dried, giving the gown an unnatural, stiff look. On the left side of the nightgown there was a huge gash, beneath which could be seen a layer of blood-soaked bandages.

“Angels,” said Dom louder than she needed to. “This is…” she paused, realizing she still did not know the girl’s name. “The…kid.”

It seemed that everyone either cleared their throat or shifted in their seats at that point. There was a circular table in the center of the room where most of the gang was sitting, including an eager-looking man who spoke first. “So what’s your name?” he said, eyes scanning her as if he’d find some kind of clue.

Ana did not speak, only looked at him and shook her head.

“What is she, deaf?” asked a feisty looking woman with a ponytail, who stood in the corner with her arms crossed.

“Cube, don’t be a fucking moron,” Dom snapped, “I already told you, we spoke on the airship.”

“Looks like Cube is the deaf one,” snickered another girl, who Ana recognized as Livewire. She still looked disgusted with the whole situation, and she was leaning against a handsome man with auburn hair. He was playing with her spiked hair, and didn’t say anything. Over in the corner were a couple of men who looked like twins, both wearing glasses, who were seated in front of a mess of computer screens and wires. They had paused in whatever they were doing and also were looking quietly at the bloody mess that was Anastazie, and merely observed.

“Kid, those guys are Bishop and Rook, our engineers and resident computer geeks. I guess you could say you owe them your freedom,” Dom said, motioning towards them. They nodded and remained silent, and Ana nodded back. She wondered why she had ever felt intimidated by Dominique before when faced with this group of renegades. “And, you know Livewire, and that’s Haven…” the auburn-haired man grunted, “Gryphon…” the eager man who had spoken nodded even more eagerly, “Cube, the hearing-impaired…” Cube flipped her off, which seemed to be almost a greeting around here, “and there’s Sphinx, who you met in the hallway, and Icarus and Raven.” Icarus looked at her with something akin to suspicion, while the pale girl in a hooded shirt, Raven, just stared at her without expression.

Finally Livewire spoke up. “Well, aren’t you going to say hello?” she asked in a pseudo-sweet voice, moving away from Haven and toward Dom and Ana. “You ought to, since Dom seemed to think it was a brilliant idea to bring you here.”

“Yeah, why don’t you talk?” asked Gryphon, leaning forward in his chair.

“Eh, leave her alone, guys,” Dom interjected, which Ana silently thanked her for. She still didn’t like or trust the woman, but she did owe her her life, which is more than she could say for the others. She had a feeling that if Dom hadn’t have been in the airship, LW really would have thrown her overboard.

“So we’re taking this kid in, huh?” asked Icarus, raising an eyebrow. “And for what purpose, may I ask?”

Dom shrugged and motioned for Ana to sit down in a shabby armchair in the corner, which she did, attempting to smooth down her blood-encrusted, wavy nightgown and failing. “Like I told Livewire, it was just instinct, so I can’t really explain it any more than that. Anyway…she was in that place for a reason, you know. However,” she said, an evil grin spreading across her pretty face, “We did score something else which will definitely be of use to us.”

“The woman speaks the truth,” Livewire consented, heading out the door and returning a few minutes later carrying the enormous weapon. It looked especially lethal under this strange blue light, and everyone merely stared at it for a minute, not saying a word. Haven whistled and said, “Nice score, Phoenix, how did you get your grubby paws on that one?”

Dom ignored his arrogance and stated, “Found it in the main complex on the 25th floor, completely unguarded, luckily for us.” She snatched the weapon from the metallic-haired girl and hoisted it to her side, aiming straight at the table full of people. “It’s called the LS2-X89, and it has an amazing destructive capacity, weighs 70.56 pounds, and is one of only 500 ever made,” she bragged, and no one could argue that she didn’t earn the right to do so. “This information courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Dynatech tutorial.”

A few people snickered, but Ana noticed that they kept looking over at her with something akin to unease. She wondered if they knew what sort of powers she had—if Dom even knew she could do more than read minds. Some of them were wondering if she had been trained to use the weapon.

As if Dom was reading her mind at that moment, she turned to Ana and said, “So, is that all you do…read minds? That’s what they trained you for? And that’s why you can’t remember anything about your past?”

Ana froze up for a second and then nodded quickly. “Great…amnesia,” muttered Livewire. Ana didn’t dare tell them she was the one responsible for the huge, gaping hole on the 3rd floor, because seeing their penchant for weaponry, realized she might be no more than a living, breathing weapon to this group.

“Well I, personally, don’t trust her,” said Icarus, and several others nodded in agreement. “What if she uses this weapon against us?”

“I’ve never seen it before today,” Ana blurted out before she could stop herself, her youthful voice sounding especially high-pitched and childlike in her haste to speak. They all looked surprised, but the ferocity with which she had spoken seemed to convince them.

At that moment Sphinx cleared his throat and said, “However much you distrust the young lady, I should think it would be common courtesy to find her a more suitable garment.” His dark eyes lingered on the wound at her side and she sensed that he pitied her. In response she looked eagerly at Dom, hoping she would take her out of this room so she could change and, perhaps, find a way out of this place.

“Yeah, okay,” Dom consented, and she jerked her head in a motion for Ana to follow, which she did readily. Dom allowed Ana to take a shower, helped her cleanse and bandage her wounds, and managed to find her some old overalls and a tee shirt to wear.

**

I’m outta here, thought Ana, realizing the irony of escaping from those who had helped her escape.

It was very late—Ana wasn’t sure how late--but she’d been sitting up in bed for hours waiting for the gang to quiet down. Sure took them long enough, she thought with a grim smile, remembering the various fights that had broken out over her presence over the course of the evening. Ana had eaten dinner alone in her room, as several Angels objected to her being anywhere near them.

Well, they can go back to their normal lives without worrying about me, she thought, slipping past the blanket over the door. The hallway was freezing cold and silent, and she ran as quickly as she could against the rough cement and metal floor, on tiptoe. The only sounds were an occasional clanking from way up in the rafters, and her light, fast breathing as her small legs carried her toward the main doorway. The overalls Dom had given her cascaded well over her size five feet, so she was forced to roll them up and hold on to both pant legs as she ran. A slightly baggy gray shirt fell over one of her shoulders, and her now-clean brown hair tumbled all the way down her back. The wound at her side ached as much as ever, but she ignored it.

The first door, which Sphinx had met her at earlier, was easy enough to manipulate. Ana clenched her fists up against her chest and imagined the bar on the other side lifting up, biting her lip in concentration. She could hear it scraping up against the door, slowly rising to a vertical position. When she imagined it had been lifted fully away from the holders she quickly pushed forward with her hands (it wasn’t really necessary, but it helped her focus) and lowered the bar gently to the floor. It made an unfortunate, and unavoidable clanging noise as it came to rest on the floor, and Ana held her breath for nearly a minute, praying no footsteps would approach.

When none did, she continued. It took all her strength to shove open the door, and once it had opened about six inches she squeezed through sideways, sucking in her breath and turning her head to the side.

All right. One down, one to go. Piece of cake, she thought with growing confidence. The young girl continued around the slight curve, the dark, empty doorways gaping at her menacingly as she passed.

At last she arrived at the two double-doors from earlier, the one on the right leading to the main room, the left door, to what she assumed was the outside world. She looked farther down the hall past the room and saw that there was another stretch of hallway that lead to an unbarred doorway. Ana focused and tried to listen to thoughts from beyond this doorway, and she sensed that several people were asleep and dreaming.

Content with this she wasted no time in facing the main doorway and attempting to open it. The bar was on this side, naturally, and was exceedingly heavy. Her slight arms trembled under the weight and she had only lifted it an inch when it came crashing back down into its holders. Wincing, Ana waited again, willing her captors not to wake up. Someone stirred, but did not wake up. Okay, she thought, now trembling. Just…don’t try that again. Lift the bar like you did the last one.

Her nerves were near