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- Story Time Contest: Hero Edition
#301
5th Sep 2012 at 1:29 PM
In Round 2 you mentioned that the hero costume doesn't have to be a permanent choice, correct? This means that Kylara can change back into her own clothes when she gets back to her own time?
I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
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#302
5th Sep 2012 at 4:26 PM
Posts: 3,720
Thanks: 27206 in 66 Posts
Quote: Originally posted by Ghost sdoj
In Round 2 you mentioned that the hero costume doesn't have to be a permanent choice, correct? This means that Kylara can change back into her own clothes when she gets back to her own time? |
Absolutely! The poor girl should change as soon as she gets the first opportunity! Poor Kylara.
Heaven Sims | Avendale Legacy
"On the internet, you can be anything you want. It's strange that so many people choose to be stupid."
"On the internet, you can be anything you want. It's strange that so many people choose to be stupid."
#303
9th Sep 2012 at 9:24 PM
Posts: 835
Thanks: 258 in 4 Posts
I doubt I can get this in, within the 5 days required so I will get the ending in as soon as I can Probably a week and a half. My best friend was over for a surprise visit from Australia and needed to do my art history book since end of term is very soon!!!
#304
10th Sep 2012 at 11:06 PM
Gah!! When did it get to only 5 days left?! O_O I thought I was doing well but my first attempt was at 3200 words and I still hadn't got to final showdown!! I was just going round in circles trying to figure out what to cut and how to shorten the ending until hubby gave me a different idea (still same ending, just different setting/build-up) so now I'm 1500 words into my second attempt and hopefully the finale will start to poke over the horizon about the 2000 word mark *crosses fingers to the point of ciculation being cut off*
(This update was brought to you by procrastinating_again.com)
(This update was brought to you by procrastinating_again.com)
#305
10th Sep 2012 at 11:28 PM
Posts: 1,114
Thanks: 255 in 5 Posts
Oh gosh, five days?
>< I'm at 1564 words and 13 photos with the final showdown already done. All I need is my epilogue but I just can't bring myself to open that save and take the photos I need!
It'll get done, I swear it. I just hope I get it done on time (and remember to bold the appropriate quotes this time. Stupid brain).
>< I'm at 1564 words and 13 photos with the final showdown already done. All I need is my epilogue but I just can't bring myself to open that save and take the photos I need!
It'll get done, I swear it. I just hope I get it done on time (and remember to bold the appropriate quotes this time. Stupid brain).
#306
11th Sep 2012 at 1:42 AM
Posts: 835
Thanks: 258 in 4 Posts
#307
11th Sep 2012 at 1:44 AM
Things got hectic here. (By the way, I'm inviting everybody to drop by Custom Sims 3. I just ended up accepting the position of Admin over there. )I've got a bit of ending written, and a bit of the middle of the chapter, and about half of the scene with the antagonist, and nothing at all tying anything together. And a pair of sims who get bored just standing in the scene where I put them, so one wanders off while I'm getting the other one back, which might help if they would at least do something that I could work into the story. But somehow I'm having trouble figuring out why a grown man would be playing hopscotch. I got it because Kylara wanted it, and I thought she deserved a reward. But everybody else plays with it more than she does. (And my husband likes playing on Normal lifespan, so I got a surprise birthday in the middle of an otherwise good shot...) I'm hoping that I will be able to play again on Wednesday and get some more done.
I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
#308
11th Sep 2012 at 2:01 AM
Posts: 1,114
Thanks: 255 in 5 Posts
If we get an extension I won't work on it at all. >< The more time I get, the less enthusiasm I have for a project. I think that's why this has been the hardest round for me.
#309
11th Sep 2012 at 11:57 PM
Ok...2nd attempt is not going much better :'( I've got the big finale in (not entirely happy with it but whatevs) but not done the epilogue or fit in the bonus round and I’m at 3,049. Me no likey this round, I'm not good at finishing stuff! lol Just want to apologise to the judges in advance. No matter what I do, mine is gonna be loooooong!
#310
12th Sep 2012 at 1:25 AM
Posts: 835
Thanks: 258 in 4 Posts
#311
12th Sep 2012 at 4:21 AM
Posts: 220
Thanks: 39 in 1 Posts
Life just handed me a big plate of stress. I hope to still get the chapter done - if nothing else, it might be a good distraction - but this is just warning in case I can't.
#313
12th Sep 2012 at 6:32 PM
Posts: 293
Heaven, when we post the word/photo count for this round do we need to separate the count for the bonus from the main story or should we combine them for a total count?
#314
13th Sep 2012 at 12:28 AM
Posts: 3,720
Thanks: 27206 in 66 Posts
Quote: Originally posted by Qnshr5
Heaven, when we post the word/photo count for this round do we need to separate the count for the bonus from the main story or should we combine them for a total count? |
Just combine the total. However, the bonus should be -clear-; the judges should not have to hunt for it. If they feel that you were not able to properly complete it, you are at risk of having points marked off for word counts as well as missing out on the bonus points. Make it good.
Heaven Sims | Avendale Legacy
"On the internet, you can be anything you want. It's strange that so many people choose to be stupid."
"On the internet, you can be anything you want. It's strange that so many people choose to be stupid."
#315
13th Sep 2012 at 4:28 AM
Posts: 293
Quote: Originally posted by heaven
Just combine the total. However, the bonus should be -clear-; the judges should not have to hunt for it. If they feel that you were not able to properly complete it, you are at risk of having points marked off for word counts as well as missing out on the bonus points. Make it good. |
Ok. Thanks.
#316
13th Sep 2012 at 1:29 PM
Posts: 835
Thanks: 258 in 4 Posts
Last Chance.
I am really gutted, for one my game is stupid two, life is really demanding right now and 3 school is so full on. So this chapter has no pictures. I really wanted to beat Cece so we knew who was the best after all.... HAIL QUEEN CECE!!!!! I love you woman the best competition I ever had. Thank you to Heaven and all the judges also for having to go through all my mess I call writing. Also my spell check does not work on open office for some reason, I just noticed when I read the comments. So sorry for that also.and so it is the end!
Musics, somethings don't need words
Void – In a world where we are able to accomplish so much, yet able to do so little. In a place where you can give everything but not do anything at all. Such things can eat into your soul. Watching your cat be hit by a car, dropping the ember of your ciggerette on your new dress, your best friend kissing the guy your secretly in love with, watching your son die in the arms of his father. Such things can burn on so many levels, it just depends on how you see them. There is no way you can stop it from happening, because it is what it is. Maybe if you had that spiffy time machine or you just had the balls to do what was needed in the first place. It is only a matter of time before you find yourself back in the thing I like to call a Void.
So here we are, back into the reality. The room is in silence watching eachother and my heart is rapidly beating. I look at Verne and my son with a sadness. Hoping like fudge cakes that he is going to be ok, I contemplate touching Seth, but I know that it wouldn't do him much good. Removing my wig, I spy Lottie lurching for one of the vampires, but it is not Marie. As soon as my eyes meet hers I know she has me.
“Come to me butterfly” I hear in my head, all I can focus on is her eyes. My body is pleased to do what ever she tells me too. No fight, no repulsion but a harmonious lure that has me needing to do anything she tells me to. So I walk to her, not to bother where I am standing, I doubt I would know if something was there or not, the will of my body just taking over.
“Now kill that dog” she is still talking in my head. Lottie has got 3 of the vampires down now, mid pounce for another, I dive and together we roll a couple of times. My grip is on her throat, and as we stop my blood lust takes over. I open my mouth to breath in her life, sucking it in, I feel her change shape into the human woman I have been with the last few days. You would think that would make me feel anything different, but all I felt was a boot in my side and I flew across the room. Odd, no one has had that effect on me before.
I heard Marie shout more demands at me, I rolled over to see Verne pulling Lottie off the ground. She didn't look any worse but when I get told to jump I. . . . . . get hit with a bloody unicorn dart!!!!!! How did I not see that coming? I thump to the ground watching my surroundings.
A dizzy whirl of dancing was going around me, Lottie had some kind of wepon in her hand now, the devil only knows where she was hiding that, maybe she has pockets under her skin. Verne was suddenly on the ground infront of me, he was looking into my eyes, mouthing words I could not hear due to Miss Bloody Lillith trying to demand my body up. Marie was striding her way to Verne when I spot Seth moving from the corner of my eye, he is rolling to his front. Seth's eyes are locked to his father and my heart flutters with joy.
*“Aperi oculos tuos, aperi cor tuum anima tua liberabit vos!” Verne shouts, Marie obviously giving up on demands I finally hear him. My body giving a slight jolt, I pushed myself to my knee's making my way to Seth. Fighting the urge to attack Lottie I make my way over to my son. He looks at me like I am a stranger, that breaks my heart more then anything. You would think being reunited with your children would make the world some how better, maybe it could. If happy ever after did exist…. Lottie trying to fight off the 2 remaing vampires is knocked to the ground. I look over to see Marie holding Verne by the throat with one hand, the other pressed against his chest.
Seth makes a grunt, with it making everything go black. I grab him and cover his body with mine, trying to keep him safe. He struggles under me but his strength is zapped and he is concerntrating on....wait.... did he make everything go black? I stroke his hair thoughfully, before I realise what I am doing.
There is a sound of someone smashing to the ground with a slight gurgle. “Turn it off” I whisper to Seth, but he refuses. I am left with no choice and slap the poor boy which makes him loose concerntration for a few moments. When I look around Verne is back on the ground moving slowly to pull himself up, Lottie is being held by the two Vampires.
I motion to Verne to sit with Seth and he nods and keeps chanting the words to me. It seems to be giving me strength. Marie with her vampire speed is in my face again, she grabs my hair and yanks it.
“Look you little bitch, it is about time you start listening to me or this is going to get leathal.” Her tone no longer playing nice. I looked at her in the eyes, the orders she is giving me slowly taking over again.
Running over to Lottie I stop in front of her, the vampires have her held pretty tight. I place my hand on her face and smile.
“You are such a pretty little thing.” This is not me, it is Marie controling me. I am about to take her when Verne has Marie down. Screaming at me take control, I pivot and smack down the vampire on Lottie's left. Leaving her free to take down the other, she straddles the Vampire pulling a ring from her finger, twisting some kind of dial. She opens the vampires mouth with one hand and puts the ring in his mouth. Closing it quickly holding it there. Nothing happens for a moment before an burst of light radiates from the vampire leaving her to disintergrate into dust. Leaving Lottie on the ground with a humph.
What the....... I lost focus at watching Lottie, what was that? Frowning I looked at her, then the other Vampire has me down. I felt her fangs dig into my skin and the sensation of her taking my blood was burning. Poor Seth, no wonder he was out to it. My mind was starting to numb and my vision was going blurry when the vampire started to scream removing herself from me. I skuttled back a little watching her, trying to concertrate and suddenly she was in flames. I looked around in confusion. That didnt make sense, Marie drank from Seth and she didn't burst into flames.
The room went back to darkness and Verne was chanting again. I got so angry and let out a scream. Next thing I know there is flames throwing itself all over the room, Seth was on the floor, as was Verne, but it seemed to direct itself in Maries direction. The woman lay on the ground writhering in pain on the floor. Her body convolsed and the woman was dead, and the light from the fire dimmed into darkness once again.
“Seth, you can turn that off now.” Verne said calmly. The light drifted back slowly.
“Lottie, what was in that ring?” I asked curious. She was panting herself.
“Keratin, hair, nails that kind of thing. It explodes in contact with air and produces light.
Interesting....... so many things I need to learn.
Lottie grabed onto my hand reassuringly, we sat there in silence taking everything in. Verne got up walking towards us with Seth in tow, when Marie's body convulced and a spirit raising iself from her body. An angelic looking soul with tasselled blonde hair smiled at me one second, then he was sucked into Vernes body the next. The look of horror on Seths face, the poor child.
Lottie and I stood in unison and ran for him. The thing that had possessed Verne just laughed. Once we had him behind us I just watched Verne, looking for clues that he may feel the bond.
~Orthon's Point of veiw.
“What you think about this one Lottie? Do you have answers for this?” I could hear Ala whisper. Wow, I really made something beautiful here!
“Sorry Doll, I am out. I have one more grenade thing.” The guardian shurged as the demon boy shivered them. The fight for Vernes body was harder then anything, he had determination. I didn't want to have to take this one, but if I didn't then I was done, and there is still work to do. I looked up and smiled at Ala, pretty thing she is, with blood kissed hair and eyes that could eat your soul.
“Dear Ala, I was so close to having you. All to myself, it looks like you have more faith in yourself then I desired.” I purred. Ala shivered, a little, you could see the rage building up in her.
“What do you want from me!” she yelled. I tilted my head and looked at her.
“tsk tsk, you don't know? Verne my dear is the son of Orthon, master of possession. It was a hard job getting into young Maries body but someone had to do it. The love she shared for me let her in far too close. We had an affair, my wife never knew except one day she caught us. Killing the demon body I had taken for many years. Marie stayed there and cried a while, before I decided to take her body. I just needed you my sweetling, to make me some more little Demon children, for one day we can take over the world. Vampires are easier to control then most supernatural. Now wont you be a dear and come to me, we have wasted so much time already. Look how strong our dear little Seth is, at this younge age he can black out the room, it will not be long before he can manipulate the shadows.” I started to creep closer, the excitement building. I watched as the guardian pulled a Phosporous Grinade from her bag and pulling the pin. I kept walking closer the silly little bitch doesn't even know, a burst of glitter blew up in my face, I couldn't help but laugh.
~~
Lottie had Seth in her arms comforting him, he was hugging onto her tight. I had more then him to save though, the whole world in jepordy if I didn't do something.
Fire..... I screamed full force at him, like I had done earlier. This time a strong fire ball flung, but he met it with ice from a flick of a finger. It sizzeled with a hiss. I looked to Lottie for a sign anything that had reassurance that everything was going to be alright, but there was nothing but the sign of Orthon tapping his feet with his arms crossed.
Suddenly I knew what I had to do, it had been in my control the whole time, only I never seemed to have control over it at all.
I pulled the two people I held so dear close, gave them a little squeeze. I kissed Seth on the head “I love you, always and forever.” I whispered. Then I lay my hand on the side of Lottie's face and turned it to mine. “Look after him like you did for me, okay?” I asked her. Her eyes looked at me questioningly. “Promise!” I squeeked out louder. Lottie was starting to look tired already and now flustered. “Okay I promise, but we will get out of here somehow!” I smiled and closed my eyes pressing my lips against hers. Know that it was real this time and right now it ment everything. I stopped myself, and gave them both one final kiss on the cheek. Atleast I know now, how to find love. I walked to Orthon with a smile, I don't think Verne ever truly new the compasity of my powers.
“Glad you chose me my dear.” He whispered in my ear running his hand down my arm and the other pulling my back close. I could feel how much he wanted it, so I kissed his neck, my need taking over that started with Lottie. He let me push him to the ground and I straddled him holding his face, kissing his jaw. Heat raged over my body in extacy. I kissed him a few times playfully until he left himself open for attack. I had the power, his strength was not at all physical and the proximity restricted his magical abilities. So I sucked every ounce of life and soul from him bounding him to my body. Verne fell to the floor and my ears started to ring, my body started to float. This is it, I love you my darlings. Never forget me. Until I felt my body explode.
Epilouge
As Lottie and Seth stood there, not beleiving what they just saw. It was clear to them both what they just saw. The death of Ala and Verne had defined their lives and now neither of them had much to go by. It was clear to her that Orthon didn't take over his body, but nothing else was. They walked out in the sunlight holding hands with tears in their eyes not knowing what the future was going to bring them. So Lottie promised to protect and care for Seth as long as he stayed true to his heart.
Current Events: Last Chance.
Previous Events: 7 deadly sins, Move heaven and earth, Family secrets,The cake was a lie. Mind Over Matter.
Word Count: 2339
Picture Count: 0
CC Used: 0
#317
14th Sep 2012 at 6:34 AM
Posts: 1,114
Thanks: 255 in 5 Posts
I'd wait a bit before calling me queen, Kayla. I'm still 8 photos short and my game keeps crashing out! I'm dyyying here. Almost so close to done, and I just can't get these final photos.
#319
14th Sep 2012 at 3:24 PM
Posts: 220
Thanks: 39 in 1 Posts
Has words. Not cleaned up. Has four pictures. Hopefully will get more tomorrow morning (it's just after midnight for me now). Had something more coherent to say, but it's gone? *zombie*
Oh! Questions? Exactly how much swearing is acceptable? There's a bit of anger floating around this chapter, and the f-word gets thrown out a few times. Is that okay?
And second question. Every quote fit my story line. So I, um, used all of them. Should I just highlight the first instance for marking purposes?
Oh! Questions? Exactly how much swearing is acceptable? There's a bit of anger floating around this chapter, and the f-word gets thrown out a few times. Is that okay?
And second question. Every quote fit my story line. So I, um, used all of them. Should I just highlight the first instance for marking purposes?
#320
15th Sep 2012 at 8:18 AM
Posts: 1,114
Thanks: 255 in 5 Posts
Summary: After being betrayed by her long time lover, Juliette Johnson finds herself alone and a prisoner for the organization she used to work for. Or perhaps, not as alone as she thinks thanks to a hasty rescue by her young partner, Denebola. However once free Juliette would take no more help, insisting facing their organization’s leader would be too dangerous, and heads off on her own, fighting her way through old allies before finally coming face-to-face with the big bad himself, Joshua Jacobs.
---
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Current Events: Mysterious Past
Previous Events: Embarrassing Rescue, Good is Boring, BLONDES ARE EVIL, Finding Judas, Get out of Jail Free
Word Count: 2975 words 27 photos
Hero Type: The Knight in Sour Armor
CC Used:
- Allowed: Skin by Ephemera, CC and store hairs, Poses, OMSP, Sets were made by me and are CC less.
Also: A big thanks to FukothePixie for a lot of the poses in this chapter. I just couldn’t find what I wanted for Juliette’s scene with Joshua, and she made every pose I needed in only two days.
---
Freaks and Monsters
Chapter Five
---
He can see it in her eyes without reading her mind, no fear but plenty of anger directed towards him. Its justified of course, considering what he’d done to her. Even before learning that he’d planned to sacrifice her, he’d always been harder on her than the other recruits. Was it jealousy? Even Joshua Jacobs, the leader of the Freaks Foundation had no idea.
When he first met her she’d been pathetic. The shadow of a human being with powers she couldn’t understand. She’d had innocent blood on her hands, and couldn’t understand how. At first he’d thought it was fortunate for them both that one of the guards knew to call him. She was a psychic like himself, and their ability was as dangerous as it was rare. One of the few abilities likely enough to kill its owner as it was to kill anyone else.
“So what am I, some kind of freak?”
“In a manner of speaking, but so am I, and many others like us.”
“Am I dangerous?”
Of course she was, but he couldn’t bring himself to flat out say it. He couldn’t lose this one as well. In his short time as leader he’d met only two other psychics, both children, both who’d fallen into insanity and then death before he could properly train them. “You don’t have to be. I can train you, keep you safe. I promise.”
In only a few months he’d begun to rue his decision. She was stronger than he’d ever imagined, even managing to read Liam’s mind. Liam saw her as a new experiment, and Joshua let him do as he wanted as long as Juliette wasn’t harmed.
But then her powers increased... in no time at all she would be stronger than he was, and then what? He’d reached the peak of his powers at 25, and here this young woman was already nearing his peak with no sign of stopping. The decision to use her as their matyr had been made on a whim, but he stuck to it. He would not allow a... a common mutt to be stronger than him. Both Joshua’s parents had abilities, as far as he could tell Juliette came from human parents. She was the rarest of the rare, her abilities manifested from nothing, and she would be stronger than them all if he didn’t stop her.
“Put the gun down, sir. Let’s talk.”
Her voice brings him back to reality, and for a moment Joshua curses his scattered mind. In his moment of thought she could have attacked and taken the upper hand. He can’t take that chance a second time, but he does put the gun down, leaning back in his seat. “As you wish, my dear Juliette. What would you like to talk about?”
She gets straight to the point. “I want to know why you want me dead.”
“As you wish.” He says, standing and moving towards his bookshelf, watching her but not meeting her eyes a second time. The first time he spent only enough time to read her memories. Already he could feel her trying to catch the thread back to his own mind, but he couldn’t tell if she was aware of her own attempt. She seemed so calm and collected. Was she truly the threat he’d feared?
“I know what Liam told you while you were his prisoner, we are the next step in evolution. But we’re rare and scattered around the globe. Without the proper funds most Freaks will murder themselves or be killed by others before we can get to them to help. We needed an excuse politicians would understand, and when Liam showed me your recent spikes I knew you needed to be stopped. For a while Liam gave you nothing but sugar pills, but even then your abilities were progressing too quickly, so I decided to use your strength for the greater good.”
“I still don’t understand why you feel the need to sacrifice me.” She sighs, pleading with him. “I want to control this, and I know I can if you’d only help me.”
I don’t want to help the likes of you. He thinks, but doesn’t say out loud. Instead he grabs a set of files from the shelf and lays them down on his desk.
“Juliette, we aren’t the kind of organization who can just grab a loan from the bank, and we need funds. The medication Liam gives everyone is only a single project, it wasn’t the only thing we had him working on.”
The title of one folder catches her eyes, Project: Orycalcos. She remembers seeing it a few times in Liam’s office, but she never ventured farther than the cover. Each folder always had the same symbol, a double helix in blue and red next to a face. The folder in front of her had Dene’s face. “What is this?”
“Project Orycalcos was named for my father.” He tells her. “A scientist who taught Liam everything he knows. He theorized there could be a way to give normal humans the abilities we develop, and years after my father’s death Liam found a way to do it. Your partner, Denebola, was one of our first successes. Unfortunately there are side effects... it doesn’t matter if you’re born a Freak or made, the stronger you are the weaker our health. Most females will never have children, and our numbers are already so small. Our research is important if we want to be able to protect ourselves.”
“This is wrong.” She whispers, holding herself. “We’re all just humans, no one is going to turn against us.”
Joshua’s already begun to lose patience. “The day before I met you I was in the city for a different reason, five year old twins who were supposed to be able to fly. They lived in a farm outside of town, and by the time I got there their neighbors had killed them both, thinking they were monsters. They were just babies, Juliette, defenseless and weak. I hate having to kill even one of our own, but without a real threat we will never have the money we need.”
Juliette’s nausea is quickly returning with a vengeance, and Joshua takes the opportunity to step closer. “But perhaps, the victim doesn’t have to be unwilling. You’re strong, Juliette, but you know full well that you’re unstable. Think of your child. Don’t you want the best future for him or her?”
Her blood runs cold when she hears his words. A part of her had put it together already, but to hear it said out loud... she isn’t ready to be a mother. Not yet.
“If happy ever after did exist there’d be no problem.” He whispers into her ear, right hand playing with a lock of her hair. “But it doesn’t. Be our matyr, and I vow to watch over your child as if it were my own.”
“Don’t you touch me.” She growls, pushing him away with a hand. “You’re sick, Joshua. Sick and wrong. You vowed once to protect me too, don’t you remember? You promised to take care of me, to help me control what I have. So why on earth would I take you for your word now?”
He grabs her by the left wrist, face even but rage radiating from his eyes as they meet hers. “Fine. Don’t take advantage of my generosity. I can live with losing two. We’re at war, and I’m not going to let a little wanna-be hero ruin the future I want to make. I’m not the bad guy here. I’m just trying to protect my own.”
“Funny.” She responds, breaking free and stepping back. “Because I’m doing the same thing. I’m not going to let you hurt me or anyone else.”
He tries to move towards her but finds he can’t. Her hand is up, but that’s not what’s stopping him, its her eyes. In the moment he met her eyes in anger she’d managed to knock down his defenses and lock into his nervous system. In a fight between psychics, strength didn’t matter. All that mattered was who moved first, and she’d won. She had him paralyzed, and soon enough he realized he couldn’t breath.
“No one threatens me.” Juliette growls, voice steady. “You’ve had this coming for a long time, Joshua, and I know I’m going to sleep well tonight knowing you’re gone.”
She doesn’t pity him in the end, forcing him to stay awake and feel as his body struggles for the air that won’t come, only letting go of his mind once she’s sure his open eyes will never come back to life.
She steps back, arms shaking at last as the adrenaline escapes her. With it comes the unease and guilt. Did she really do the right thing? Dene’s folder is on the table next to her, as well as a number of others. Some faces she recognizes, but others she doesn’t.
They all have one thing in common, she realizes, they’re all like her, and with Joshua dead they’ll have no one to protect them. She isn’t sure if the story he told her of the twins was true, but if she leaves the Freaks without a leader the story will one day become truth. Her people need someone, and right now all they have is her. Like it or not there’s no running away now.
The land they gave her has roads, a few signs left over advertising the upcoming condos that never began production. This was supposed to be the site of a new community set around a giant shopping mall, but the mall was found to be a scam, and the builders left without ever even breaking ground. It had taken three long years of work before Juliette had managed to convince the government to give her the land.
Like Joshua had predicted, the president wouldn’t even meet with her until a rouge Freak had caused trouble. Somehow Juliette had managed to end the danger without any bloodshed, forcing the rouge to sleep and having the others rescue injured civilians. By then the president was practically begging to meet her. She’d refused his offers of money and power, instead asking for land to be given to her organization. They’d stay away from “normal” humans, train their children to be strong, and stop all the horrible research Liam had done.
Juliette no longer cared about being normal, about learning what made them different. She had better things to worry about, like her two year old daughter, Elena. She looked far too much like her father, but Juliette was confident she could raise her right.
Juliette had become the Freaks new leader, not by killing Jason, but by earning their love and loyalty. Much of her time was spent training new Freaks personally, or helping build new homes. Elena would go with her sometimes, but otherwise she’d stay home and work on the small chemistry table her mother had bought her.
She’d inherited her father’s mind, science came naturally to her and Juliette couldn’t morally stop her daughter from embracing that genius. However, unlike either of her parents Elena had been born a mind reader, a powerful one.
Her best friend Alex Mason was only a year younger than her but Elena could sense he’d never have gifts. He was human, just like his father.
His parents, Denebola and Daniel Mason married long before he was born. Dani stayed with Dene in the new Orycalcos Compound, being one of the few humans who felt comfortable around them. Together they had managed to have three healthy children, of which Alex was the oldest.
Alex was only 16 when his mother died. It’ been an accident no one had seen coming, even though it was the way everyone in her generation would eventually died. Her powers had consumed her, her inner heat exploding outwards and causing her to burn to death, taking the Mason’s home with her.
Luckily Daniel had been out with the children at the time and they hadn’t been hurt. They’d only learned about Dene’s death upon returning home and finding the results.
Eventually, they all succumbed to their gifts. Denebola was the first, still young when she died. The sliders would be found in their beds electrocuted, fire starters would burn down everything around them as Dene had, even Juliette had died only a few years after Denebola, first losing her mind and then dying from her brain collapsing in on itself, leaving only a trail of blood from her nose to show she wasn’t asleep. Much like the victims she’d left behind before she could control herself.
Elena was the first to notice the patterns, but what could she do to stop it? She was only a child after all.
She tried everything she could to find a way to slow down the progression of strength, especially with her own generation coming into their gifts so early. Would she only live to be thirty? Even younger? It wasn’t something she wanted to dwell on, but she knew she couldn’t just wait for death to come. If there was a way to save herself - and others - then she had to look for it.
Only days before Juliette’s death she began speaking of an underground laboratory in a secret building, just outside of the capital city and hidden by the trees. Elena attributed it to her mother’s insanity, but with research she learned of her mother’s fight and the direction the Freaks had been going under their old leader.
Less than a year after her mother’s death, she found her father’s old laboratory, and the notes that lay in it.
She learned everything, the medical compounds Liam had worked on for years, the DNA strands that all Freaks shared, whatever their gift, how to give gifts to mere humans, and all the propaganda that came with it. She learned Joshua and Liam’s plans for their kind, how similar it was to what her mother had managed to accomplish with far less innocent bloodshed. And yet, Elena couldn’t quite be proud of what her mother had accomplished. She’d managed to save herself, but had she really given the Freaks a better life? She stopped scientific advancement for 25 years, letting Elena dabble only in what she thought was appropriate. How many more lives could have been saved by letting herself die and letting Liam continue his research?
Further reading showed Elena her father had used humans and Freaks alike as guinea pigs, keeping them in his cage until he had what he wanted from them, but even then she couldn’t quite feel disgusted. No one was just going to give themselves up for the greater good, her mother had shown her that much, so why not pick sacrifices yourself? Her mother hadn’t been a hero, she’d been a moron. But her father... well, he might have been on the right track.
75 years later
Dawn Woods was your typical 9 year old. She was her daddy’s little princess, she had her mother’s bright blue eyes, had the sweetest personality ever... and yesterday during detention she’d learned she was a Freak.
Her fingers had been the victim of her anger, getting crushed when she slammed her desk shut. The tip of her middle finger coming clean off, before growing back in less than a minute, successfully scaring herself and her teacher.
The only one to not be terrified was the school’s resident brat, Erisia Johnson. She’d been in detention too, and instead of running or calling the police (as they were supposed to when they believed they’d seen a Freak), Erisia simply walked over to their teacher, looked her dead in the eye and told her she’d seen nothing, and that she was going to go have some coffee in the teachers’ lounge. Their teacher left and Erisia helped Dawn clean up the blood, promising to explain everything later.
And so there they were, an hour before anyone else would be at school, with Erisia telling her everything. “Freaks are humans too, in a way. My dad says our family goes back generations, but you must be a first generation-er if you’re not with Orycalcos. My dad managed to get out, but it was hard. You could go to them if you want, they’ll keep you safe but they won’t let you go and if your parents are humans they’ll take you away from them.”
This was too much for a nine-year-old to handle, but Dawn knew she couldn’t go to her parents about this. “What if I don’t want to go to Orycalcos?”
“I could try to help you, but I’m still training. I was lucky Miss Potts was scared, it made her easy to control. But if you promise not to tell anyone I’m like you I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”
Dawn stands slowly, thinking for a moment before pulling her new friend in for a hug. “Why would I ever tell anyone? You saved my life, and we’re friend now aren’t we? Friends stick together forever.”
Erisia sighed happily. Her father always warned her other freaks were vile, evil things to be avoided. He’d flee’d from Orycalcos to keep her safe from their family’s legacy, but besides that he was no better than the propaganda they saw everyday on the TV. They had to be wrong. She and Dawn were both Freaks, but they were still just little girls. And while no one would dare hurt a little girl at least now they had someone else to rely on. Perhaps in that sense, Erisia was the first of her line to be anything like the great Juliette Johnson. Or at the very least, the first with her heart.
Chapter Five
---
He can see it in her eyes without reading her mind, no fear but plenty of anger directed towards him. Its justified of course, considering what he’d done to her. Even before learning that he’d planned to sacrifice her, he’d always been harder on her than the other recruits. Was it jealousy? Even Joshua Jacobs, the leader of the Freaks Foundation had no idea.
When he first met her she’d been pathetic. The shadow of a human being with powers she couldn’t understand. She’d had innocent blood on her hands, and couldn’t understand how. At first he’d thought it was fortunate for them both that one of the guards knew to call him. She was a psychic like himself, and their ability was as dangerous as it was rare. One of the few abilities likely enough to kill its owner as it was to kill anyone else.
“So what am I, some kind of freak?”
“In a manner of speaking, but so am I, and many others like us.”
“Am I dangerous?”
Of course she was, but he couldn’t bring himself to flat out say it. He couldn’t lose this one as well. In his short time as leader he’d met only two other psychics, both children, both who’d fallen into insanity and then death before he could properly train them. “You don’t have to be. I can train you, keep you safe. I promise.”
In only a few months he’d begun to rue his decision. She was stronger than he’d ever imagined, even managing to read Liam’s mind. Liam saw her as a new experiment, and Joshua let him do as he wanted as long as Juliette wasn’t harmed.
But then her powers increased... in no time at all she would be stronger than he was, and then what? He’d reached the peak of his powers at 25, and here this young woman was already nearing his peak with no sign of stopping. The decision to use her as their matyr had been made on a whim, but he stuck to it. He would not allow a... a common mutt to be stronger than him. Both Joshua’s parents had abilities, as far as he could tell Juliette came from human parents. She was the rarest of the rare, her abilities manifested from nothing, and she would be stronger than them all if he didn’t stop her.
“Put the gun down, sir. Let’s talk.”
Her voice brings him back to reality, and for a moment Joshua curses his scattered mind. In his moment of thought she could have attacked and taken the upper hand. He can’t take that chance a second time, but he does put the gun down, leaning back in his seat. “As you wish, my dear Juliette. What would you like to talk about?”
She gets straight to the point. “I want to know why you want me dead.”
“As you wish.” He says, standing and moving towards his bookshelf, watching her but not meeting her eyes a second time. The first time he spent only enough time to read her memories. Already he could feel her trying to catch the thread back to his own mind, but he couldn’t tell if she was aware of her own attempt. She seemed so calm and collected. Was she truly the threat he’d feared?
“I know what Liam told you while you were his prisoner, we are the next step in evolution. But we’re rare and scattered around the globe. Without the proper funds most Freaks will murder themselves or be killed by others before we can get to them to help. We needed an excuse politicians would understand, and when Liam showed me your recent spikes I knew you needed to be stopped. For a while Liam gave you nothing but sugar pills, but even then your abilities were progressing too quickly, so I decided to use your strength for the greater good.”
“I still don’t understand why you feel the need to sacrifice me.” She sighs, pleading with him. “I want to control this, and I know I can if you’d only help me.”
I don’t want to help the likes of you. He thinks, but doesn’t say out loud. Instead he grabs a set of files from the shelf and lays them down on his desk.
“Juliette, we aren’t the kind of organization who can just grab a loan from the bank, and we need funds. The medication Liam gives everyone is only a single project, it wasn’t the only thing we had him working on.”
The title of one folder catches her eyes, Project: Orycalcos. She remembers seeing it a few times in Liam’s office, but she never ventured farther than the cover. Each folder always had the same symbol, a double helix in blue and red next to a face. The folder in front of her had Dene’s face. “What is this?”
“Project Orycalcos was named for my father.” He tells her. “A scientist who taught Liam everything he knows. He theorized there could be a way to give normal humans the abilities we develop, and years after my father’s death Liam found a way to do it. Your partner, Denebola, was one of our first successes. Unfortunately there are side effects... it doesn’t matter if you’re born a Freak or made, the stronger you are the weaker our health. Most females will never have children, and our numbers are already so small. Our research is important if we want to be able to protect ourselves.”
“This is wrong.” She whispers, holding herself. “We’re all just humans, no one is going to turn against us.”
Joshua’s already begun to lose patience. “The day before I met you I was in the city for a different reason, five year old twins who were supposed to be able to fly. They lived in a farm outside of town, and by the time I got there their neighbors had killed them both, thinking they were monsters. They were just babies, Juliette, defenseless and weak. I hate having to kill even one of our own, but without a real threat we will never have the money we need.”
Juliette’s nausea is quickly returning with a vengeance, and Joshua takes the opportunity to step closer. “But perhaps, the victim doesn’t have to be unwilling. You’re strong, Juliette, but you know full well that you’re unstable. Think of your child. Don’t you want the best future for him or her?”
Her blood runs cold when she hears his words. A part of her had put it together already, but to hear it said out loud... she isn’t ready to be a mother. Not yet.
“If happy ever after did exist there’d be no problem.” He whispers into her ear, right hand playing with a lock of her hair. “But it doesn’t. Be our matyr, and I vow to watch over your child as if it were my own.”
“Don’t you touch me.” She growls, pushing him away with a hand. “You’re sick, Joshua. Sick and wrong. You vowed once to protect me too, don’t you remember? You promised to take care of me, to help me control what I have. So why on earth would I take you for your word now?”
He grabs her by the left wrist, face even but rage radiating from his eyes as they meet hers. “Fine. Don’t take advantage of my generosity. I can live with losing two. We’re at war, and I’m not going to let a little wanna-be hero ruin the future I want to make. I’m not the bad guy here. I’m just trying to protect my own.”
“Funny.” She responds, breaking free and stepping back. “Because I’m doing the same thing. I’m not going to let you hurt me or anyone else.”
He tries to move towards her but finds he can’t. Her hand is up, but that’s not what’s stopping him, its her eyes. In the moment he met her eyes in anger she’d managed to knock down his defenses and lock into his nervous system. In a fight between psychics, strength didn’t matter. All that mattered was who moved first, and she’d won. She had him paralyzed, and soon enough he realized he couldn’t breath.
“No one threatens me.” Juliette growls, voice steady. “You’ve had this coming for a long time, Joshua, and I know I’m going to sleep well tonight knowing you’re gone.”
She doesn’t pity him in the end, forcing him to stay awake and feel as his body struggles for the air that won’t come, only letting go of his mind once she’s sure his open eyes will never come back to life.
She steps back, arms shaking at last as the adrenaline escapes her. With it comes the unease and guilt. Did she really do the right thing? Dene’s folder is on the table next to her, as well as a number of others. Some faces she recognizes, but others she doesn’t.
They all have one thing in common, she realizes, they’re all like her, and with Joshua dead they’ll have no one to protect them. She isn’t sure if the story he told her of the twins was true, but if she leaves the Freaks without a leader the story will one day become truth. Her people need someone, and right now all they have is her. Like it or not there’s no running away now.
The land they gave her has roads, a few signs left over advertising the upcoming condos that never began production. This was supposed to be the site of a new community set around a giant shopping mall, but the mall was found to be a scam, and the builders left without ever even breaking ground. It had taken three long years of work before Juliette had managed to convince the government to give her the land.
Like Joshua had predicted, the president wouldn’t even meet with her until a rouge Freak had caused trouble. Somehow Juliette had managed to end the danger without any bloodshed, forcing the rouge to sleep and having the others rescue injured civilians. By then the president was practically begging to meet her. She’d refused his offers of money and power, instead asking for land to be given to her organization. They’d stay away from “normal” humans, train their children to be strong, and stop all the horrible research Liam had done.
Juliette no longer cared about being normal, about learning what made them different. She had better things to worry about, like her two year old daughter, Elena. She looked far too much like her father, but Juliette was confident she could raise her right.
Juliette had become the Freaks new leader, not by killing Jason, but by earning their love and loyalty. Much of her time was spent training new Freaks personally, or helping build new homes. Elena would go with her sometimes, but otherwise she’d stay home and work on the small chemistry table her mother had bought her.
She’d inherited her father’s mind, science came naturally to her and Juliette couldn’t morally stop her daughter from embracing that genius. However, unlike either of her parents Elena had been born a mind reader, a powerful one.
Her best friend Alex Mason was only a year younger than her but Elena could sense he’d never have gifts. He was human, just like his father.
His parents, Denebola and Daniel Mason married long before he was born. Dani stayed with Dene in the new Orycalcos Compound, being one of the few humans who felt comfortable around them. Together they had managed to have three healthy children, of which Alex was the oldest.
Alex was only 16 when his mother died. It’ been an accident no one had seen coming, even though it was the way everyone in her generation would eventually died. Her powers had consumed her, her inner heat exploding outwards and causing her to burn to death, taking the Mason’s home with her.
Luckily Daniel had been out with the children at the time and they hadn’t been hurt. They’d only learned about Dene’s death upon returning home and finding the results.
Eventually, they all succumbed to their gifts. Denebola was the first, still young when she died. The sliders would be found in their beds electrocuted, fire starters would burn down everything around them as Dene had, even Juliette had died only a few years after Denebola, first losing her mind and then dying from her brain collapsing in on itself, leaving only a trail of blood from her nose to show she wasn’t asleep. Much like the victims she’d left behind before she could control herself.
Elena was the first to notice the patterns, but what could she do to stop it? She was only a child after all.
She tried everything she could to find a way to slow down the progression of strength, especially with her own generation coming into their gifts so early. Would she only live to be thirty? Even younger? It wasn’t something she wanted to dwell on, but she knew she couldn’t just wait for death to come. If there was a way to save herself - and others - then she had to look for it.
Only days before Juliette’s death she began speaking of an underground laboratory in a secret building, just outside of the capital city and hidden by the trees. Elena attributed it to her mother’s insanity, but with research she learned of her mother’s fight and the direction the Freaks had been going under their old leader.
Less than a year after her mother’s death, she found her father’s old laboratory, and the notes that lay in it.
She learned everything, the medical compounds Liam had worked on for years, the DNA strands that all Freaks shared, whatever their gift, how to give gifts to mere humans, and all the propaganda that came with it. She learned Joshua and Liam’s plans for their kind, how similar it was to what her mother had managed to accomplish with far less innocent bloodshed. And yet, Elena couldn’t quite be proud of what her mother had accomplished. She’d managed to save herself, but had she really given the Freaks a better life? She stopped scientific advancement for 25 years, letting Elena dabble only in what she thought was appropriate. How many more lives could have been saved by letting herself die and letting Liam continue his research?
Further reading showed Elena her father had used humans and Freaks alike as guinea pigs, keeping them in his cage until he had what he wanted from them, but even then she couldn’t quite feel disgusted. No one was just going to give themselves up for the greater good, her mother had shown her that much, so why not pick sacrifices yourself? Her mother hadn’t been a hero, she’d been a moron. But her father... well, he might have been on the right track.
75 years later
Dawn Woods was your typical 9 year old. She was her daddy’s little princess, she had her mother’s bright blue eyes, had the sweetest personality ever... and yesterday during detention she’d learned she was a Freak.
Her fingers had been the victim of her anger, getting crushed when she slammed her desk shut. The tip of her middle finger coming clean off, before growing back in less than a minute, successfully scaring herself and her teacher.
The only one to not be terrified was the school’s resident brat, Erisia Johnson. She’d been in detention too, and instead of running or calling the police (as they were supposed to when they believed they’d seen a Freak), Erisia simply walked over to their teacher, looked her dead in the eye and told her she’d seen nothing, and that she was going to go have some coffee in the teachers’ lounge. Their teacher left and Erisia helped Dawn clean up the blood, promising to explain everything later.
And so there they were, an hour before anyone else would be at school, with Erisia telling her everything. “Freaks are humans too, in a way. My dad says our family goes back generations, but you must be a first generation-er if you’re not with Orycalcos. My dad managed to get out, but it was hard. You could go to them if you want, they’ll keep you safe but they won’t let you go and if your parents are humans they’ll take you away from them.”
This was too much for a nine-year-old to handle, but Dawn knew she couldn’t go to her parents about this. “What if I don’t want to go to Orycalcos?”
“I could try to help you, but I’m still training. I was lucky Miss Potts was scared, it made her easy to control. But if you promise not to tell anyone I’m like you I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”
Dawn stands slowly, thinking for a moment before pulling her new friend in for a hug. “Why would I ever tell anyone? You saved my life, and we’re friend now aren’t we? Friends stick together forever.”
Erisia sighed happily. Her father always warned her other freaks were vile, evil things to be avoided. He’d flee’d from Orycalcos to keep her safe from their family’s legacy, but besides that he was no better than the propaganda they saw everyday on the TV. They had to be wrong. She and Dawn were both Freaks, but they were still just little girls. And while no one would dare hurt a little girl at least now they had someone else to rely on. Perhaps in that sense, Erisia was the first of her line to be anything like the great Juliette Johnson. Or at the very least, the first with her heart.
---
Current Events: Mysterious Past
Previous Events: Embarrassing Rescue, Good is Boring, BLONDES ARE EVIL, Finding Judas, Get out of Jail Free
Word Count: 2975 words 27 photos
Hero Type: The Knight in Sour Armor
CC Used:
- Allowed: Skin by Ephemera, CC and store hairs, Poses, OMSP, Sets were made by me and are CC less.
Also: A big thanks to FukothePixie for a lot of the poses in this chapter. I just couldn’t find what I wanted for Juliette’s scene with Joshua, and she made every pose I needed in only two days.
#321
15th Sep 2012 at 8:50 PM
Posts: 1,101
Thanks: 39721 in 94 Posts
Summary:
Although Dr. Eric Cowert long ago gave up on medicine, an emergency call from the hospital forces him right back into the role of doctor. Despite his cynicism and selfishness, he is still one of the best doctors the hospital has. The question is, as always: does he believe that?
The remainder of my morning is more bodies on beds: accident victims, kids who went too far trying to imitate wrestlers, stressed-out students who came here after their No-Doz/Red Bull cocktails went wrong. I'm only on rounds for two more hours, but something about being the only doctor around makes it feel like a whole day of non-stop mayhem. By the time the morning crew shows up I'm more than ready to get the hell out of here.
… leaving here means getting the patient from room 343.
Part of me hopes that he's still out of it. Then we won't have to talk about his idiocy.
But of course he's wide awake, crouching on the bed like a trapped cat. I don't get near him. He stares at me with narrowed eyes.
"… where's my sister?"
"At your house, I assume." I pick up his flannel shirt, which was on the floor—probably landed there during the night. "C'mon, I gotta get you home."
"No. Just call my sister."
"Your sister's wiped out, Hallenbeck. I told her that I'd bring you back home—"
"Geez, am I speaking Martian or something?" There's hostility in his voice now. "For a smart guy, you're really dumb. I don't need you to do anything for me. I said I want my sister. You can understand that, can't you? Either get her here now, or get the hell out of my room."
People giving me crap is nothing new. This isn't even close to the first time I've gotten the brush-off from an ungrateful jerk whom I spent a good portion of the night caring for, and I have a pretty thick skin. This guy, though … I think about how many times I've seen his sister on the verge of an emotional breakdown because of him, and I fight the urge to punch him in the face.
Advice from my many, many psychiatry visits fills my head. When you're frustrated, Eric, count to ten before you say a single word. Make certain to keep your voice level. Keep your distance—you have a bad habit of getting in people's face and intimidating them. And above all, remain calm.
"Mr. Hallenbeck, your sister stayed up all night watching over you after you very stupidly scared her half to death by carving up your arm. I had to send her home so she wouldn't collapse from exhaustion. That wasn't even five hours ago, and I have no intention of bringing her back up here without a damn good reason. Your temper tantrums aren't a good enough reason."
He doesn't look at me until well after I've stopped speaking. When he finally meets my eyes, his expression is one of pure hatred. "You know what? Fuck you. Do you have any idea why I did it, doc? Huh? Do you?"
"Because you're a selfish asshole?"
He laughs sardonically, grabs a chair and throws himself onto it. "I already know I'm a selfish asshole. I know that my mom and my sister shouldn't have to take care of me for the rest of my life. But guess what, doc? I can't help the way I am. You think I wanna see monsters everywhere I look? You think I like having a freak-out when I don't know where my family members are? Huh?"
He stands up so fast that the chair hits the floor. He's shaking.
"I know it's not fair on Myrna and Mom! I'm the one who has to live with myself, don't you think I know it's not fair? " He stumbles against the bed.
I straighten up, startled. "Hallenbeck, are you all right?"
He hasn't heard me. His trembling has become more violent.
"I don't want to go on like this. Who the hell would want to live like this? … don't you think I know people laugh at me? People like you? People like my stepfather? None of you understand … you think I like this, you think I want to live this way? … you think I … want …"
He's collapsing on himself by the time I reach his side. I shout his name. No response.
I can see all the signs of sudden cardiac arrest—his heart just stopped and it doesn't matter how many times you read about something like this in a book, it's absolutely terrifying to witness in real life—and nothing will save him except picking him up and using the EKG machine on him. I haven't touched a defibrillator since the Klarris County Fair incident.
I have to do something.
I look down at Aaron Hallenbeck, but I don't see his face. I see that 10-year-old boy with bruises all over his chest, lying cold and still, and I feel my hands shaking uselessly.
I have to.
I don't leave his side until the heart monitor begins to beep again, nor really, even then—other people storm into the room and shove me out. I'm scolded thoroughly for continuing to work after clocking out and given a lecture on 'hospital rules.' Irony at its finest.
Exasperated, I sit down on the nearest bench and rest my head against the wall. I don't even realize that I've gone to sleep until I feel a hand on my shoulder, shaking me awake again. I'm more tired than I knew, apparently. I turn my head, look at my assistant. Her eyes are swollen. Again. Damn it, I was supposed to stop this from happening.
"You didn't bring Aaron home," she croaks out. "I came back to see what happened, and …" She chokes down a sob. "… what happened? He was fine when you made me leave. Why is he hooked up to machines again? Why won't they let me in there?"
"… his heart stopped," I murmur.
"Stopped?" she echoes, her voice cracking. "But then … wait, did you—did you save Aaron?"
She cries into my shoulder for a long time after that, whispering "Thank you" over and over again.
It's been a long time since I've slept for eight hours straight. No interruptions, no panicked hospital staff, no "call-outs," no half-assed requests to come take over for a resident who botched their rounds. It feels nice to spend a day at home just vegging out. I don't even want anything to drink. After I go out for a steak dinner, I'm ready to go right back to sleep. And I do. The phone doesn't ring once.
The next morning I feel alert for the first time in a while. No coffee needed.
I go to the HR department first and sign off on the pile of papers that formally reinstate me as a practicing physician. Then I pick up a file and head back to my own office. The door's open; someone's beaten me in there.
Myrna Hallenbeck is standing across from my desk. Her expression warns me that she's all ready to have a fight with me. I can guess what it's about, but I sit down anyway.
"Mrs. Hallenbeck. I didn't know you had a key."
"Doctor," she says sharply. "You didn't bother to tell me yesterday that the reason my brother was undergoing intensive care was because you argued with him and forced him into a panic attack."
"There was no need."
"No need?" Although her eyes are outraged and rightfully so, her voice is so flat, it sounds as though the entire scene is familiar to her, something she's dealt with repeatedly over the years. I answer her just as frankly.
"… his heart stopped, but he was in a place where professionals could care for him. Calling you to come in again would have been pointless and dangerous. We might have had to take care of both of you, if you'd come."
She blinks a few times and looks at me again. "Shouldn't you have let me make that decision?"
"Not in my hospital, no."
Her tone begins to slide toward irritation. "I came in this morning to resign, you know."
"Well, that's fine. I was considering letting you go anyway." I close her personnel file and slide it over to her. "I needed an assistant as a medical administrator, but I don’t believe I'll need one as a full-time surgeon."
"You're … going back into surgeries?" She looks positively stunned by the news. "Well … that's … that's great."
"Yes, in a week and a half. I've referred you over to a different department, to someone who really will need an assistant. She's easygoing, you'll get along with her well."
Myrna is silent. She's flipping through the paperwork in her file. She stops, eyes wide. "Dr. Pradyash? You're referring me to—but why—"
"She'll be officially promoted to head of psychiatrics at 3 p.m. this afternoon, she'll need a competent personal assistant. I told her she couldn't do better, and she's willing to take you on if you want the job." I keep typing and don't look at her. "Anyone in her department can work with your brother—and you, if you want help dealing with him."
"Did … did you plan this?"
"Not at all, though I can't say I'm unhappy with the outcome. Are you?"
"I'm … surprised. I didn't know you thought this well of me."
"I didn't fire you, and you didn't quit. That's about all either of us could hope for, right? Thanks for cleaning my office, by the way. I haven't seen the top of my desk for years."
She smiles, a little.
So that was the fate of my final assistant, to be fired via promotion. It suited me fine, and although I'm pretty sure Myrna was pissed with the way I cut her loose, she didn't have much reason to complain in the end. She gets a pay raise, her brother can get regular psychiatric treatment, and Jyoti gets a good assistant. Everyone's happy. Right?
"… well, I suppose," Jyoti says. We're on the 15th floor employee patio, the really nice one with a vista of the city. But she isn't looking at the skyline, she's looking at me with that searching gaze. "Are you really operating for the right reasons, Eric?"
"To save lives, yeah?"
"Yes, and also because you haven't given up on people, or on yourself."
I shrug at her. One, because it's never that simple, and two, to annoy her. It works.
She comes over to me and lightly smacks my chest. "My god, you're so stubborn. I suppose it's nice to see that some things haven't changed."
"Would you have it any other way?"
"I suppose that's part of your charm," she says, and sighs. I watch the wind ruffle her hair. "How'd you like that lazy assistant I sent you?"
"I like her very much. She's very organized and keeps all of our patients accounted for, and everyone in our department is wondering how we got along without her. She seems happy with us. Perhaps because her former boss treated her so shabbily."
"Probably. Are we having dinner this Sunday?"
"I'd love to, but I need to take Tahina to the park. She's been begging to go forever, this will be the first time in a while that I'm not busy."
"So go to the park first, and bring her to dinner later." I reach out for her, draw her close.
She softens, but only enough to be held. She's still completely in control.
"Ah … I'm thinking not. She'd like to meet Mommy's special friend, I'm sure. But I have more than one friend whose children meet a different "uncle" every other month. I promised myself a long, long time ago that I would never be that mother, and I won't. You're not meeting Tahina until you're ready for something more serious than mid-afternoon sex. Period."
"Who says I'm not?"
"I do, and I'm the shrink." She flicks my ear. "I have to get back to work now. But it was nice to talk to you. Outside of my office, that is. We should do it more often."
I stay up here for a little longer. It's a nice sunset.
But eventually I head back downstairs, back to the OR … back to the never-ending job of becoming a good doctor.
There's only one park in the entire city that isn't littered with broken bottles and trash, and I pay a visit to this park on Sunday around 3:30 p.m. Jyoti's there, sitting on a bench directly across from the spring riders, watching her daughter play. Tahina shrieks as she rocks back and forth on the pirate ship. Jyoti looks up as I approach. "I suppose it wasn't too hard to guess where I was."
"Nope."
We watch Tahina for a while before I look at Jyoti again.
"Are you sure that you even want something more serious than mid-afternoon sex with me? You already know what kind of guy I am, you could be setting yourself up for a massive disappointment."
"Disappointment," she says, and laughs a little. "'Disappointment' is being served with divorce papers as you try to complete a 150-page dissertation. Disappointment is when your husband gives up on you after 14 months of marriage and uses the alimony money he gets to drink himself to death. You won't be the worst decision I've made in life. Not at all."
She gestures to Tahina. "She used to ask me when Daddy was coming home. For the longest time, I didn't know what to tell her. Then last year I finally got word that he was dead. Cirrhosis of the liver, naturally. When I told her that her daddy was gone forever, she surprised me. She asked me if I was happy. She was watching me feel sorry for myself all those years, and I never even knew."
She looks at me solemnly. "Disappointment isn't really something I let myself feel now. I can't afford to wallow in self-pity. I'm the only example she has."
I absorb this in silence before venturing to say, "That's good, I suppose … I'm probably going to let you down a lot."
Now she really does laugh. "That is the most awful proposition I've ever received. But it's just like you, isn't it? At least you're consistent. Consistently terrible."
She looks towards her daughter, who is watching us while pretending not to watch us.
"Tahina," she calls. "Come here, darling. I want you to meet someone."
~ fin
CC used: store items, custom eyes, OMSP, tipsy OMSP, skin by HP. Also used: Hospital set by Hekate999.
Plot points used (current round): Meet Cute
Plot points used (previous rounds): Mysterious Past, Embarrassing Rescue, Good is Boring, Beware the Nice Guy, Not You Again.
Word count: 2.409.
Although Dr. Eric Cowert long ago gave up on medicine, an emergency call from the hospital forces him right back into the role of doctor. Despite his cynicism and selfishness, he is still one of the best doctors the hospital has. The question is, as always: does he believe that?
Since I did officially withdraw, you have every right not to judge this entry--I'll leave it up to you whether or not you choose to score it.
The remainder of my morning is more bodies on beds: accident victims, kids who went too far trying to imitate wrestlers, stressed-out students who came here after their No-Doz/Red Bull cocktails went wrong. I'm only on rounds for two more hours, but something about being the only doctor around makes it feel like a whole day of non-stop mayhem. By the time the morning crew shows up I'm more than ready to get the hell out of here.
… leaving here means getting the patient from room 343.
Part of me hopes that he's still out of it. Then we won't have to talk about his idiocy.
But of course he's wide awake, crouching on the bed like a trapped cat. I don't get near him. He stares at me with narrowed eyes.
"… where's my sister?"
"At your house, I assume." I pick up his flannel shirt, which was on the floor—probably landed there during the night. "C'mon, I gotta get you home."
"No. Just call my sister."
"Your sister's wiped out, Hallenbeck. I told her that I'd bring you back home—"
"Geez, am I speaking Martian or something?" There's hostility in his voice now. "For a smart guy, you're really dumb. I don't need you to do anything for me. I said I want my sister. You can understand that, can't you? Either get her here now, or get the hell out of my room."
People giving me crap is nothing new. This isn't even close to the first time I've gotten the brush-off from an ungrateful jerk whom I spent a good portion of the night caring for, and I have a pretty thick skin. This guy, though … I think about how many times I've seen his sister on the verge of an emotional breakdown because of him, and I fight the urge to punch him in the face.
Advice from my many, many psychiatry visits fills my head. When you're frustrated, Eric, count to ten before you say a single word. Make certain to keep your voice level. Keep your distance—you have a bad habit of getting in people's face and intimidating them. And above all, remain calm.
"Mr. Hallenbeck, your sister stayed up all night watching over you after you very stupidly scared her half to death by carving up your arm. I had to send her home so she wouldn't collapse from exhaustion. That wasn't even five hours ago, and I have no intention of bringing her back up here without a damn good reason. Your temper tantrums aren't a good enough reason."
He doesn't look at me until well after I've stopped speaking. When he finally meets my eyes, his expression is one of pure hatred. "You know what? Fuck you. Do you have any idea why I did it, doc? Huh? Do you?"
"Because you're a selfish asshole?"
He laughs sardonically, grabs a chair and throws himself onto it. "I already know I'm a selfish asshole. I know that my mom and my sister shouldn't have to take care of me for the rest of my life. But guess what, doc? I can't help the way I am. You think I wanna see monsters everywhere I look? You think I like having a freak-out when I don't know where my family members are? Huh?"
He stands up so fast that the chair hits the floor. He's shaking.
"I know it's not fair on Myrna and Mom! I'm the one who has to live with myself, don't you think I know it's not fair? " He stumbles against the bed.
I straighten up, startled. "Hallenbeck, are you all right?"
He hasn't heard me. His trembling has become more violent.
"I don't want to go on like this. Who the hell would want to live like this? … don't you think I know people laugh at me? People like you? People like my stepfather? None of you understand … you think I like this, you think I want to live this way? … you think I … want …"
He's collapsing on himself by the time I reach his side. I shout his name. No response.
I can see all the signs of sudden cardiac arrest—his heart just stopped and it doesn't matter how many times you read about something like this in a book, it's absolutely terrifying to witness in real life—and nothing will save him except picking him up and using the EKG machine on him. I haven't touched a defibrillator since the Klarris County Fair incident.
I have to do something.
I look down at Aaron Hallenbeck, but I don't see his face. I see that 10-year-old boy with bruises all over his chest, lying cold and still, and I feel my hands shaking uselessly.
I have to.
I don't leave his side until the heart monitor begins to beep again, nor really, even then—other people storm into the room and shove me out. I'm scolded thoroughly for continuing to work after clocking out and given a lecture on 'hospital rules.' Irony at its finest.
Exasperated, I sit down on the nearest bench and rest my head against the wall. I don't even realize that I've gone to sleep until I feel a hand on my shoulder, shaking me awake again. I'm more tired than I knew, apparently. I turn my head, look at my assistant. Her eyes are swollen. Again. Damn it, I was supposed to stop this from happening.
"You didn't bring Aaron home," she croaks out. "I came back to see what happened, and …" She chokes down a sob. "… what happened? He was fine when you made me leave. Why is he hooked up to machines again? Why won't they let me in there?"
"… his heart stopped," I murmur.
"Stopped?" she echoes, her voice cracking. "But then … wait, did you—did you save Aaron?"
She cries into my shoulder for a long time after that, whispering "Thank you" over and over again.
***
It's been a long time since I've slept for eight hours straight. No interruptions, no panicked hospital staff, no "call-outs," no half-assed requests to come take over for a resident who botched their rounds. It feels nice to spend a day at home just vegging out. I don't even want anything to drink. After I go out for a steak dinner, I'm ready to go right back to sleep. And I do. The phone doesn't ring once.
The next morning I feel alert for the first time in a while. No coffee needed.
I go to the HR department first and sign off on the pile of papers that formally reinstate me as a practicing physician. Then I pick up a file and head back to my own office. The door's open; someone's beaten me in there.
Myrna Hallenbeck is standing across from my desk. Her expression warns me that she's all ready to have a fight with me. I can guess what it's about, but I sit down anyway.
"Mrs. Hallenbeck. I didn't know you had a key."
"Doctor," she says sharply. "You didn't bother to tell me yesterday that the reason my brother was undergoing intensive care was because you argued with him and forced him into a panic attack."
"There was no need."
"No need?" Although her eyes are outraged and rightfully so, her voice is so flat, it sounds as though the entire scene is familiar to her, something she's dealt with repeatedly over the years. I answer her just as frankly.
"… his heart stopped, but he was in a place where professionals could care for him. Calling you to come in again would have been pointless and dangerous. We might have had to take care of both of you, if you'd come."
She blinks a few times and looks at me again. "Shouldn't you have let me make that decision?"
"Not in my hospital, no."
Her tone begins to slide toward irritation. "I came in this morning to resign, you know."
"Well, that's fine. I was considering letting you go anyway." I close her personnel file and slide it over to her. "I needed an assistant as a medical administrator, but I don’t believe I'll need one as a full-time surgeon."
"You're … going back into surgeries?" She looks positively stunned by the news. "Well … that's … that's great."
"Yes, in a week and a half. I've referred you over to a different department, to someone who really will need an assistant. She's easygoing, you'll get along with her well."
Myrna is silent. She's flipping through the paperwork in her file. She stops, eyes wide. "Dr. Pradyash? You're referring me to—but why—"
"She'll be officially promoted to head of psychiatrics at 3 p.m. this afternoon, she'll need a competent personal assistant. I told her she couldn't do better, and she's willing to take you on if you want the job." I keep typing and don't look at her. "Anyone in her department can work with your brother—and you, if you want help dealing with him."
"Did … did you plan this?"
"Not at all, though I can't say I'm unhappy with the outcome. Are you?"
"I'm … surprised. I didn't know you thought this well of me."
"I didn't fire you, and you didn't quit. That's about all either of us could hope for, right? Thanks for cleaning my office, by the way. I haven't seen the top of my desk for years."
She smiles, a little.
***
So that was the fate of my final assistant, to be fired via promotion. It suited me fine, and although I'm pretty sure Myrna was pissed with the way I cut her loose, she didn't have much reason to complain in the end. She gets a pay raise, her brother can get regular psychiatric treatment, and Jyoti gets a good assistant. Everyone's happy. Right?
"… well, I suppose," Jyoti says. We're on the 15th floor employee patio, the really nice one with a vista of the city. But she isn't looking at the skyline, she's looking at me with that searching gaze. "Are you really operating for the right reasons, Eric?"
"To save lives, yeah?"
"Yes, and also because you haven't given up on people, or on yourself."
I shrug at her. One, because it's never that simple, and two, to annoy her. It works.
She comes over to me and lightly smacks my chest. "My god, you're so stubborn. I suppose it's nice to see that some things haven't changed."
"Would you have it any other way?"
"I suppose that's part of your charm," she says, and sighs. I watch the wind ruffle her hair. "How'd you like that lazy assistant I sent you?"
"I like her very much. She's very organized and keeps all of our patients accounted for, and everyone in our department is wondering how we got along without her. She seems happy with us. Perhaps because her former boss treated her so shabbily."
"Probably. Are we having dinner this Sunday?"
"I'd love to, but I need to take Tahina to the park. She's been begging to go forever, this will be the first time in a while that I'm not busy."
"So go to the park first, and bring her to dinner later." I reach out for her, draw her close.
She softens, but only enough to be held. She's still completely in control.
"Ah … I'm thinking not. She'd like to meet Mommy's special friend, I'm sure. But I have more than one friend whose children meet a different "uncle" every other month. I promised myself a long, long time ago that I would never be that mother, and I won't. You're not meeting Tahina until you're ready for something more serious than mid-afternoon sex. Period."
"Who says I'm not?"
"I do, and I'm the shrink." She flicks my ear. "I have to get back to work now. But it was nice to talk to you. Outside of my office, that is. We should do it more often."
I stay up here for a little longer. It's a nice sunset.
But eventually I head back downstairs, back to the OR … back to the never-ending job of becoming a good doctor.
***
Epilogue
There's only one park in the entire city that isn't littered with broken bottles and trash, and I pay a visit to this park on Sunday around 3:30 p.m. Jyoti's there, sitting on a bench directly across from the spring riders, watching her daughter play. Tahina shrieks as she rocks back and forth on the pirate ship. Jyoti looks up as I approach. "I suppose it wasn't too hard to guess where I was."
"Nope."
We watch Tahina for a while before I look at Jyoti again.
"Are you sure that you even want something more serious than mid-afternoon sex with me? You already know what kind of guy I am, you could be setting yourself up for a massive disappointment."
"Disappointment," she says, and laughs a little. "'Disappointment' is being served with divorce papers as you try to complete a 150-page dissertation. Disappointment is when your husband gives up on you after 14 months of marriage and uses the alimony money he gets to drink himself to death. You won't be the worst decision I've made in life. Not at all."
She gestures to Tahina. "She used to ask me when Daddy was coming home. For the longest time, I didn't know what to tell her. Then last year I finally got word that he was dead. Cirrhosis of the liver, naturally. When I told her that her daddy was gone forever, she surprised me. She asked me if I was happy. She was watching me feel sorry for myself all those years, and I never even knew."
She looks at me solemnly. "Disappointment isn't really something I let myself feel now. I can't afford to wallow in self-pity. I'm the only example she has."
I absorb this in silence before venturing to say, "That's good, I suppose … I'm probably going to let you down a lot."
Now she really does laugh. "That is the most awful proposition I've ever received. But it's just like you, isn't it? At least you're consistent. Consistently terrible."
She looks towards her daughter, who is watching us while pretending not to watch us.
"Tahina," she calls. "Come here, darling. I want you to meet someone."
~ fin
CC used: store items, custom eyes, OMSP, tipsy OMSP, skin by HP. Also used: Hospital set by Hekate999.
Plot points used (current round): Meet Cute
Plot points used (previous rounds): Mysterious Past, Embarrassing Rescue, Good is Boring, Beware the Nice Guy, Not You Again.
Word count: 2.409.
#322
15th Sep 2012 at 10:28 PM
Kylara was adopted by the ghost of Lord Alfric in a blood ceremony which caused her to become transformed into his actual daughter. He then revealed that her teacher was planning to use her class to retrieve a magical device, and took her back in time to rescue his past self from the trap that (Professor) Greymane had caught him in. She rescued him, and learned that while he is half elven, he was raised by demons, (which explains his lack of "people skills") and that Greymane is actually his brother. She also learned that the reason he used the ceremony was because he wanted to be able to have a relationship with someone else who wouldn't die. But Greymane is still after the artifact, and they still need to stop him.
Professor Greymane was going over his class roll, trying to determine which students were best suited for each of the traps. He had already prepared the spell which would transfer their spellcasting into the cave. On the surface it appeared to be simply a different version of the spell he used to dissipate magical energies while he was having the class practice a new spell. There was no reason for the class to learn the true purpose behind his selection of spells for the final exam if this worked, and if it didn't work, the evidence could be eliminated quickly.
He was a bit concerned about that charity case, Kylara. She was extraordinarily gifted, and might notice something odd about the transference spell. He wondered if he should just give her an automatic A. After all, nobody who saw her in action could claim that it was undeserved. He went to her room to tell her that she didn't need to bother with the test, but she wasn't there. "Typical," he muttered. "Even when they know that they need to check for her, that child gets locked into the library more often than some people actually do their own homework."
He went back to the classroom and changed his spell so that the Octagram * in the classroom would send spell energy to the one in his office, and then set up the one in the office to send it on to the cave. Then he adjusted his list so that Kylara's spells would handle the hardest traps. He still wanted the least skilled pair to handle the initial penetration, though. If they ended up being taken over, he didn't want Starhome's ghost to have much to work with.
Meanwhile, Kylara was preparing to return to her own time. "I know I said I thought I could probably do this by myself, but I didn't mean that I thought I could take you with me!" she complained. "Are you sure it won't cause any problems if I do?"
Lord Alfric nodded. "I spent the last 400 years in a cave, rotting and planning what I would do to Greymane in revenge if I didn't have to worry about being exorcised the moment he detected me, and if I was hit with enough magical energy to get out of that cave. I think the time stream can survive without all of that. He knows better than to scry that place too closely while I might still be active there, or even to use too strong a spell which touches the area. That is another reason he's using your classmates to break in rather than doing it all himself. He also knows my energy signature. If he spots it outside the cave, he will know I'm not in there. That is why you need to be the one to do this. And, to be honest, I get bored far too easily to hide in that cave for 400 years without using my magic, even if there is a way to put a 400 year food supply in there with me. That, and the fact that I haven't turned up to kill him, is how he knows that his plan was a success. So far." He smiled. "You have already eliminated one of the deadliest dangers to your classmates by making sure that no-one comes in contact with a vengeful ghost."
He paused. "That reminds me; I believe I owe you an apology for my behavior the first night we met. I was sure that you were one of his apprentices until you couldn't even get the three laws of magic right. Then, I wanted to believe that you were lying and that you knew where he was. But no-one specializes in spells to make a ghost more powerful, so when you were able to invent a spell to let me sit in the chair for a moment, I knew you were telling the truth, and that you were inventing Master level spells without any training. If you drop me off about 5 years early, I promise to make that encounter a bit friendlier. I will simply arrive at the library to announce that I had been looking for you because I wished to adopt you."
"So now, I not only need to be sure I get to the right time, I need to figure out how to drop you off early?" She placed the final candle. "I hope that simply entails letting go of your hand a half second or so before I end the spell?"
He nodded. "You will also need to stabilize the bubble when I leave it. But forward is faster than backward, so you won't need to use too much energy."
He was right. The entire spell felt as though it was collapsing when he left the bubble. Half the candles blew out, and she felt herself suddenly aging. She poured energy into the hole to seal it, and felt herself going back to normal. She arrived in time to see herself going back in time, alone this time.
She grinned and headed for her own clothes.
After changing, she checked the time. There was about 4 hours before her final exam. She decided against waking up any of her classmates to find out what else might have changed, and instead grabbed her textbook and headed for the library. It wasn't open yet, so she sat on the bench and began reading it again. Soon she heard a familiar voice inside her head. Can you meet me outside the cave, or are you still stuck in the timestream?
"Can't you tell?" she whispered. There was no answer, so she closed the book and headed for the cave. When she got there, he was waiting.
"How do you like my disguise?" he asked her with a smile. She was mildly surprised that the pants didn't have plaid stripes on them, but decided to just go with "You look surprisingly good in that outfit."
He nodded. "I've been laying low while I waited for your arrival. Have you thought about how you want to proceed from here?"
"I don't want you taking me over, and I've decided that I'm still a bit nervous about you being in my head. I know you said the Crown would warn me, but I had to give it back to you so that Profesor Greymane wouldn't see it. I was thinking that if he's expecting you to show up if something goes wrong, then why don't you show up?"
"Simply teleporting into the classroom as a living man wouldn't have the same psychological effect. How are you with illusions?"
Thinking about all the times that she was completely overlooked when the library closed, she asked "Does invisibility count as an illusion? I seem to be wonderful with that one, without even trying."
"It might. Produce an illusion of a skeleton over there, and we'll see how good it is." He pointed to a spot on the ground and she concentrated on producing a skeleton there. They both went over and studied it.
"You did well. Everything is there, and unless you actually touch it you would think it was solid. But I don't want to have to arrive lying on the floor. When you place your illusion during your exam, have it standing. Then I can arrive on top of it, and it will look as though I've just revived. It might be almost as effective as the original plan. I hope you have no objections to telepathic contact? We are going to need precise timing if you don't want to be carrying me in."
"No, telepathic contact is fine. And now I suppose it's time to get things started."
Professor Greymane gathered the students around the modified Octagram. He had been half hoping that Kylara would be so engrossed in her reading that she would forget to come to the test, but no such luck.
" You will notice that this time the Octagram is holding more power, and has a target floating in the center, " he explained. "This is because we are working with much higher amounts of energy than we normally do. You are to focus your spell into the target. It will dissipate the energy as usual, and then channel the remaining energy to another target which will handle the rest. Any remaining energy will be channeled into the ground, well away from any place where it can harm anyone." And if that charity case child is actually skilled and interested enough to trace it from here, it will look exactly like that is what it is designed to do, he thought to himself.
"Now, as we are all here, let the test begin. Amanda, you will go first. You have read the list of spells that we are casting. Cast each one into the target as quickly as you can, but be reminded that accuracy is as important as speed." The first girl nodded and began casting. He smiled as the spell energy was caught and sent to his office, where the first spell was collected and strengthened by the energy from the rest of her spellcasting until it was strong enough to send into the cave at full strength. It appeared that this was going to work.
Kylara watched as Amanda cast her spells. It actually did seem as though Professor Greymane was telling the truth, until she noticed that the final stop for the spell energy was the cave.
"If I hadn't shuffled things around, that would have just caused the incineration spell to backfire on you," Lord Alfric commented in her mind. " Such carelessness is not like you, even working with a spell relay like that."
"That was Amanda" she replied. "I'm scheduled for last. But the illusion is ready to go up with the next spell, so be ready to teleport."
Marcus was called next, and as he began casting Kylara quietly placed the illusion of a skeleton standing in the center of the octagram. "Now," she mentally whispered. Some of the students, including Marcus, had begun heading for the door when the skeleton appeared. When it turned into Lord Alfric, she was the only student who had not joined the traffic jam trying to get out of the door.
Lord Alfric stepped out of the octagram, and Professor Greymane looked from him to Kylara. "You're that little apprentice he picked up four centuries ago!" he exclaimed. "Which means that you cannot be any more human than he is, or you would have died of old age by now."
The students who were still inside the classroom heard that comment and turned to watch as he approached, ready to slap her. Lord Alfric grabbed him from behind. "She is no apprentice, she is my daughter! You shall not harm her!"
"You forget. I was expecting something like this," Professor Greymane commented as he stabbed at Lord Alfric with a poisoned dagger. Lord Alfric looked at Kylara. "I'm afraid you're on your own. Now the carelessness was mine. "
He teleported away and Professor Greymane turned back to Kylara. Just in time to get caught by a sleeping spell.
He woke up in the center of the octagram. "You little B****! You have no idea who you are messing with!"
"I think I do, she replied, and hit the target in the center with a spell.
He cringed as the relay went into effect, transferring all magical energy in the octagram, including the energy of his own body, to the octagram in his office, and from there to the cave.
Later Kylara was walking through the park when she noticed some of her classmates. She walked over to join them, but they turned away from her. As she left, she overheard one whisper to the others "What do you suppose that little freak wanted, anyway?" One of the others replied "Maybe she wants to blow us up like she did with the teacher."
She joined Lord Alfric where he was recuperating at the cabin. "They don't like me anymore. None of them know what happened, they just know I'm a freak."
He turned to her. “If happy ever after did exist, they would understand what you did for them. And you would still have to leave them sometime soon, because you would be ready for your senior prom and they would be watching thier great grandchildren get married." But we still have each other, and the universe is full of places to explore and things to learn from it.
She nodded. "Just promise me that I get to buy my own clothes!"
*Note: I'm having to use octagrams, because it is impossible to draw a smooth pentagram in Sims. This has nothing to do with Discworld's magical 8s.
Current Events: Class Reunion
Previous Events: Mysterious Past, Makeover, Time Travel, Finding Judas, Kidnapped
Word Count: 2119
CC Used:Legend Isles Lyonesse world by Sookielee, Cmar's ear sliders, Euphoria skin by Fawkes, OMSP
(And thank you for finishing, splad. I was hoping to see the end of your story!)
I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
Professor Greymane was going over his class roll, trying to determine which students were best suited for each of the traps. He had already prepared the spell which would transfer their spellcasting into the cave. On the surface it appeared to be simply a different version of the spell he used to dissipate magical energies while he was having the class practice a new spell. There was no reason for the class to learn the true purpose behind his selection of spells for the final exam if this worked, and if it didn't work, the evidence could be eliminated quickly.
He was a bit concerned about that charity case, Kylara. She was extraordinarily gifted, and might notice something odd about the transference spell. He wondered if he should just give her an automatic A. After all, nobody who saw her in action could claim that it was undeserved. He went to her room to tell her that she didn't need to bother with the test, but she wasn't there. "Typical," he muttered. "Even when they know that they need to check for her, that child gets locked into the library more often than some people actually do their own homework."
He went back to the classroom and changed his spell so that the Octagram * in the classroom would send spell energy to the one in his office, and then set up the one in the office to send it on to the cave. Then he adjusted his list so that Kylara's spells would handle the hardest traps. He still wanted the least skilled pair to handle the initial penetration, though. If they ended up being taken over, he didn't want Starhome's ghost to have much to work with.
Meanwhile, Kylara was preparing to return to her own time. "I know I said I thought I could probably do this by myself, but I didn't mean that I thought I could take you with me!" she complained. "Are you sure it won't cause any problems if I do?"
Lord Alfric nodded. "I spent the last 400 years in a cave, rotting and planning what I would do to Greymane in revenge if I didn't have to worry about being exorcised the moment he detected me, and if I was hit with enough magical energy to get out of that cave. I think the time stream can survive without all of that. He knows better than to scry that place too closely while I might still be active there, or even to use too strong a spell which touches the area. That is another reason he's using your classmates to break in rather than doing it all himself. He also knows my energy signature. If he spots it outside the cave, he will know I'm not in there. That is why you need to be the one to do this. And, to be honest, I get bored far too easily to hide in that cave for 400 years without using my magic, even if there is a way to put a 400 year food supply in there with me. That, and the fact that I haven't turned up to kill him, is how he knows that his plan was a success. So far." He smiled. "You have already eliminated one of the deadliest dangers to your classmates by making sure that no-one comes in contact with a vengeful ghost."
He paused. "That reminds me; I believe I owe you an apology for my behavior the first night we met. I was sure that you were one of his apprentices until you couldn't even get the three laws of magic right. Then, I wanted to believe that you were lying and that you knew where he was. But no-one specializes in spells to make a ghost more powerful, so when you were able to invent a spell to let me sit in the chair for a moment, I knew you were telling the truth, and that you were inventing Master level spells without any training. If you drop me off about 5 years early, I promise to make that encounter a bit friendlier. I will simply arrive at the library to announce that I had been looking for you because I wished to adopt you."
"So now, I not only need to be sure I get to the right time, I need to figure out how to drop you off early?" She placed the final candle. "I hope that simply entails letting go of your hand a half second or so before I end the spell?"
He nodded. "You will also need to stabilize the bubble when I leave it. But forward is faster than backward, so you won't need to use too much energy."
He was right. The entire spell felt as though it was collapsing when he left the bubble. Half the candles blew out, and she felt herself suddenly aging. She poured energy into the hole to seal it, and felt herself going back to normal. She arrived in time to see herself going back in time, alone this time.
She grinned and headed for her own clothes.
After changing, she checked the time. There was about 4 hours before her final exam. She decided against waking up any of her classmates to find out what else might have changed, and instead grabbed her textbook and headed for the library. It wasn't open yet, so she sat on the bench and began reading it again. Soon she heard a familiar voice inside her head. Can you meet me outside the cave, or are you still stuck in the timestream?
"Can't you tell?" she whispered. There was no answer, so she closed the book and headed for the cave. When she got there, he was waiting.
"How do you like my disguise?" he asked her with a smile. She was mildly surprised that the pants didn't have plaid stripes on them, but decided to just go with "You look surprisingly good in that outfit."
He nodded. "I've been laying low while I waited for your arrival. Have you thought about how you want to proceed from here?"
"I don't want you taking me over, and I've decided that I'm still a bit nervous about you being in my head. I know you said the Crown would warn me, but I had to give it back to you so that Profesor Greymane wouldn't see it. I was thinking that if he's expecting you to show up if something goes wrong, then why don't you show up?"
"Simply teleporting into the classroom as a living man wouldn't have the same psychological effect. How are you with illusions?"
Thinking about all the times that she was completely overlooked when the library closed, she asked "Does invisibility count as an illusion? I seem to be wonderful with that one, without even trying."
"It might. Produce an illusion of a skeleton over there, and we'll see how good it is." He pointed to a spot on the ground and she concentrated on producing a skeleton there. They both went over and studied it.
"You did well. Everything is there, and unless you actually touch it you would think it was solid. But I don't want to have to arrive lying on the floor. When you place your illusion during your exam, have it standing. Then I can arrive on top of it, and it will look as though I've just revived. It might be almost as effective as the original plan. I hope you have no objections to telepathic contact? We are going to need precise timing if you don't want to be carrying me in."
"No, telepathic contact is fine. And now I suppose it's time to get things started."
Professor Greymane gathered the students around the modified Octagram. He had been half hoping that Kylara would be so engrossed in her reading that she would forget to come to the test, but no such luck.
" You will notice that this time the Octagram is holding more power, and has a target floating in the center, " he explained. "This is because we are working with much higher amounts of energy than we normally do. You are to focus your spell into the target. It will dissipate the energy as usual, and then channel the remaining energy to another target which will handle the rest. Any remaining energy will be channeled into the ground, well away from any place where it can harm anyone." And if that charity case child is actually skilled and interested enough to trace it from here, it will look exactly like that is what it is designed to do, he thought to himself.
"Now, as we are all here, let the test begin. Amanda, you will go first. You have read the list of spells that we are casting. Cast each one into the target as quickly as you can, but be reminded that accuracy is as important as speed." The first girl nodded and began casting. He smiled as the spell energy was caught and sent to his office, where the first spell was collected and strengthened by the energy from the rest of her spellcasting until it was strong enough to send into the cave at full strength. It appeared that this was going to work.
Kylara watched as Amanda cast her spells. It actually did seem as though Professor Greymane was telling the truth, until she noticed that the final stop for the spell energy was the cave.
"If I hadn't shuffled things around, that would have just caused the incineration spell to backfire on you," Lord Alfric commented in her mind. " Such carelessness is not like you, even working with a spell relay like that."
"That was Amanda" she replied. "I'm scheduled for last. But the illusion is ready to go up with the next spell, so be ready to teleport."
Marcus was called next, and as he began casting Kylara quietly placed the illusion of a skeleton standing in the center of the octagram. "Now," she mentally whispered. Some of the students, including Marcus, had begun heading for the door when the skeleton appeared. When it turned into Lord Alfric, she was the only student who had not joined the traffic jam trying to get out of the door.
Lord Alfric stepped out of the octagram, and Professor Greymane looked from him to Kylara. "You're that little apprentice he picked up four centuries ago!" he exclaimed. "Which means that you cannot be any more human than he is, or you would have died of old age by now."
The students who were still inside the classroom heard that comment and turned to watch as he approached, ready to slap her. Lord Alfric grabbed him from behind. "She is no apprentice, she is my daughter! You shall not harm her!"
"You forget. I was expecting something like this," Professor Greymane commented as he stabbed at Lord Alfric with a poisoned dagger. Lord Alfric looked at Kylara. "I'm afraid you're on your own. Now the carelessness was mine. "
He teleported away and Professor Greymane turned back to Kylara. Just in time to get caught by a sleeping spell.
He woke up in the center of the octagram. "You little B****! You have no idea who you are messing with!"
"I think I do, she replied, and hit the target in the center with a spell.
He cringed as the relay went into effect, transferring all magical energy in the octagram, including the energy of his own body, to the octagram in his office, and from there to the cave.
Later Kylara was walking through the park when she noticed some of her classmates. She walked over to join them, but they turned away from her. As she left, she overheard one whisper to the others "What do you suppose that little freak wanted, anyway?" One of the others replied "Maybe she wants to blow us up like she did with the teacher."
She joined Lord Alfric where he was recuperating at the cabin. "They don't like me anymore. None of them know what happened, they just know I'm a freak."
He turned to her. “If happy ever after did exist, they would understand what you did for them. And you would still have to leave them sometime soon, because you would be ready for your senior prom and they would be watching thier great grandchildren get married." But we still have each other, and the universe is full of places to explore and things to learn from it.
She nodded. "Just promise me that I get to buy my own clothes!"
*Note: I'm having to use octagrams, because it is impossible to draw a smooth pentagram in Sims. This has nothing to do with Discworld's magical 8s.
Current Events: Class Reunion
Previous Events: Mysterious Past, Makeover, Time Travel, Finding Judas, Kidnapped
Word Count: 2119
CC Used:Legend Isles Lyonesse world by Sookielee, Cmar's ear sliders, Euphoria skin by Fawkes, OMSP
(And thank you for finishing, splad. I was hoping to see the end of your story!)
I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
#323
15th Sep 2012 at 10:56 PM
Last edited by Qnshr5 : 16th Sep 2012 at 3:50 AM.
Posts: 293
Round 5
Previous Rounds Summary: Six years ago, Helena Raye gave up her double life as superhero Brio after developing a strange disease that worsens when she uses her powers. Now the enemy that created her, Aron, has not only returned but is responsible for murdering many of Delkarta's top officials at a fundraiser, including Sarah. Helena can no longer hide hoping evil will just go away. She's the only one who can bring Aron's ambitious plans to a halt. Even if only for a moment.-------------------------------------------------------
Running Out of Hero
Chapter 5
“Monere#17. Replay,” Wen ordered.
The boy hooked up to Monere closed his eyes. The computer projected the scene again. They watched as Brio, presumably the real one, dropped onto the lawn of the Hall and feebly tried to block the water River released.
“So she's alive after all.” Commander Aronstone sat back in his seat. “If you hadn't had a monere with you, we never would have known she was there. She is faster, stronger, smarter than our best.”
The pride of a father in Aronstone's voice made Wen's stomach queasy. Despite her treachery, the commanders loved Brio... or at least, they loved her power and skill. Either way, it was the kind of respect Wen had never gotten from her higher ups despite her many accomplishments.
Aronstone rubbed his slender fingers across his bottom lip. “If Brio's back for certain we can return to Agenda 622.”
Brio was Aron's greatest accomplishment. The problem was they couldn't figure out how she had developed. The scientists hadn't done anything unusual with her. Since they didn't know why she'd become, they couldn't replicate her. The leaders were too proud of their work to destroy her. Instead, they wanted to copy her and use her clones in their army—Agenda 622.
“Sir, there is no secret,” Wen said. “Her powers were missed. An oversight. It's that simple.”
“Aron does not make mistakes.” Aronstone glared. “She developed the powers on her own. All our scientists did was nudge her body in the right direction. We need a sample of her DNA post-metamorphosis. That's all you ever had to do. You could never get close enough long enough.”
When Lorie Pierce had claimed to be Brio, Aron had feared that Brio had beat them and cloned herself. But she was just some nobody craving grandeur.
Between Brio and Aron soldiers influenced by her rebellion, Aron's plans had come to a grinding halt six years ago. They'd had to re-organize, recapture traitors, and re-assess everything. Things had finally been going smoothly and now they were expected to return to the failures of the past?
“Commander,” Wen said. “If this is Brio, her powers have obviously weakened. Let's finish her off. She already attempted to derail the current agenda at the Hall.”
The doors opened and a general rushed in. “Commander, there's something you need to see immediately.”
He turned on a television. There she was. Brio. She looked older, wore a mask, but it was clearly her. “Enough is enough, Aron! Meet me tomorrow at McGrady Park by Rock Beach. Elements only. Your time is up.”
The message repeated twice before static erupted on the screen.
“A challenge. Excellent.” Aronstone smiled. “I'm sure the Grand Commander will agree the Elements can re-open Agenda 622.”
“But sir we're needed--” Wen began.
He waved his hand. “You're dismissed.”
Wen didn't care about a stupid super army, if she met Brio again, she would send her to her grave.
*****
Two Days Earlier:
“Life is lived minute by minute, second by second. The world is full of heroes, villains, victims and spectators. Every minute you decide which one you are. How you treat people whether you help them in their time of need or turn your back or simply watch to see what happens determines what you are in that moment. At the end of the day, all those minutes will be added together and the sum is what you are.”
Her father, Lt. Col. Edward Raye, lectured her with that speech often in her life. He'd found her when there was a warrant for her arrest despite her help in thwarting a kidnapping. She was still Aron.
Raye saw the potential of her gifts being used for good. He trained her, protected her. He always knew the right thing to do.
... kind of like Sarah...
She blinked back tears that pushed against the rims of her eyelids. She couldn't think about Sarah. It hurt too much.
She stretched on the couch in Maxwell's office. He'd been nice enough to let her sleep there after he found her snoring on the lawn. She was wide awake when he returned to the office. He wanted her to see what they were doing and took her to an underground facility beneath the house.
“This,” Maxwell smiled, “is the project. It's all about bringing Aron escapees together. We want to train and find ways to take down the organization so we can live without fear.”
“Fear of what?”
“Law enforcement and Aron. If either captures an escapee, they're never heard from again. We're building safe places former soldiers can go to for refuge.”
They stopped at a room where Jenni, the redhead tour guide, was practicing martial arts.
“Jenni can move twice as fast as the average human,” Maxwell said.
In the next room was a small pool with a couple of blue-green skinned swimmers who had gills in their necks like fish. Then they came to a room with computers everywhere. Hyde sat behind one.
“Hyde is like a human computer,” Maxwell said. “He's been working on a hologram program. We've used it before for our, um, reenacted supernatural pictures upstairs.”
Later, he took her to a small kitchen where he made sandwiches for them.
“So,” he asked as they finished eating, “why are you here?”
She sucked down the rest her juice before answering.
“I want to hurt Aron by taking out their most elite team. And I need your escapees to do it.”
He stared at her like she'd wanted to lasso the moon. She focused on the grains in the wood of the table.
“I've tried before,” she went on, “but I need help.”
He cleared his throat. “You want to kill the Elements?”
She let the words sink in. “I want to--to incapacitate them. Make them powerless.”
“...Useless...”
She shrugged.
He leaned forward on the table.“These people are my responsibility, Helena. I'm not sending them to die so you don't have to feel guilty.”
“That's not why I want to do this. If Aron is brazen enough to go after the top officials of the city then they're ready to take over. You said you wanted to stand up to them. You need more time. That can only be bought by striking them hard and unexpectedly.”
She wasn't a mind reader, but she could tell he was struggling with it. He genuinely wanted to fight, but not by unnecessarily putting people's lives in danger. The only way to get what she needed was to tell him the truth about her illness.
“That explains a lot,” he said when she finished. He was quiet for a while. “So, what's your plan?”
After two days of practice, Helena sat in the factory that was chosen as the place of coordination for the attack. Everything was set up so she would expend the least amount of energy to take the Elements out.
Helena was dressed in the uniform her father had given her. She figured the added protection and enhancements couldn't hurt. She also wore a blue wig and took her brown contacts out. Aron may as well believe she looked the same.
Jenni and the fish swimmers went to the nearby beach while the others stayed in the factory by the park. They didn't have to wait long.
They watched on a computer screen as The Elements walked across the grass in McGrady's Park dressed in their gear. They were prepared to fight.
Hyde had recorded Helena in a Brio costume for the hologram. Now the hologram of Brio moved out from behind a tree.
As she said her spiel about how Aron couldn't defeat her blah blah blah, Hyde looked over at another screen.
“Uh-oh,” he said.
Helena looked over his shoulder.
“They brought spies,” Hyde said.
There was a lone woman by the park, a man on the factory roof, and another leaned against a tree. All stared at the park with glazed looks.
“Moneres,” Maxwell said heading for the door. “When they figure out Brio's a computer program, they'll help the Elements break hell out. I'll do what I can to distract them.”
Hyde remotely moved the Brio hologram toward a puddle. Water was River's lure. If he didn't take the bait, the whole plan was ruined. They couldn't let him near the bay.
They watched as River detached himself from his teammates. He charged at the hologram; lifting the puddle and enlarging it as he did so. When he was in range Hyde pressed a button. Explosives went off under River's feet. The smoke and dust cleared enough for them to see River lying unconscious on the ground.
Flare and Wen turned their bewildered attention to a laughing Brio hologram. They were more than willing to chase her. She led them toward the beach. Suddenly, she split into two Brios. One had some choice words for Flare who followed as it made it's way to the rock where a costumed Jenni waited. The other was leading Wen back to the factory.
“You'd better get into position,” Hyde told Helena.
The hologram would led Wen to an underground room where Hyde had reversed vent fans to suck air out. With only her breath as a source, Wen's power would be lessened enough for Helena to knock the sense out of her.
She was almost to the room when Hyde called her.
“There's a huge problem.” He said. “Jenni was fighting Flare when Lorie showed up calling Jenni an imposter. It's thrown Jenni off and Flare's taking advantage of it.”
“Don't let Wen out.” She ordered.
If she couldn't fight Wen then they had to keep her trapped until they could get away. Helena ran outside and down to the beach which was scattered with stones and boulders.
Flare and Jenni stood on a group of huge boulders. Jenni expertly dodged the flames Flare shot at her, but her face was worn with fatigue. Screams drew Helena's attention. Lorie writhed on the ground, her clothes consumed in flames. Helena dropped to her knees beside her. Getting her hands under her body, she rolled her over the sand until the fire was out. The burns on her body looked severe.
This wasn't going to work. She had to call it off.
“Hyde,” she said, “call an ambulance. Cancel the mission.”
She raced up onto the rock formation. Flare looked confused at the sight of two Brios. Working together, they knocked Flare into the bay. Steam hissed off her body as she sunk beneath the waves. The fish swimmers blew a breath in her mouth to keep her alive and then pulled her away from the shore.
“Jenni?!” Hyde's panicked voice shouted on the walkie-talkie Jenni had. “The moneres got in. I destroyed the evidence. Maxwell and I are heading to the beach to pick you guys up. Wen escaped. Get to the road now!”
Helena turned around. Wen stood behind them.
“Brio.” Wen ignored Jenni, staring directly at Helena. “I'm almost impressed. Trickery is usually our department.”
Tires screeched from the direction of the road. It must be Maxwell and Hyde. She couldn't risk Wen hurting them.
“This is between me and you.” She said to Wen.
“For now.” Wen's lips curled into a smile. “When I'm done with you I'll send your traitor friends to join you.”
Above them the clear sunny skies darkened with clouds as the wind picked up. Helena planted her feet, bracing herself for impact. Wen moved her arm like she was throwing a ball. Helena was smacked with a wall of wind that sent her flying into the bay.
She tried to stay underwater, but had to surface to get a breath. Hovering above her, Wen grabbed at her hair, getting a handful of blue wig at first.
White hot pain shot through her scalp as Wen got a tight grip on her real hair and lifted her up out of the water. Helena squirmed trying to detach herself, but Wen held firm. She flew them up into the hazy sky over the city toward the ocean.
“Where are you taking me?” Tears streamed down her face from the throbbing pain.
“Away from electricity,” Wen said, “your favorite power source.”
Cloud and fog floated all around. Hopefully, Wen would drop her. As long as she didn't fly, she could make it. She wondered if she could hold her breath long enough for one of the fish swimmers to find her.
Wen grabbed her about the waist instead.
“This will only take a moment,” Wen said as she poked Helena's arm with something cold and sharp.
Helena leaned her head forward and slammed it back into Wen's face. Wen immediately released her. As she fell she saw a needle with vial stuck in her arm half full of her blood. She pulled it out.
“That's mine.” Wen flew down beside her. Her glasses were gone and there was a bleeding cut on her left eyebrow.
Wen tried to grab the vial. They scratched, hit, and pulled at each other. At some point the vial fell. Neither noticed until it was long gone.
“You're always getting in the way!” Wen shouted, her loose white hair blowing about her angry face.
Wen threw a concentrated blast of air which caught Helena in the stomach. She went soaring up. Wen threw another punch of wind, then another and another. Each blast pounded Helena in the gut before she could recover from the last sending her spiraling further up into the sky.
Up and up, further and further they went until they were above the grey clouds where the sun shone bright and bold. Blood dripped out of Helena's gaping mouth. There were dark spots dancing before her eyes and a nagging ringing in her ears. Her abdomen felt mushy like jelly. Her body couldn't take much more. She was no better off not fighting than she would be if she was.
She'd spent the last six years trying to build a life where she could be happy and at peace. But if happy ever after did exist it was for her to give to the world not to have for herself. There was no way around it. Wen and those moneres had information on the existence of Maxwell's group. If she couldn't help herself, she'd help them. At least her death would be worth something.
That's when she felt it. A powerful source. Energy all around her. She sucked it in as fast as her breaking body could handle. The sun's rays filled her with a blazing heat that was so powerful it almost overwhelmed her. It was hard to control, to keep from ripping her body apart.
Below, the clouds had dissipated. Helena stopped her upward free fall, hovering in the air. She closed her eyes, concentrating. She thought of years of fighting, of the dozens of people killed in the water the other day, of Sarah...
Then it clicked. She could control the searing energy if only for a few minutes. She opened her eyes. Wen was zooming straight for her posed to strike one last time. She lifted her hands and released what was in her.
Wen froze. Her body twisted. Her face contorted as she screamed high and shrill. Scared, Helena stopped. It was too late. Splotches of black spread across Wen's pale skin. Helena watched as she disintegrated from the inside out.
Helena's body trembled with exhaustion and pain. She allowed herself to drop down through sky. Tears blurred her vision as she thought of the innocent little kids they all used to be. Aron took everything away from the children they used—their past, present, and future—all to build a world that would bow to them.
She pulled back, hovering again. From this height she could see miles past Delkarta to the Aron compound. The energy from the sun made her blood literally feel like it was boiling but she absorbed more anyway. If she was going out, she was taking them with her.
The first blast exposed the shield that surrounded the compound. The second broke through the shield.
Blackness crawled at the edges of her vision. She started to drop involuntarily.
Gritting her teeth, she hovered again. Putting all the strength left in her into it, she shoved out two blasts in a row. The compound exploded as they struck their target. A massive plume of black fiery smoke rose high in the sky.
And then her body completely gave out. Above her the sun beamed bright. As she plummeted through the air she didn't feel fear. All she could think of was her father. She knew he was proud.
She hit the water and it's coldness engulfed her. She thought she saw blue-green fish gills pass by, then her mind was filled with her father's smile as dark nothingness consumed her.
*****
Maxwell kneeled at the gravestone of Helena Raye. She fell from the sky into the ocean several months ago. Her body was never found.
She had completely wiped out Aron's ground operations. Their underground facilities were still functioning. Yet, Helena had bought escapees what she'd promised—time.
Maxwell moved his project headquarters to Namon City because of high radiation levels in Delkarta from Helena's solar energy attack. Escapees were flocking to it. Brio had inspired them once again. This time to take their enemy head on. If she could do that much damage on her own, what could they do together?
He sat a small vase of purple flowers on her grave. There were memorial services for Brio everywhere, but nothing for Helena until Maxwell scraped up enough money to buy her an empty plot and a headstone.
He named the project “Beacon” after Helena whose named meant “light”. Aron tried to birth a conquering army, but they also produced their own enemy.
Her sacrifice was their hope. She'd passed the torched and Maxwell was determined to never ever let that light go out. Never.
*****
THE END?
--------------------------------------------------------
Current Event: One Born Every Minute
Previous Events: Heaven Forbid; Mysterious Past; Embarrassing Rescue; Class Reunion; Not You Again!
Word Count: 2996, Pics: 30
CC Allowed: Custom skin, hair, store content (hair/clothing/objects), OMSP, tipsy OMSP, poses
Penalized: None
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#324
16th Sep 2012 at 1:37 AM
Posts: 22
I'm so sorry for asking, but I don't think I'll be able finish in three hours. I'll take a point deduction for a small extension, if I may be so bold... I'm so close, so very close. Procrastination-ville is such a cut throat town.
#325
16th Sep 2012 at 3:16 AM
Last edited by Tamlyn : 18th Sep 2012 at 11:58 AM.
Posts: 220
Thanks: 39 in 1 Posts
Chapter Five
I didn't get an answer to my questions in time, so I just went with highlighting the first used quote (have fun finding the others?). Hope it's okay. This chapter is messy as, but it's done. Summary: The fires raging uncontained around Sunset Valley have been a mix of natural and not. Zoe, with a secret affinity for fire, tried to run away. Instead she found the arsonist, the fire chief's daughter, and is now surrounded by flames with her best friend's (and Jill's) life at stake.
Zoe felt the flames as a gentle warmth bathing her skin, silky and luxurious. But she knew what they'd be to Matt and Jill: ravenous, painful beasts. An whimper pushed free from her restricted throat, the pitiful sound lost in the roar as the orange and red leapt hungrily along dry wood.
She dropped to her knees, huddling into herself. She wanted to cover her eyes and block out the overwhelming sight, as if the fire would disappear if she couldn't see it. She didn't know whether her anger had fed these flames or started them, or if they'd spread from the explosions at the lab and reached the hut. In the end it didn't matter: they burnt no matter what.
A groan from Matt's direction penetrated Zoe's mind-blanking panic and she jerked her hands down, letting herself see.
'Zoe?' His mental tone was faint, and the image that accompanied it was almost completely dark, the ocean a dead calm more forbidding than towering, storm tossed waves. 'What's—aahh.' His question trailed off in a hiss of pain.
Zoe lurched to her feet and fell at his side. Her hands hovered, not daring to touch. Was that fresh blood? "Matt? Oh, God, please be okay."
'Okay. About to burn. To death. But okay.' Matt's attempt at humour was lost in his sluggish tones, and Zoe almost burst into tears. Despite his words, he was motionless, his eyes closed. 'Was going for laugh, not cry. Zoe. Put out the fires. There's a good girl.'
For a moment, Matt's last comment had Zoe straightening her spine, her eyes narrowing. Then something popped, and a slab of burning wood fell behind her. "I can't!" she wailed.
'Listen to yourself. You... sulky kid.'
She flinched, but the momentary spark was gone.
'You're strong enough to do this, Zoe. You've always been strong. You just haven't always known it. Now put out the fucking fire.' Matt's voice grated, the mental ocean stirring, his temper fraying even more than usual with pain.
Zoe wavered. Fire licked at her back, and Matt groaned again. He lost his hold on consciousness; Zoe wasn't sure how she knew, only that somehow his voice was no longer present in her head. She closed her eyes, but this time it wasn't to block out the sight like a child hiding from monsters. She could feel the fire around her, like beacons in her mind, and if she reached out with the kernel of fire deep inside her, she could control it. She just had to grip it.
The acrid smell of burning clothes and hair and singed flesh infiltrated her nostrils, and her grasp of her power wavered. For a second, the flames flared up again.
"No!" Zoe growled. She fixed both Matt and Jill ¬– whatever the girl had done, she didn't deserve to burn – in her head. She firmed her hold on her own fire. It was like cradling a baby animal in careful hands. She then extended that hold to the flames outside her. Instinct directed her, forcing control over her power and the fire as if she manipulated it every day.
Slowly, gradually, the flames in the hut died down to mere flickers.
Zoe breathed in without opening her eyes. The fire still raged outside. She rose, trance-like, and pushed through the burnt remnants of the doorway. It was as if she could feel the entire valley and everything in it and all that burnt. And it was hers to command.
So command she did, with simply a thought. She was the flames. She was the heart of the fire as it devoured and as it danced.
All the fires died, from the raging inferno to the struggling and hidden smoulder. Sunset Valley was free not only of the deadly flickers of colour, but of the heavy blanket of smoke that had been a constant for months.
Zoe collapsed. Bone-deep weariness swamped her and clawed at her mind. Her lungs struggled to draw in air and darkness overwhelmed her.
* * *
The persistent hum of machinery gradually filtered through to wake Zoe. Her eyelids struggled to open while her body luxuriated in the feel of a soft mattress rather than hard ground. Slowly, the fogginess of sleep wore off. She was in hospital. She pushed herself up – too quickly, as her head throbbed and sight blurred.
The smell of cleanliness permeated the ward, and the only sound was the continuous hum that had woken her. Zoe tucked her bare feet up on the mattress, shivering in the thin hospital gown. She touched a hesitant hand to her head, somehow unsurprised to feel the bare skin there. Her arms, too were completely scoured of hair; her entire body was.
The curtain around the bed rattled, and a nurse appeared to draw it back. The woman started back when she saw Zoe awake, barely controlling her reaction. They stared at each other for a moment as Zoe searched her memory. But after fire, there was nothing, and she didn't know how she had ended up in the hospital or what happened to the others.
"You're awake," the nurse said, as if it were a very inconvenient thing.
Zoe couldn't think of anything to say. So she said nothing. She moved to rise, and the nurse flinched again. Zoe froze, eyes wide and dread creeping into her stomach.
"Sorry," the nurse muttered. It was obvious she didn't mean it.
Zoe licked suddenly dry lips. Her questions deserted her. The nurse hovered, the edge of fear remaining as she fiddled with the curtain tie.
"Are you in any pain?" she finally asked.
"No," Zoe replied slowly, even though she was, because the nurse was scared, but she was still doing her job and wasn't ignoring Zoe even though she wanted to and Zoe didn't know what it meant. "Where – are Matt and Jill – I mean..."
The nurse shifted her gaze to the ground and wouldn't meet Zoe's anxious look.
The dread in Zoe's stomach tightened into a hard knot.
"Matt..." The nurse shook her head. "He's in intensive care. He's alive."
Zoe remembered how to breathe again. "And Jill?"
"You don't need to worry about Jill. Oh, she's fine. Minor burns. Just... don't." And with one last look, the nurse disappeared.
Zoe felt like a ghost as she walked through the ward towards intensive care. People moved out of her way as if she carried the plague and avoided her eye. There was no talk, no chatter, only silence. Every step she took made her want to turn and run, as far and fast as she could. Halfway through the beds she realised that not everyone turned away in fear. Some were edged in curiosity. Some looked on with compassion and maybe a touch of awe: they still looked at her as if she was Zoe, not some changeling.
But there was too much fear.
She couldn't actually go in to see Matt, but she could look at him, lying alone on the bed in the cold, antiseptic room, surrounded by machines that sent probing tendrils into his arms and face to keep him clinging to life. His body was left bare, his wounds free to breath, ugly splashes of raw red that burnt against the white of the room.
Zoe trailed one hand over the glass as if to touch him – but that would only hurt him. She bent her head and cried, hot tears that spilled over her cheeks.
* * *
The sea breeze brought with it the smell of the ocean, salty and distinct. Zoe leant against the railing on Matt's balcony and gazed out over the beautiful vista. She couldn't handle being at her own place in town. The whispers were too much. Matt's home on the beach gave her much needed solitude, a safe haven from humanity.
But she could only hide for so long, and she had to think about what she was doing next.
"Thinking of running away again?" Matt ambled up to lean next to her, making her jump, a glass in one hand.
"It's not running away," Zoe said quietly. She couldn't look at him, at the pain remaining in his eyes whenever he moved. He wore long sleeves despite the weather, hiding the pressure suit he wore. His hair had grown back too quickly to be normal, but with Zoe there to distract them no one noticed.
"What do you call it then?"
"Doing what's necessary." Zoe hesitated, then reached out to take his hand. His grasp was firm and strong, belying the pain that was her fault. "Matt..."
"That'd be me."
"I..."
"Going to be a beautiful sunset."
"Matt!"
He twitched an eyebrow at her and downed his drink in one swallow.
Zoe turned and slid down the fence. "Help me, I'm no good at goodbyes," she pleaded without looking at him.
"Nope." He turned too, dropping the empty glass on a nearby recliner . "You don't have to say goodbye. I'm not going to help."
Zoe shook her head, ready tears blurring her sight. She spent so much time crying of late. She just wanted things to be normal again. "I gave it time. I promised you I'd give it time, and I have." And nothing could have made her leave until Matt was on his feet again anyway. "You've seen the way people look at me."
Matt sighed and hauled himself up on to the railing. Despite his injuries, he balanced with preternatural ease. "Some of them, yeah. But that's only some, and you notice them because you expect it. And think you deserve it. You're ignoring everyone else. Greg keeps asking when you'll be back at work. Hell, even Brandon Maybe came to thank you for not leaving his hell spawn to die, no matter what she'd done. And what about me? Are you just going to abandon me?"
The guilt trip might have worked if Zoe hadn't already been swimming in a sea of it.
"This is a small town, Zoe. Everyone knows you, even the ones who are scared of you. They'll get over it. They'll protect you if you want them to."
"In a perfect world maybe."
Matt nudged her with his foot. "Hey, I'm the angry cynic, remember?"
Zoe tried to smile and failed. "Yeah. That's what it'll be like. All rainbows and kittens. If happy ever after did exist, and I was the hero of the story."
"You are the hero," Matt said, so confident.
"You know what Jill's been saying..."
"It doesn't matter what she's said. She's crazy. And fucked."
* * *
"I think you need to be talking to Zoe Anderson, not to me. She can start fires with her mind, you know. Or some crazy thing like that. How do we know she didn't start these? She seems the most likely to do it to me. Sure, she put them out this time, but, like, I reckon she's got a bit of a hero complex. It totally wouldn't surprise me at all. It's the people you think are nice that mostly turn out to be utter bitches. Are you listening to me?"
Jill scowled at the blank-faced man who sat with pen poised above his notebook. He merely looked at her without shifting.
"Okay. What about Matt Dennis? He wasn't even there, just his dog. I don't see how he could have been there or where he came from. It's not right. Maybe they're in it together. Like, they were going to meet up and burn some shit. You sure shouldn't listen to them. Are you writing this down properly? Do you know who I am? Who my dad is? He saves people. So does my mum. So does my brother. And I save people too. We're the good guys. I can't believe you're just ignoring that freak."
Jill fell silent. The echoes of her voice sunk into the grey stones of the old, brooding building like so many people before her.
"I was just helping. No one gets it. No one understands," she whispered. Her lip trembled. "I'm a hero."
A little later, the blank-faced man's pen scratched the paper as he filled in his forms, those dark little words more binding than lock and chain.
* * *
"She's going to be locked up for a very long time, isn't she?" Zoe shifted against the railing, not entirely comfortable with the idea.
"Would you have it any other way?"
She opened her mouth to answer. She stopped and looked into Matt's eyes, dark with pain and memory, at the new lines in his face that might never disappear. She remembered his burnt and battered body lying alone in the sterile intensive care bed. She remembered the acrid smell of burning flash. She remembered the feel of the fire inside her with its awesome power to destroy that made her feel utterly alive. She thought of a tiny green plant bursting forth from the seed of a tree, germinated by the heat.
"No," she said simply, and she meant it all.
It was a beautiful sunset, and a beautiful, clear night to follow.
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Current Plot Point: Mind Over Matter
Previous Plot Points: Mysterious Past, Heaven Only Knows, Makeover, Playing Both Sides Bonus: Meet Cute
Word Count: 2197 words / 21 pictures
CC Used: Allowed only – LBF skins, Aikea eyes, poses, OMSPs, Chaos effect emitter, cmar's extended tattoo positions thingy
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