Midsummer Shadows

[Walker]

Carlie’s dull footfalls echoed through the building as he made his way out as quickly as he could. He was straining to hear every possible sound. Every single scratch or scrape seemed louder and more frightening then the last. The lines of tension drawn in his face were blatantly obvious. Most people would have attributed this to the scene that had just taken place between him and Flin, and that was certainly part of it, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was late for something, and the anxiety he had felt last night was far from gone. He nearly jumped out of his socks when he heard a loud footstep from the floors above him. It took him a moment to realize the sound was probably Geyser, a surprisingly apt nickname for an old man who also inhabited the abandoned apartment complex. Other then Flin and Carlie, he was the only regular resident, although Carlie was pretty sure at this point his residence was permanently terminated.

 

Nearly running down the stairs, he was approaching the flight that led down from the third floor when a new sound drifted to his ears. He stopped immediately in his tracks. He tried to be as quiet and silent as humanly possible. His previously ragged breathing became so silenced it was hard to believe that he was breathing at all. Straining his ears, he tried his best to discount what he had just heard, but then it came to him again. There was a shuffle of a group of feet coming up the stairs in his direction. Shutting his eyes shut, he wished with all his might that it wasn’t who he thought it was, but contrary to his dreams, he heard the sound of a familiar gruff voice, much too close for comfort. “Do you really think he’s here Hannah? He’s been gone so long.” His father whispered hoarsely.

 

Carlie’s stomach flipped when he heard how laced with pain his father’s words were. Just because he didn’t want to go with his parents didn’t mean he didn’t love them. To the contrary, he would probably die for them. The problem was they were just as unselfish in that department as he. They would die for their child too, and that drive to keep him alive was what he hated most. They insisted upon the chemo, the doctor visits, moving away from the Rockies, and everything else that Carlie hated in life, everything meant to keep him well. The footsteps came closer. Carlie felt as if he could almost reach out and touch his parents although he couldn’t see them yet around the next bend. His heart told him they were close though. As if to affirm that, her mother replied hopefully to her father “I have a good feeling about this place. I can feel that Carlisle is here, a mother’s instinct I suppose.” The words were so clear, his mother might as well have been standing right next to Carlie and speaking them.

 

This realization that he was so close to his parents finally sparked Carlie into action. His first instinct was to run out and embrace them in a hug, but that would be counterproductive. Once he got a hold of his racing desires, he spun around and dashed up the stairs like a maniac. He didn’t take the time to conceal or silence his movements, so his parents quickly heard him. Fearfully, Carlie took a moment to look over his shoulder and saw his mother staring at the boy running up the stairs dumbly. As soon as his eyes locked on hers, there was a spark of recognition and her mouth fell open. “He’s here Greg! He’s here!” she screamed ecstatically, too drugged up on happiness to register the fact that Carlie had tripped up the set of stairs and disappeared behind a bend. The bag full of items he had been holding had fallen out of his shaking hands.

 

Carlie dashed up the stairs quickly, not thinking of the fact that he was cornering himself. The only safe way out was down, but that was blocked by his parents. The only way to run was up. He couldn’t stand giving up without a fight, so up the stairs it was. He heard the pounding of feet chasing after him after his startled parents finally realized the fact that their long-lost son was running away from them, about to slip through their fingers again like water. The sound of their feet seemed to get closer and closer, as if they were slowly catching up to him. Carlie was slowing down, the strain of running for even that short time had left him gulping for air and deadly worn out. It would only be a minute or so until his parents caught up with him. He cursed his chronic tiredness as the sound of thumping feet drifted even closer. He’d have to come up with a plan and quick if he wanted to get away.

 

As much as he wished for a miraculous epiphany to save his behind, that kind of thing only happened in books and movies. He was approaching the last flight of stairs when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder. Suddenly, Carlie had a flashback to his dream from earlier when the ghostly being had alighted its invisible hand onto the very same spot. In a moment of pure fright Carlie screamed “Go away! I’m not going to freaking Forest Park! I already told you that!”

 

Carlie paused as he realized what he had just said. It must sound like he was out of his mind. He stopped his scrambled attempt to dash up the stairs and hesitantly looked over his shoulder at the person who had touched him. He saw his father, gazing at him with wide unbelieving eyes. His dad was shaking with a mixture of joy, fear, and perhaps a bit of anger. Tears glimmered like glittering crystals at the corners of his eyes. “Carlisle? Son?” he asked breathlessly.

 

Before he could stop himself, Carlie’s whiney reflex remark slipped out from his tongue. ”Please don’t dad! How many times have I told you not to call me that. It’s Carlie. Must I spell it out for you! C-A-R-L-I-E! Carlisle sounds like the name of an old fogey.”

 

“Your real name is Carlisle? That’s a relief. I always thought your parents really named you a girl’s name. Speaking of parents, I’ve always wondered about yours. This must be your dad.” A voice echoed from the top of the stairs.

 

Glancing up with a fierce scowl, Carlie’s eyes alighted upon Flin lounging at the top of the stairs, looking down at the scene with serious intensity. Hate boiled up in Carlie’s breast. This situation was all Flin’s fault. If he hadn’t called his parents, things would be perfectly fine. In typical Carlie fashion, he decided to express his bitterness in the form of an insult because he was too far away for another square punch to the face. ”Carlie is not a girl’s name you freak. By the way, I have always wondered about your parents too. I’ve always imagined your father as a donkey and your mother as a dog, which I guess would make you some sort of freaking mutant mix between a ja…”

 

Carlie’s vehement insult was abruptly cut off by a scream of terror from behind. Whirling his head around, Carlie locked eyes with his mother. Her mouth was opened in horror as she stared at her son. Carlie rooted through anything in his mind that could make his mother look like this, but he came up empty. His question was answered quickly though. “CARLISLE VICTOR DOLOSTONE! Were you just about to cuss at this nice young man?”

 

His eyebrow raised as he took in his mother’s furious countenance. It was just like her to scold him at a moment like this. ”Nice young man? He’s more like a …”

 

“Carlisle!” his mother snapped again before the words could leave his mouth.

 

Carlie blinked and looked at the scene around him. He was cornered like a rabbit in a snare. Where to run? Where to go? I would go to freaking Forest Park disembodied voice if you’ll get me out of this situation. The only response to this plea in his mind was silence.

Edited January 15, 2010 by Dashidragon

[RheaZen]

The man who had been holding him by the collar dropped Sen. Tears coming to his eyes because of the sudden jolt and accompanying pain, he took a deep breath of air, shuddering as he slowly inhaled. Dazed from his panicking, lack of air, and a great pain in his tailbone area, Sen blinked his eyes several times and groggily adjusted his shirt into a more comfortable position. Hearing a voice near him, he scrunched himself into a ball as a defensive manuver.

 

"*Mumble mumble*... name... my name is Sophia. What is... what is yours?

 

Sen poked his head up just high enough for him to see who was talking to him. He hadn't caught the first of what she'd said because his hands had been over his ears, but it didn't seem like she was dangerous. Just another victim of these strange people. He lifted his head a little more, sniffing a little and rubbing the remnants of pain-tears from his eyes. "I-I'm Sen. What's going on?" Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the man who'd been holding the both of them, now guarding them with sword drawn. No chance of running, then...

[Skarx]

He didn't seem to react much when she first talked to him, but before she finished speaking he had show some sign of have heard her. Good since she feared he would no remove his heads from his ears at first.

 

"I-I'm Sen. What's going on?"

 

Glad that the boy was answering her, she sigh out of relieve. Though... she had no idea what was happening here. She carefully though about what to say. She heard some more noise coming from where they captor was looking, but she was no fool. He probably knew what they we doing and running away would be most painful. That sword looked rather sharp.

 

"I-I wish I knew what was happening, but..." She carefully refrained to say exactly what she had in mind not to make the man even more angry at her. "No one answered me when I asked. The only one that seems nice... is the old man with the girl with feathers in her black hairs. I don't trust them, what if they are the murderers that people have been talking about? They seem violent enough anyway."

 

She glared at the man pointing his sword at them. She was scared to death of him, but since had not look at them for a while she was probably pretty safe glaring at him. She looked at her pale blue skin again. She was starting to think someone had cursed her, she didn't know what to think anymore anyway. She looked back at the boy.

 

"Did... um... Did something strange happen to you recently?"

 

She found her question stupid, but she really wanted to talk.

[RheaZen]

Sen listened closely to the girl, storing away the information about the girl with odd things in her hair - they were feathers, eh? - and nodding when she voiced her suspicions on the strange people being the murderers. Her following question, though, caught him slightly off guard. "Uh, yeah... besides this entire freaking situation with the people chasing me, catching me, possibly going to kill me, and all the people in the park to begin with, and the weird voice-thing from earlier, and I'm not sure if I'm going crazy or not... but yeah, and my hair turned green too.

 

Sen, looking Sophia up and down, commented, "It looks like something similar has happened to you. Do you think we're going to be taken away to be experimented on?" He shivered, huddling up tighter. "Except these people don't look like contracter-types, or government-types. Portal to another world? No, too surreal. He giggled, an odd hyena-like sound that was garbled by a hiccup. "But it's all surreal now, sint it? Haha.

[jaina]

"I doubt that these people are the ones that have been killing people here." Shira stated bluntly to the others in the area. "Think, all the news reports have said that the people killed by unidentified creatures, that means claws and teeth. They have weapons and seem to be fairly skilled in them at that too," she added a moment after, "My guess is that they were probably hunting whatever caused the deaths. They've already said they're not human and if what they've said about us and what's happened in the last twenty four hours to us are true, then that's my guess." She moved out from under the tree she had been standing under to speak more directly to those gathered in the area.

[Skarx]

Sophia had a weak smile when Sen answered her last question. Of course getting attacked like they were was a strange thing indeed and even more when the said people had medieval weapons rather than guns or things a bit more... of today. She was a bit surprised that he had similar change too. Just like her his hair had turned green, even if it was not the same one it was still rather unnatural for this to happen. When he talked about being experienced on her smile disappeared. She had never though about it, maybe he was right. Someone or an organization may be hunting people like them, with unwanted change, to experiment things on them. She shivered at the thought.

 

"Oh... I hope not... What... what..." She took a deep breath and tried to calm her trembling. "What can we do now?"

 

When she heard a voice near her she jumped and hid her head in her arm and curled in a ball to protect herself. She then realized how foolish it was.

 

"...claws and teeth... weapons... fairly skilled..."

 

Having missed a deal of what the girl had said she tried and catch up by paying more attention to the rest.

 

"My guess is that they were probably hunting whatever caused the deaths. They've already said they're not human and if what they've said about us and what's happened in the last twenty four hours to us are true, then that's my guess."

 

"Well now. Do you NEED to stalk up to us and not even warn us of your presence!" She took a deep breath. She hated being surprised like that. Reminded her of her brothers pranks... "And what tells you they are here for that!? They didn't say anything to me! For all I know they probably don't have a nice and soft agenda for us waiting! So now they aren't even human and you don't think they are the one killed others!? I don't see anything here than violent people with barely any respect!"

 

Realizing she must have spoken way out of line and yelled at that. She fearfully looked around scared she was going to get it.

[RheaZen]

Sen giggled more, then turned around, wanting to speak directly to the person who'd - oh, my.

 

"You!" Sen blushed, remembering how not too long ago - though it felt like much longer, really - he'd almost squashed her flat.

"You're here too?!" Immediately after he finished speaking, he cringed Of course she was here, hadn't he seen some sketchy guy around when he'd run off?

 

He spoke again, quickly, hoping to erase his previous questioning comment with something slightly less stupid. "Anyways, if they aren't human, then they could well be the murderers after all. For all we know with what's been going on, they're werewolves." Realizing he'd said that quite loudly and in plain view of their captors, Sen clapped his hands over his mouth and whimpered.

[SandMessiah]

“Leave her alone. This isn’t your business, and you’ll only upset us all even more.”

 

Those words made Clay stand up, and looked directly at Malduk. His coal-black eyes lighted up with contained anger. He slowly made his way to Malduk, and didn't stop till his face was almost touching his. He stared deep into his eyes and opened his mouth slightly, showing his irritated face.

 

"Not my business?" Said Clay, he was trying very hard to remain calm. Suddenly, he raised his voice and said "How the bloody hell is this not my business!" He backed away slightly, never taking his eyes off Malduk. He pointed a finger at Rhiannon and Haydn, who were now sad and quiet. "Why the hell are they so upset about this Branwen person, and quite frankly why the hell should i care!" Clay moved closer to Malduk and hissed with utter coldness "And why does this effect me...and if this is none of my business, then why wouldn't you let me leave?"

Edited January 13, 2010 by SandMessiah

[jaina]

Shira gave a sigh of irritation and walked over to the girl who had spoken. When she was about two feet away, close enough to be considered uncomfortable, if not more, she spoke. "I understand but for right now, think would you? They have weapons and are obviously in control of the situation, so it's best not to insult them. Next the thing or things that have been killing people have been tearing them apart, their weapons leave punctures and clean cuts, not little shredded bits. Also we're all apparently hybrids, faerie hybrids apparently, and they were here to gather us as a result of some "prophecy". Most importantly thought," she said, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Stop pissing them off!" She shouted the last part, she shouldn't have, but she was taking her anger out on a girl who really didn't deserve it, and who was in the same situation that she was. She backed away and took a deep breath before saying, much more quietly, "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have done that. Gomen nasai." With the last part, she executed a small bow from the waist. her mother had taught her some of her japanese heritage and that was how one apologized. If she needed to, she would explain it but for now she would leave it.

[Mangaholic]

"Go ahead. None of them are left, anyways. My father is dead and my mother doesn't even exist anymore. Actually, you'd be doing me a favor."

 

Instead of pity, the girl’s words only brought upon Kiril another wave of great aggravation and irritation. By Breckin’s words, Kiril guessed that the flame-haired boy was just as annoyed by the Thunder hybrid as he was, though he was somewhat surprised by how confident Breckin was about going with him and Emilia.

 

”Good then,” he said cruelly. ”I guess that means that no one will miss you when you’re gone.”

 

Now dealing with the Thunder half-breed and her tenacity, Kiril had pretty much forgotten about the other girl, Danni, and therefore, didn’t notice the Storm hybrid attempting to get away. But of course, there was still Emilia, who found it harder to be distracted by stubborn, hard-headed teens.

 

”Hey you! Don’t think that you can leave either!”

 

Kiril swung around to see Emilia emerging into the open, her sea-blue eyes flashing with dangerous displeasure. The bow, clear in her hand and strung with an arrow that she could let loose at any given moment, was pointed at Danni. She walked across the stage until she stood about a meter or two away from Sadine, still looking down on the Storm half-breed and not bothering to even glance at Kiril. Knowing Emilia, Kiril could tell that her patience was wearing dangerously thin, and when it was completely worn away…he shuddered at the thought. Emilia, when pushed too far, could just be as frightening and scary as Malduk.

 

--------------------------------

 

”Stop pissing them off!”

 

Tristen was impressed by Shirayuki’s determination to defend some people that she had barely known. In fact, he felt his respect for her raise, just a bit. However, the scorn he felt for the terrified green-haired teens also increased, with each glare they shot at him when they thought he couldn’t see. He was standing right in front of them. Of course he could see them! He wasn’t blind.

 

“If I were a werewolf, I would have shredded you to pieces a long time ago and I would have relished every single second, considering the fact that werewolves aren’t supposed to be killing you ignorant humans. And that’s makes killing one of you all the more entertaining.” The contemptuous comment was directed at the boy, though Tristen still kept his eyes on what was happening near Rhiannon. They narrowed at the sight of Dark hybrid seemingly picking another fight with Malduk.

 

--------------------------------

 

"How the bloody hell is this not my business! Why the hell are they so upset about this Branwen person, and quite frankly why the hell should I care! And why does this effect me...and if this is none of my business, then why wouldn't you let me leave?"

 

The Dark hybrid’s voice cut rudely through Hadyn’s anxious thoughts, and he glanced to look at the angry man. Standing up quickly, he reached for his sword, only to find that where the hilt was supposed to be, there was only air and nothing more. It was then that he remembered who the boy was, though it didn’t do much to ease his wariness. He took the few steps to stand by Malduk’s side and met the hybrid’s pitch-black eyes evenly, without flinching.

 

“That’s exactly what I would like to know. Why do you care?” Hadyn asked, the disbelief apparent in his voice. He moved so that he blocked the young man’s view of Rhiannon. ”Why the hell did you drag yourself all the way over here to check up on a girl who probably hates you the most out of us all, when you could have killed me or run away? And now, you’re the one who’s asking us why you should care?!“

 

There was no hint of gratitude in any of his words, not that he felt any. There was only a growing suspicion as he waited for the Dark half-blood’s answer. He didn’t mind the fact that the boy didn’t kill him when he had the chance, since most people disliked staining their hands with blood, but running away seemed like the most obvious thing to do, and something that the boy seemed to try every time he got the chance.

 

He narrowed his green eyes until they were mere slits, and studied the boy's expression. It was only anger and pure hatred, but that made no sense in why he even cared when Rhiannon broke down. Unless, of course, he's too curious for his own good and has to know the answer to everything, Hadyn thought with distaste. And that would explain why he's asking about Branwen. The expression of disdain grew on his face, and he felt like punching the boy in the face for even mentioning the name again, despite the pain that he was starting to feel again in his stomach. The sight of Rhiannon crying, and the sight of that Dark girl, had drowned that pain away with the agony that it had brought, an agony that was worse than any physical pain that could have ever been inflicted on him. But now, the pain in his gut was coming back again, and it made a horribly awful combination with his grief.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Mangaholic

[Sasstrek]

OOC// Sorry, Manga. But I think I have to drop from this RP. Been busy and if I do join, I worry about staying active and hampering it.

 

But, hey, there's one more spot open now! And it looks like you guys are going good. Hope you all have fun!

[Skarx]

Sophia noticed Sen’s sudden change of behavior, but decided it probably wasn’t important. For all she knew they may know each others. Sen’s theory on them being werewolves made her feel uneasy. What if it was true? Weren’t werewolves’ dangerous creature that looked humans? She was broken out of her questioning when the girl cam closer to her, much too close to her liking so she backed away a bit to keep a nice comfortable distance between her and that girl she didn’t really like. Especially since she was now irritated and, to Sophia’s opinion, foolish.

 

"I understand but for right now, think would you? They have weapons and are obviously in control of the situation, so it's best not to insult them. Next the thing or things that have been killing people have been tearing them apart; their weapons leave punctures and clean cuts, not little shredded bits. Also we're all apparently hybrids, faerie hybrids apparently, and they were here to gather us as a result of some "prophecy". Most importantly thought,"

 

Sophia was about to say something to her, but before she had time to say what she though about her little speech she spoke again yelling at her!

 

"Stop pissing them off!"

 

Sophia stood angry of having been shouted at even if the girl was right. She didn’t listen to her excuses after either.

 

“What!? You want me to believe that! That we’re… freaks?! What “prophecy”?! All I saw was people beating down a girl who asked nothing and mistreating us!” She said angry.

 

She could not remove the scene of the unconscious girl beating from her mind. Nor her travel forced upon her by the hair. She hated them and just wanted them to go away. She quickly backed away when she heard their captor’s voice again.

 

“If I were a werewolf, I would have shredded you to pieces a long time ago and I would have relished every single second, considering the fact that werewolves aren’t supposed to be killing you ignorant humans. And that’s makes killing one of you all the more entertaining.”

 

Hearing this didn’t help her have more respect for them. She wondered if she could try and run away again. She looked at the forest. If only she could outrun these people. She took a few steps away from the man she had bitten. She was putting more distance between her and the other girl. She didn’t like the way it came so close to her without her consent and she didn’t feel the same towards her that she did towards Sen. She felt much closer to him as a prisoner. She looked around trying to find a pond or something, but finding nothing she spoke to them again.

 

“I want to know what’s going to happen to us…”

 

[RheaZen]

“If I were a werewolf, I would have shredded you to pieces a long time ago and I would have relished every single second, considering the fact that werewolves aren’t supposed to be killing you ignorant humans. And that’s makes killing one of you all the more entertaining.”

 

Sen laughed again, then scooted around to face the other person who'd spoken. "Oh, and we're supposed to believe you now? Just because you say you aren't doesn't mean you aren't, unless you can somehow give us proof. And why don't you kill us, then, if you hate us humans or hybrids or whatever, so much?" He paused, rocking back and forth a little, then continued. "But then, since you haven't killed us, and we're all faerie hybrids or something..." Lapsing into silence, Sen scooted closer to Sophia, thinking.

 

Haven't killed us, but don't like us and wouldn't regret killing us. Hybrids, which implies something rare or different - otherwise, humans would have noticed long ago, people with odd hair and skin and such... back to the experimentation slant. They need us for something, and aren't killing us because they need us. But there are a lot of us... dammit, is there any way out of this mess?! It doesn't seem real, but it doesn't seem like a dream... but then why would they kill those people? To sta-

 

... it wasn't them who killed those from before... the humans in the park...

 

Sen snapped his head around. "And for crying out loud, have the decency to stay out of my head!" he yelled.

[SandMessiah]

“That’s exactly what I would like to know. Why do you care? Why the hell did you drag yourself all the way over here to check up on a girl who probably hates you the most out of us all, when you could have killed me or run away? And now, you’re the one who’s asking us why you should care?!“

 

Clay's eyes were now dead set at Hadyn. The anger in his eyes was now disappearing, being replaced by...nothing. For the first time since his transformation, his coal-black eyes were showing very little emotion. Clay looked away from Hadyn and began to walk around. The words he had said echoed in his mind repeatedly, almost like they resonated something in his mind.

 

"Do you honestly want to know why i was concerned about her?" Said Clay as he quickly turned to Hadyn, his eyes still showing little emotion. His mind was now return to memories he had long ago suppressed. He was remembering his parents, walking towards a door...Bullets and then, blood. "Let's just say i don't wanna see another death for as long as i live." Said Clay in a low voice as he looked at Rhiannon. He then looked at the unconscious girl she tried to kill. "When i saw her ready to kill, i froze in well...fear. Then when i saw her brake down, i just wanted to know why she wanted to kill her."

Edited January 14, 2010 by SandMessiah

[Kira1]

Danni stopped in her tracks when she someone yelled at her to stop. She would have kept walking, but the person was holding a bow, nocked with an arrow aimed right at her. Glaring down at the one who was aiming at her, Danni stayed where she was. She wanted to run, but if she did this person would let loose her arrow, no doubt. Best to stand her ground and find a way out of this.

"And why not?" Danni asked, staring into the girl's blue eyes. Why did they want her here? What was the point? And the weren't giving her any answers at all. "Why should I trust someone who's pointing a nocked bow at me?"

These people were crazy.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Kira1

[Walker]

I must be pretty freaking desperate to be pleading to a voice inside my head for help. I think I’m going insane. Do they admit people like me to insane asylums? Probably not. I’d end up a danger to everyone else even in a padded cell wearing a straitjacket. It seemed as if the disembodied voice had decided that now was the time to finally leave him alone, so it seemed as if this one was going to have to take some of his own skills. That was enough. Being himself was always enough to get him out of any situation. It always had been and always would be. He whipped his head around, looking for some sort of escape. Flin was still sitting at the top of the steps, so no go there. Behind him was his mother, standing at the bottom. His brow wrinkled as he looked at her. He sure as hell couldn’t get past Flin. The guy would have no second thoughts about pinning him to the ground… but his mom? She was an easy target to get past. His father had seemed to notice Carlie looking down at his mother, and paused. Suspicion leaped across his face as he stopped to speak “We have a lot to catch up on son…”

 

Carlie winced at what he was just about to do. He couldn’t imagine doing this to his father. He loved him and didn’t want to cause him pain, but it was the only way to get down the stairs in time and past his mother. If he made a dash for it now, his father would catch him in a matter of seconds. Halfway through his father’s sentence, Carlie scrunched up his face and threw a half-hearted kick at his dad. It had little power behind it, but luck was looking down at Carlie at that moment, if it really could be called luck. Even though his kick bounced off his father harmlessly, something flew out of nowhere and hit his father squarely in the face. He didn’t stop to see what it was, but instead dashed down the steps as soon as his initial sense of shock faded. Just as he had calculated, his mom was too stunned to lay a hand on him as he barreled past.

 

Carlie’s initial burst of adrenaline was enough to keep him going for a few seconds, but he wore out extremely quickly. He had only run down one flight of steps before his breath was coming in painful gasps. He cursed the day he became like this. Why couldn’t he be like any normal teenage boy? Why couldn’t he run down a flight of steps without getting winded after running for less then a few seconds? He brooded for a moment, but there wasn’t much time for him to brood. He could hear the footsteps again on the flight behind him. They would catch up any moment and this time they wouldn’t let him slip. There was one thing to be done. He needed one of those epiphany moments like in the movies. He waited… and waited… and waited… There was no immediate epiphany, but a dangerous plan was formulating in his mind, much too slowly for his own tastes. As he was bounding down the second flight of stairs, he finally had the last detail of the plan laid out. The plan was this.

 

Jump out of a window onto one of the fire escapes. It sounded simple enough, but the building was old enough that the fire escapes were too rusted to be trusted to hold even his weight. He had no real choice though. It was plummet to death on the top of an old fire escape or die in a hospital slowly draining away. Option one was way more appealing. As he barreled down the last few steps, he instead dashed forward towards the rooms instead of going down the next flight. He was slowing. He could feel it. The tiredness was weighing down his limbs like leaden weights. He had to hurry, but did he have the energy to do it? He would have to force himself to have the energy. The footsteps were getting closer already. His heart skipped a beat as he listened to their approach. Finally he came in front of a room with the door wide open. Careening in, he took one look at the room and then dashed to the boarded up windows. Now was time to do a kick that could do some real damage. Taking a step back, he flung a kick at the window and watched as the old, mildewed boards splintered easily under the force. It was at this moment that his parents rushed into the room. “Carlie?! What are doing? Where are you going?” his mother asked frantically.

 

Carlie didn’t pause to give an answer. He catapulted himself through the window and landed on the fire escape outside with a dull thud. The fire escape groaned warning under his weight but held, but Carlie wasn’t really willing to risk anything by seeing just how long it could hold. He continued his mad dash and tried to make it down the rickety fire escape as fast as he could. He hoped his parents had enough sense of self preservation not to follow after him. If they didn’t, they sure as hell had enough sense of his preservation. Another person on the fire escape would almost certainly cause it to break off. He just had to hope they would take the long way around down the stairs. His hopes were rewarded. They screamed frantically after him for a moment and then turned around. All was silent except for the sound of his own feet hitting the rusted metal.

 

He slowed down the slightest fraction to preserve whatever energy he had left. His parents would take a lot longer to get down the building, out the door, and around the back then it would take him to run down these steps. He would be home free in no time. He was just standing on the ledge above the ground when his sense of victory was shattered. The fire escape gave one last dying groan and finally buckled under his weight. The old bolts holding it to the wall tore out as it prepared to tip and fall. Carlie could feel a curse on the tip of his tongue, but before he could say it, it was too late. The ground under his feet suddenly dropped away as the bottom ledge of the fire escape plunged towards the ground. He tried to attempt immediate action, but there was really nothing he could do but fall. He shut his eyes as he fell the short few feet to the ground. It wasn’t far, but he still felt the air get pushed out of his lungs as he hit the ground.

 

That was the least of his worries. A searing pain climbed up his leg as he attempted to move. Groaning, he opened his eyes and sat up. He had landed right on top of the pile of twisted metal that had once been the fire escape. Considering the amount of pointy pieces of torn metal sticking out all around him, he was lucky to have not been speared right through the chest or head when he fell. He could already feel the bruises beginning to form and he had his fare share of scrapes, but his left leg was worst of all. The red ruby blood gushed from his body profusely, coating the rusted metal in layer of red. When was the last time I got a tetanus shot? I’ll need one now no doubt.

 

No doubt his parents had also heard the crash too and were on their way at any moment. He didn’t have time to worry about his leg. Extracting himself from the tangle of metal as quickly as he could manage, he made sure to focus on the task ahead, getting away. As soon as his feet touched the pavement, he was off. The pain in his leg was no more annoying then a fly buzzing in his ear. When he was in the middle of a battlefield, the pain didn’t matter, the end result did. The old apartment complex receded behind him, along with his parents. He continued to dash through back alleyways, not really knowing where he was going. Eventually he slowed and came to a walk. His body couldn’t keep up the running forever, but his feet continued to move. He wasn’t sure where he was going, just away. The same anxiety and feeling that he was late returned with a vengeance. His face twisted as he tried to push the unexplainable emotions away. Maybe he really did belong in an asylum.

 

Carlie meandered for a while, leaving everything that had just happened behind him. He was lost in his own head for several minutes until something astonishing broke him out of it. He caught a brief reflection of himself in an old mirror leaning against the side of the dumpster. He blinked and gasped. His mind was drawn back to the fact that he had hair. Once again, all his old worries about it rushed back in an avalanche. He scooted closer to the old mirror to get a better look. He looked almost the same as before, except for the mass of dirt brown hair on his head. It was medium length and looked as if he had a serious case of bedhead. It was sticking up in untidy tufts all over the place. This most definitely was not the hair he remembered. He had had curly hair, not out of control hair. He probably looked worse right now then he had bald. It looked like he had been tossing and turning all night. The bags that were always under his eyes didn’t really help the illusion much.

 

As soon as he thought about his eyes, he squinted a bit. Something was off about them. He hadn’t noticed it at first, but now that he looked it seemed as if his eyes had lightened a few shades. They had once been so brown they were almost black, but now they were a warm chocolaty brown. He frowned. Warm and chocolaty was so not his style. This color almost made him look ‘friendly’. That was a very bad thing. It would send people the wrong message. Well, he would soon correct them with a punch to the face. No matter what color his eyes were, that would get the message across. What it made him look like was hardly the point though. The question was why. Why had he grown a full head of hair in one night? Why had his eyes changed color? It was so disturbing it almost had him on the edge of panic. He had to make this right somehow. Jumping up, he whirled around and dashed out into the streets. A few people looked at him curiously, but when they saw his bleeding leg, their looks turned from curious to panic. Some appeared as if they were going to ask questions, but Carlie sped off before they got too close.

 

As he raced past the different stores, he finally found what he was looking for. He didn’t care what the people would think as he burst into the barber’s shop. He pushed a particularly burly man out of the way of the counter and said ”Got anyone who can do a quick buzz? I need to get out of here, soon.”

 

The man at the counter looked taken aback as did the burly man who Carlie had pushed out of the way. They both looked at him as if he were crazy. The burly man also looked as if he wanted to punch his face in, but both their eyes locked on his leg at the exact some moment. They froze in unison. Carlie gritted his teeth in frustration. ”JUST DO IT!”

 

They both paused and stared at him. The man behind the counter seemed just about to protest, but he shook his head and sighed. Gesturing towards an open chair, Carlie dashed over and settled in with a sigh. The cool leather of the old cracked seat felt nice under his fingertips. The smell of shampoo and shaving cream pervaded the shop like an old familiar friend. As he sat there, the bloods continued to pool at his feet and stain his jeans. Now that he was settled down comfortably, he started to feel the pain more intensely. It was one thing to ignore pain in the middle of a battlefield, but quite another in a situation like this. He sucked it up though. He wasn’t a baby. The man hurried over and silently picked up a pair of electric clippers. Slowly, he turned them on and prepared to get to work, but he was suddenly interrupted by an indignant shout “You’re going to do what he says? What’s wrong with you? He burst in here like he owns the place with a bleeding leg and you agree to shave his head? Do anything but shave his head! Call an ambulance! Kick him out! Just do something logical!”

 

The buff man had finally decided to show his anger. His face was beet red and he looked as if he was having trouble keeping himself rooted where he was. The man holding the clippers frowned and flipped them off. “As far as I can see, this young man has had one hell of a day. The least I can do is shave his head.” He said.

 

Carlie stood up and immediately headed for the door. He wasn’t going to have this guy shave his head just because he felt pity for him. That went against his every instinct. He would just have to live with the hair… for now. Neither of the two men reacted as Carlie stomped out of the shop and back into the streets. Inside his head, he was venting his anger at an astonishing rate. He didn’t watch where he was going. He just went, but suddenly he felt the urge to stop. He did. As he continued to rant in his head, he looked up to see if he knew where he was. A surprised but annoyed sigh escaped his lips. Forest Park. Of course. The universe has one twisted sense of humor.

Edited January 15, 2010 by Dashidragon

[Mangaholic]

So either this kid's mental or he's hearing voices in his head.

 

Those were Tristen's thoughts as he stared, bewildered, at the dark-haired boy who had just made that outburst. He hoped it was the latter; it wouldn't do much good for the world to have one of its saviors a bit on the slow side of things. He shrugged, mentally, and decided to give it a shot anyway.

 

"So, what's that voice telling you right now?" he asked casually. From his knowledge of the faerie races, Tristen guessed that the boy was a descendant of one of the faeries that could speak to plants. The only problem was, what exactly did the plant/tree tell the boy? The voice could be trying to make the Umbralatronis seem even worse, and that wouldn't do much to help with his current argument, if one could call it that. Then again, Tristen thought grimly, I doubt any plant is going to side with the ones who are bringing darkness and ice to the world.

 

---------------------------

 

"And why not? Why should I trust someone who's pointing a nocked bow at me?"

 

Kiril watched Emilia out of the corner of his eyes. There was a peculiar expression upon her face when she heard Danni's wary words. She raised an eyebrow in mock confusion.

 

"That's strange," she said, inclining her head to one side. "I personally don't remember asking you to trust me. I asked you to stay here, I think - or rather, I'm forcing you to stay."

 

Her face and her voice still had that innocent, carefree manner about them, but Kiril knew her well enough to know that she was being far from carefree. Her eyes hid her irriation quite well, masking it with some airy amusement, but, though no one else could really detect it unless they knew Emilia extremely, Kiril could hear that her voice, which was meant to be sweet, was really like honey over ice.

 

---------------------------

 

"Do you honestly want to know why i was concerned about her? Let's just say i don't wanna see another death for as long as i live. When i saw her ready to kill, i froze in well...fear. Then when i saw her brake down, i just wanted to know why she wanted to kill her."

 

"Death is a terrible thing, isn't it?" Hadyn said, with a harsh and bitter laugh. He moved again, to cut off the hybrid's route to Rhiannon. Miranda had sat down beside the girl, hoping to console her, while her father was now watching the Dark half-breed with wary eyes. Rhiannon herself was still oblivious to everything, just staring at the rapier that lay in front of her. Her sobbing had ceased, but hot tears continued to roll down her cheeks. "Especially if you've seen it nearly every day in your life." He paused, feeling the throbbing pain in his abdomen worsen, before continuing in a cold voice. "I won't stand to let you hurt her even more, just to satisfy your own curiosity. Leave her alone. It's her business, not yours. You have no right to probe into what causes us so much grief."

 

He winced as a terrible wave of pain raked his body, but he withstood it without much change to his grave expression. It was, by far, not the worst injury he had gotten. However, when he spoke again, there was only weariness to his voice. "Look, just leave her alone. Please. Nothing you say can soothe the agony that she's feeling right now."

 

Hadyn could feel a sense of utter defeat wash over him. It wasn't the fact that the Dark hybrid was so persistent in knowing, but the memory of his best friend's death, only two days ago. It was vivid in his mind again, and every time he closed his eyes, for even a second, he would the image of death. Then, there was Rhiannon, whom he knew was seeing worse things, and the thought only made his pain worsen.

Edited January 15, 2010 by Mangaholic

[Kira1]

Danni glared at the girl who seemed to be mocking her when she replied. There was no way Danni would let this person have the satisfaction of getting her frustrated, but, of course, she probably would.

"I'm not going to do as you say," Danni declared, her eyes quickly glancing around for a way to get out of here. Though, it was hard when someone was aiming an arrow right at you. "And you better have a good reason why I should stay besides that bow of yours."

She tried to make it seem like she wasn't afraid of the bow as she glared the other down. But to be honest, she was afraid. Afraid that if she moved to leave the arrow would fly and strike her, which would be very painful and something she would rather not experience. She was tempted to tease the other about hiding behind her weapon and that she wouldn't be able to win in a weaponless fight. But Danni had no idea what kind of skills this girl had so that might be a mistake. For now, she'd wait to see what the others would do about this.

Edited January 15, 2010 by Kira1

[Walker]

Carlie stared at the gate to the park for what seemed an indefinite amount of time. According to the voices in his head from earlier, he should go in there. Since when has it been a good thing to listen to the voices? In every movie he’d seen about people who heard voices, they either ended up in an insane asylum or as some crazy mass murderer. Carlie sure as hell didn’t want to end up as either of those. He continued to stand and stare at the gate, but something inside of him was trying to pull him over. He wanted to go through the gate, or something wanted him to want to go through gate at least. That was the best way to describe the sensation. As he fought to ignore it, his hands balled into fists. The feeling was growing more urgent by the moment. If he ignored it much longer, he would go crazy. It was almost like the universe was issuing him a challenge. He resolved at that moment if he could fight destiny.

 

As if he was just about to face an incoming train, Carlie crossed him arms, spread out his feet, and braced for impact. It felt almost as if that if he didn’t go in something was going to come and run him over. He couldn’t explain the feeling, but just like most of the things he was feeling this fine strange day, it was also inexplicable. He would just have to try and ignore it like everything else. In the meantime, he focused his frustration in glaring angrily at the gates. He wasn’t sure what glaring would do, but he knew if anyone could scare away destiny with a look, it was him at that moment. As his eyes remained fixated on the gate, he suddenly had a whole new sensation that seemed slightly familiar. It was like he was being pushed down, forced into sinking into the earth in his dream. His knees nearly buckled under the strain, but he withstood it. He really didn’t want to go into the freaking park. The pushing only got urgent and tougher to withstand as the moments ticked back. Carlie even once looked fearfully down at his feet just to make sure he wasn’t sinking.

 

A minute had passed until it seemed the force was too much to stand. Before he knew it, his knees did give out, leaving him kneeling in front of the park. He frowned as he tried to fight the building force within him, but his most urgent thought was this. I probably look like some stupid loser who just had some random holy epiphany in the middle of a sidewalk. Actually, that would probably be better than this. If that happened, at least I’d have the future of joining the priesthood and all that dumb stuff. The force continued to build. Soon he was on both his hands and knees, and he knew if he fought it any longer, he would be face-first in the sidewalk. His elbows were already beginning to shake violently as he struggled against it.

 

They were just on the verge of buckling, when suddenly it all disappeared. Carlie looked up in confusion as the force pushing him to the ground evaporated. Had he just managed to diss destiny? He smiled dumbly to himself. If he had, then he had one more thing to add to his resume. He could picture it now. The list of his achievements would include such things as ‘woodsman’, ‘slept for two days straight’, ‘cancer survivor’, and finally ‘destiny disser’. He had quite the unique list there. He was just starting to feel supremely confident in his success when the pressure returned suddenly tenfold, but this time it was pushing him towards the gate to Forest Park instead of into the ground.

 

You will go into Forest Park Carlie…

 

Carlie groaned as he recognized the disembodied voice from his dream earlier. He was right back to hearing things again, but this time in real life. ”I’d rather go to hell. ”

 

Hell. I could arrange that for you…

 

Carlie uttered a barking laugh. Of course he got stuck with a voice that had a sarcastic sense of humor. Actually, if this voice really was just in his head that was a credit to him. He was even funny when he was out of his mind. He’d have to give himself a pat on the back for that.

 

I was being serious. I could arrange that. As much as I would love it though, hell wouldn’t want something like you anyway. It just seems I will have to take the second option.

 

Carlie gulped. He didn’t like the sound of that. His anxiety wasn’t misplaced either. In the blink of an eye, he felt… something digging its way into his body. It wasn’t in the physical sense, but more in a spiritual sense. Something was crowding him into the very back confines of his body and forcing itself inside. It was the strangest sensation he had ever felt. Having two consciousnesses inside of one body was like being in an overcrowded building. There was no room for movement or breathing. How in the hell was he even supposed to fight this thing off anyway? It was settling inside his body with surprising ease, but he had never learned a way of fighting possession. Whatever the something was, it was finally settled completely into his body. Carlie watched through his own eyes in horror as the thing wiggled his fingers experimentally. It nodded his head in satisfaction, and stood up from the ground. Is this some sort of spinoff of The Exorcist?

 

The Exorcist is nothing like the real thing Carlie… It’s just a movie.

 

Oh great. This thing can hear my thoughts. No use speaking out loud then. What kind of… whatever you are watches The Exorcist anyway?

 

I have to do something with my free time. Trust me. I wish I could be doing anything but be here right now, but it is my job to get you where you need to be, and so I will.

 

With this reply, the thing moved his legs and walked him towards the door. Carlie tried to find some way to struggle, but it was impossible. This thing wasn’t going to be thrown off just because he was mad at it, and that was the only real way Carlie could imagine trying to fight off a thing inhabiting his body. The thing took no notice of his anger, but instead took his hand and pushed open the door to Forest Park. It paused a moment before walking his body through and shutting the gate behind him. The moment the gate shut with a bang, Carlie felt a sudden release. He gasped as he regained the ability to control his own body. Looking around with frightened eyes, his first instinct was to get out of here. He walked to the gate and tried to open it, but it was locked securely. The gates rattled as he tried to pull them off their hinges. His breath came in frightened gasps, but the gate refused to budge. It took a moment of temporary hysteria for him to realize he would have to find another exit. He turned around and surveyed the park behind it. To get out he’d have to walk farther in. He sighed and started off into a think bundle of trees off to his left.

 

The moment he disappeared from view, the gate swung open, waiting to admit its next victim.

Edited January 15, 2010 by Dashidragon

[RheaZen]

Sen glared at Tristen, trying to bore holes into the man - literally. He spent a few seconds trying to mentally drill holes into the man's flesh, but after a while decided that he didn't in fact have superpowers. Asking in such a manner... either I'm just loco, or he's making fun of me, pretending he's not responsible. Or at least, that some of his friends aren't responsible. Either way, he's just laughing at me. He spat out a reply: "As if you didn't know. Just trying to convince me that you're innocent, eh? FOR YOUR INFORMATION, my inner voices tend to sound more like myself, and a lot less whispery and garbled."

 

He turned around, sending a mild shock of pain up his spine - hopefully he hadn't stressed anything, between falling out of the tree earlier and the antics in the oak and finally being strangled and then dropped on his butt. Muttering a little to himself, he tried constructing himself a mental shield. After all, if they're not human and all this weird stuff is happening, who knows? Too bad I can't drill holes in people with my eyes, though... Hm. That's probably be useful for a lot of things, like mining and stuff. And if people are trapped or something. Could we actually drill a hole through a mountain? Wait, those are just tunnels. Wow, that's kinda cool. I never thought of it like that... Sen's eyes glazed over slightly as his trains of thought derailed, flying off and landing in giant explosions that resulted in mounds of molten metal.

[myahoo]

Mark was lying on the flat, rough roof of the orphanage with his arms behind his head. He could hear the sounds of traffic passing by the small, two-story building, but his eyes never wandered from the black canvas of the night sky. Several minutes passed and the only indication that the boy was alive remained in the steady rise and fall of his chest. Sighing, he tore his eyes from the relaxing nothingness of the sky and sat up, yawning and stretching, before turning his thoughts to a more serious matter.

 

It was odd how uneasy he had been today. He could not remember feeling this amount of uneasiness. Ever. It wasn’t that he’d never felt it before (Oh, he’d definitely remembered feeling uneasy); It was just that he’d never felt this much of it in his entire life. Never so uneasy that he was becoming restless and edgy. Never enough to make him snap at Sarah or Jake or even Austin, the notorious little troublemaker.

 

Standing up, he sighed again, glancing around one last time as he made his way to the stairs. Maybe he was just tired. He did sleep late the night before and one of the young kids, a baby really, had woken up early this morning. Mark smiled. He could just hear Jason’s voice, scolding him. You should have taken a nap this afternoon. Or at least gone up to the roof. That way you’d have gotten some peace and quiet. Besides, you’ve never snapped at anyone since we got here. Here, Jason would stop to think. Several seconds would pass before his eyes would light up when he decided what he would make his older brother do. Let’s go back to the room. You could sleep there and I’ll wake you up in an hour or two. He could imagine Jason marching over to him and grabbing his arm to lead him back to the room they shared, chattering about his day. Mark chuckled sadly, as the images in his mind faded away, reminding him that Jason had decided that he wanted to go to school, wanted to have parents again, that he had had enough of their life, and, without saying it out loud, that Mark couldn’t do anymore.

 

If it had been anyone else, the person would have been dead and hidden within the hour. Anyone else and the body would be a mangled mess. But, it wasn’t. It was Jason. It was his little brother, who he raised for eight years. It was his anchor when he got lost in the past and forgot about the present. It was his light, his angel, who protected him from himself.

 

Another sigh slipped past his lips, as he descended the stairs that led to the second floor. Absently noting that he had sighed three times in the past ten minutes (odd, he’d never sighed that much in…a long time), he entered his room. It was nothing grand, this room he was allowed to stay in. Just enough room to fit a mattress, a desk, and a small suitcase. He let himself fall on the bed backwards, so he could still see the sky out of his single window and relaxed. Clearing his mind of all the swirling thoughts, he focused on the small bit inky blackness that wasn’t tainted by the city’s lights. A few minutes later, Mark was fast asleep, still lying on his back, still facing the empty window.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

When he next opened his eyes, Mark found himself standing on a beach in San Francisco. An excited smile came to his lips as he looked around and assured himself that he was indeed back on the West Coast. Happily plopping down onto the sand, he turned his attention back to the ocean and noticed that the fog was just coming in. Something about the fog caught his attention, but he couldn’t figure out what. He shifted uneasily and focused on the fog itself.

 

After observing the fog for a while, he realized that the fog was approaching at an unnatural pace, just as it engulfed him. Climbing slowly to his feet, he strained to hear any sound that would alert him to the presence of another creature.

 

There! A dark flash! Mark turned swiftly, but he had forgotten that he was standing on sand. He landed with a thump, but he ignored the slight pain as he scrambled onto his knees. Glancing around, he started to become nervous. Everywhere he looked, the fog shifted and twisted, as if there were people in the never-ending haziness, and Mark really didn’t like being surrounded. Just as he was steeling himself for a dash towards land, he started hearing voices. Pausing, he focused on the voices that he couldn’t understand just yet.

 

A whisper.

 

“..o…t….st….rk…”

 

”I can’t hear you.” He tried to move, to get closer to the voice, and found that the gray clouds had surrounded his feet, holding him in place. Fear started coursing through his veins. He was trapped! Frantically, he started tugging his legs, trying to get them free.

 

“..o…to…F..est…ark…”

 

“Let me go!” Mark started pulling even harder. “What do you want with me?” he asked, desperately. Trapped and unable to move, he knew it was only a matter of time before he started to panic. In some distant corner of his mind, he wondered why he had always feared being unable to move.

 

“..Go to Forest Park…”

 

He tugged again, before the words sunk into his mind. Sufficiently distracted, he glanced around, before asking, “Why should I?”

 

“..Go to Forest Park…”

 

“Why do you want me to go?”

 

“..Go to Forest Park…”

 

“Why?”

 

Gray eyes coalesced in front of him, causing him to instinctively try to take several steps back, but the swirling fog prevented him from doing so. Surprise quickly became defiance as he stared down those guarded gray eyes.

 

“..Go to Forest Park. There, you will find your answers…”

 

“To what?” Mark shouted, frustrated, tugging his legs again. “Why can’t you just tell me here? What’s at Forest Park? Who are you?”

 

The eyes blinked once, before disappearing into the fog. Mark growled in frustration, before giving a surprised yelp as the fog around his feet faded away, causing him to fall through the gray clouds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

With a start, Mark jerked upright, breathing hard as he took a reassuring look around his room. It was just a dream. He chuckled quietly, relief flooding him. Noticing that he felt thirsty, he quietly got out of bed and slipped on his shoes, before making his way to the stairs leading to the first floor. After descending the stairs, he headed straight for the kitchen and was drinking a cup of water, when he heard a scratching noise. Confused, he paused and listened for it. Not hearing it again, he shrugged and rinsed out his cup, placing it on the dish rack. Probably just a stray. Just as he turned to head back to bed, he heard it again, only more insistently this time. Getting annoyed, he turned towards the front door. The scratching stopped for a moment, before violently starting up again. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Mark moved towards the door, determined to make the noise stop before one of the kids woke up and got scared because of it. The sound faded away, just as his hand touched the doorknob, and he paused in confusion. Taking a quick peek out the peephole, he saw nothing out of the ordinary and returned to bed, shaking his head.

---------------------------------------------------------

 

Several hours later, Mark woke up, feeling restless and anxious. Feeling the need to keep moving, he packed up his few possessions and hid the small suitcase under his desk. When he left his room, everything was still quiet; nobody had woken up yet. He went to the bathroom, did his business, and was washing his hands when he happened to look up.

 

With frightened shock, he jumped backwards, only to hit the wall of the bathroom, as he stared at the ghost in front of him. Gathering his scrambled thoughts and taking calming breaths, he remembered that there was a mirror that hung over the sink and his cheeks burned when he realized that his own reflection had scared him.

 

Giving himself a shake, he stepped closer to the mirror, turning the faucet off as he did. Where his hair was dark brown the night before, it seemed that overnight it had grayed and turned wispy. He blinked in confusion before bringing his hand up to touch his hair. It felt thinner than it was last night; when he pulled it down to look at it, it had indeed turned gray like the fog he had seen last night in his dreams. Looking back in the mirror, he tilted his head, trying to get the light just right to bring out the bright green that the gray hid so well. It took longer than usual to find that angle and he saw that the green was now a dark gray-blue with hints of green.

 

Mark stepped away from the mirror, uncomfortable with the changes that had occurred, and left the orphanage. He knew they wouldn’t look for him; he had left with no warning before. But this time, he didn’t know if he was going to return.

 

He wandered without really seeing where he was going. Weaving his way through the crowds, he noticed that his restlessness and anxiety had been joined by a feeling of foreboding, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

 

Some time passed in this manner, before Mark became aware that he had gone to that place. The place where his parents had died; where he had seen a large black thing knock the taxi over; where he tried to avoid, but would somehow always end up. The images may have faded with time, but the feelings of pure fear and horror--His mind shied away from it. He looked up into the sky. While the blue sky didn’t have the same effect on him that the black night did, it calmed him to see nothing for a moment. Nothing but the blue and white.

 

Closing his eyes, he began to walk again, passing through the place trying not to remember the moment his brother and he became orphans. When he was sure he had cleared the place, he opened his eyes. In front of him was the entrance to the park. Unsure, he stood there for a while, recalling the news reports about murderers and Forest Park, before taking a deep breath and walking in.

 

After walking for a short while, relaxing in the quiet peacefulness of the park, something caused him to pause. Listening hard, Mark could just make out the murmur of voices coming from ahead of him. He hesitated before taking lighter steps as he made his way over there, deciding to circle around them and hope that he would see them before they saw him.

 

He reached the edge of the clearing and stopped, squatting down in the hopes that the voices had covered his approach. Hoping that he could look without being found out, he leaned forward slightly and observed the rather large group of people. There were four oddly clothed people standing around an unconscious girl, with another normal looking boy that looked like he was barging into their conversation. Not too far from them was a small group of four, with two of those being held at sword-point and three of them having an unusual hair color. Intrigued, Mark never noticed that when he shifted forward to get a better look at them, he had caused the leaves around him to rustle.

Edited January 16, 2010 by myahoo

[Skarx]

Sophia listened silently as Sen spoke to the men glaring with him and hoping it would somehow create a way out for them. Wishful thinking, but it passed the time. When Sen yelled to himself she looked at him worried. Did he have a problem? She noticed him getting closer to her, but said nothing. She had respect for the boy so it was not so bad.

 

"And for crying out loud, have the decency to stay out of my head!"

 

She was surprised to hear what the swordsman said after though.

 

"So, what's that voice telling you right now?"

 

Why was he asking that? Bored? She then thought of something. If they really were freaks with another random blood in them… did… could it affect them in another way that their sudden change of look? She then smiled when she saw the boy glare at the man.

 

"As if you didn't know. Just trying to convince me that you're innocent, eh? FOR YOUR INFORMATION, my inner voices tend to sound more like myself, and a lot less whispery and garbled."

 

She remained silent a bit more, but decided to ask again. Maybe by pestering that guard she would get an answer. Since the man had not done anything back to them since a while, she decided to speak her mind a bit more. She was with Sen, these people could not be trusted and were just laughing at them like they were some higher being and they were dirt!

 

“Stop looking down on us! Answer my question for once! What do you want with us!? Is that SO hard to answer or are you trying to hide something behind that smirk of yours!” She took a deep breath. “We got it that you hate us for some random reasons I don’t get, since you seem to like to keep us in the dark! If you are not going to answer I am…!”

 

She then remembered what he said about cutting her hairs until she was bald. Maybe it was worth a try… but he was going to catch her anyway. She ended up starring at him wishing something bad happened to him on the spot. A lightning bolt would be nice. She tried not to smile at that though, imagining the man well cooked on the ground and some of her worries gone. Unless it would just do something like the cartoon and he would just be on the ground paralyzed and with fried hairs.

 

[Walker]

Carlie disappeared into the clump of trees just off to the side of the main path. He spent a quiet moment just wandering among the trees; admiring their sprawling beauty until he decided it was about time he took a moment to catch his breath. He had been pushing himself all day and he could really take a moment of quiet sitting just to orient his thoughts and soothe the ache in his body. Trotting over to the base of a large oak, Carlie rested his hands on the rough bark and slowly lowered himself to the ground. He sat quietly for a moment before his diverted his attention back to his throbbing pain. It was easy enough to ignore the pain, but he might as well have a quick look at the injury. Shifting his leg closer so he could have a better vantage point, he slowly rolled up the leg of his torn and bloodied jeans. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the gash wasn't quite as bad as he had imagined.

 

A bright red trail of dried crusted blood surrounded the cut that made it look worse then it was on first glance, but once he looked past that, he saw it really wasn't all that deep or wide. Luckily, it hadn't cut through any muscle or he would have had problems walking and running earlier. His biggest worries were infection and the fact that he had cut himself on a rusted piece of metal. He just had to hope he had had a tetanus shot sometime in the recent past. He gently probed around the edges of his wound with his fingers for a moment and decided all that was really needed was for it to be cleaned and stitched. Nature would do the rest. Looking up at his surroundings though, he knew he didn't have the means to do what needed to be done. Spitting on the ground, he rolled his eyes. First, he'd get out of here and then he would worry more about the gash on his leg. He stretched out his leg in front of him and returned to looking at the scenery around him.

 

He really was dead tired. The day had already been a long one, not to mention he had stayed up late the night before. All the running and craziness had left him more drained then he could remember being in a long time, since he had been ill at least. It took a lot of will not to just curl up and fall asleep under this tree. That’s what he wanted to do, but he had the feeling that would be a bad idea. He had rumors about the murders in this park and he certainly didn't want to become the next victim. Instead, he would just have to be happy about sitting under this tree for a while and resting. As much as he wanted to get out of this park, the urge to rest was just as overpowering.

 

He sat there for several minutes, listening to the playful wind rustling the branches of the trees. A couple times he imagined he heard talking in the distance, but he shrugged it off. It was probably just another conjuration of his recently turned insane mind. It was a lot better then the thing he had been talking to a few minutes ago at least. These distant voices were not loud enough to hear and weren't talking about the Exorcist. They were easy enough to ignore. Instead, he concentrated on the sounds of birds in the trees and other sounds of nature. A small sigh of contentment escaped his lips as he thought back to the wild forests in the Rockies. This place certainly brought back memories. He was becoming so lost in his memories, he didn't at first notice the fluttering of his eyelids as they struggled to close. It wasn’t until he had fallen into a sleepy stupor that he suddenly realized he was too relaxed. Immediately jumping to his feet, he cursed under his breath and decided he better get going before he took a nap.

 

Walking deeper into the batch of trees, he didn't really pay attention to where he was going. Instead, he meandered and let his feet carry him where they may. It wasn't like he knew the ways out of this place. As far as he could remember, this was his first time ever in the park. He would just have to hope he stumbled upon a way out. He did stumble upon something actually, but not quite what he wanted to stumble on. He was too busy thinking about all that had happened today to notice the root of a tree sticking up right in front of him. Before he could manage to mutter a single curse, he was flat on his face in a mud puddle. All sorts of vile words came to mind as he struggled to untangle himself from the root that had caught his foot. He rolled out of the mud puddle and sighed as he stood up. This day was turning out to be fantastic. The funny thing was he didn't mind the mud coating his face and clothes. To tell the truth, he sort of liked it for reasons unknown. What bothered him was tripping in the first place.

 

As he recovered from his face-first dive into the mud, he continued trudging through the forest. He imagined he must look like a total mess at this point. If the blood-soaked jeans and crazy bed head hair wasn't enough, now he was covered in mud like a pig. Good thing no one was around to see him like this. As he was just thinking this, he drew in a breath as the trees around him suddenly thinned and he caught a glimpse of a group of people in front of him. He sighed. Of course people showed up just when he didn't want them. Slipping behind a tree, he paused and tried to get a better look at the group, but he was too far away. Carefully, he made his way closer, eventually just on the edge of the clearing. The group was still far away, but if he squinted his eyes...

 

"Breckin?!" he roared out in surprise before he could stop himself. His eyes widened as he realized what a stupid move that was.

[Mangaholic]

The mocking smirk on Emilia’s face had not yet dissolved; in fact, it seemed to widen upon her face as Danni made her defiant reply. Kiril stood as still as stone, waiting to see her reaction and not wanting to attract her attention to himself. Was it right that he was afraid of his own fiancé? He didn’t know, but he had good reason for it. He knew that despite the taunting smile on her face, Emilia would have readily struck Danni down with an arrow if they had been allowed to. But of course, they weren’t. Otherwise, their job would have been so much simpler. It was only too bad that the challenge to gain the hybrids’ consent was nothing compared to the war that they were about to face soon.

 

”But you’re still here,” Emilia replied innocently. ”I thought that you weren’t going to listen to me. Or are you afraid of this little bow?”

 

She lowered her bow so that the arrow pointed to her feet, but her light blue eyes remained on Danni’s face, unwavering and infuriatingly childlike.

 

“There, why don’t you run off now, like the frightened little child you are?” Emilia challenged, no longer hiding her scorn, but her voice still as smooth as silk. ”Run off, and let the world fall apart as payment for your cowardice, while the rest of us perish for it. I dare you.”

 

And what will she do if the girl actually runs off? Kiril wondered. They certainly could not let her get away, or the world might really fall apart. They still didn’t know if all the half-breeds were needed to save the world from the coming of the dark winter, and if they did, it would be bad to let this one go. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, still keeping his eyes on the Thunder hybrid but paying more heed to Danni.

 

It was a loud cry of surprise that caused Kiril to take his wary gaze off of the Thunder girl. Startled, Kiril searched the border of the trees for the source of the roar. It was obvious that the source was around there somewhere, since the word that had been cried out was Breckin’s name. Damn it! Another one? How many more do Emilia and I have to catch? He swore under his breath in frustration, still searching the trees. Sudden movement caught his attention, and his gray eyes swung and fixed on that area, though he could see no one there, at least not anymore.

 

“Look,” he called out, nothing but exasperation and a hint of weariness coloring his tone. ”Why don’t you just show youself now? You’ve pretty much already told all of us that you’re here.”

 

--------------------------------

 

Tristen remained silent for a while as the two hybrids each blew their heads off at him, obviously pissed off. As if he wasn’t annoyed with having to guard them either! Like everyone else, his patience was also reaching its end, and he really, really wanted to shut those two up. Where the hell are Emilia and Kiril?! he thought in frustration. They better have a good reason for taking forever, or I sear I’m going to shove Kiril into the first ditch I see.

 

“So your inner voices sound idiotic and annoying?” he retorted, his light brown eyes blazing with annoyance as he glared down at the two children. “And yes, it’s so hard to answer, so there. I’ve answered your question.”

 

He lowered his sword only slightly, and leaned closer towards the two green-haired teens. “Now pray tell me, what were you going to do if I didn’t answer you?”

 

Something from Rhiannon’s direction caught his attention then, and he glanced up quickly, trying to find out what was now happening. It was Malduk, leaving Hadyn’s side to investigate something in the bushes. Belinos, Brunor, and Miranda all rose beside Rhiannon, who still sat on the grass, her head bowed in grief. Tristen narrowed his eyes. Obviously, there had been a noise of some sort that indicated the presence of another hybrid, no doubt, since only the hybrids would be present in the park at the moment, and Tristen hadn’t heard it due to the endless streams of angry words that emanated from the two teenagers. He could hear Malduk’s voice now, though.

 

“You! What are you doing in there? Get out here!”

Edited January 18, 2010 by Mangaholic

[RheaZen]

“So your inner voices sound idiotic and annoying?”

 

Sen opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but snapped it shut when nothing came to mind. Somewhat humiliated, he pouted and looked off in a random direction. Never really was one to learn witty banter and scathing insults. Fun to learn, I suppose, but what's more interesting is just looking at things and exploring and whatnot. What was I last thinking about? Started with trains, I think. Uh.

 

Been a long time since one of you has passed through here. It's not isolated enough. And I'm too young. Not many over 100 here.

 

"Shut up!"

 

Don't be so mean. I'm lonely.

 

"What the hell? Why do I care? What and where are you?!" Sen craned his neck, trying to find the source of the "voice." It didn't sound like it was coming from any clear direction. But it was getting clearer now. Which was, at the very least, a bit worrisome.

 

Oak. Almost broke my top branches. They didn't kill those people, you know?

 

"Oak, what? A tree is talking to me. Okay, this is friggin ridiculous. I have got to be dreaming." Sen rolled his eyes and curled up on the ground. "Maybe when I "fall asleep," I'll wake up..." He closed his eyes and tried to block out the world as best he could. Which wasn't really that effective, since he was the type to be easily distracted by everything. Besides the "sound" of the talking tree, there seemed to be more squabbles going on. “You! What are you doing in there? Get out here!” Another victim of these weirdos. Why are there so many people in the park today? No, wait, this is a dream. Yeah. Or I'm nuts. *sigh*

 

Unable to fall asleep - it wasn't that late in the day, after all - Sen rolled around on the ground. Curiosity getting the better of him, he asked, "If they didn't kill those people, who did? What did? And does it have anything to do with what's going on in the world right now?"