Hmmm... It appears there is a good deal more swearing in this than I had originally thought. Might be time to go ahead and turn on the adult filters anyways. I forgot sometimes just what a mouth Rook has on him, and how he rubs off on everyone else. He's a very pushy character.
Oh, also, some of this was not generated on Day 4, but it didn't fit in right with how I was chronicling all my NaNoing, so included is some bonus content from a later day.
Day 4 11/4/13 11:30 am Writing while
waiting on cait.
“She's got it again this time, the
whole enchilada.”
His tone was softer now, more subdued.
Jon suspected he'd turn melancholy soon, if he didn't distract
himself. He always lost himself in pity to the girl. Probably some
misplaced dream of a vicarious life, free from this bullshit. Pretty
dream, but pretty stuipd.
“She tried to snap the life thread of
someone poking around in her head. Instinct, no thought. Someone
harmlessly rifling around in her memories and she tries to drain
them, first reaction.” He shook his head, eyes gone distant. He
wasn't thinking about the girl anymore, Jon could tell. This mood of
Rook's was well worth learning, it was his most unpredictable. Still
more or less innocuous, to Jon anyway, but he hated how all the
buttons changed when Rook got like this. He was harder to wrangle.
“This power ruins a man, Jon. I
thought by splitting...”
He trailed off, and for a moment Jon
thought he might be falling into one of his memory trances. Those
were a fucking bitch. The man wouldn't eat or sleep or even blink for
day, til he finally snapped out of it. He'd swan about the place for
days after, pretending nothing happened. Jon had learned to play
along, learned the hard way.
But then Rook was cutting a hand
through the air, waving away the thought.
“No matter. I know she's here and I
know where she lives, more or less. She'll be in the bitch district-”
“Witch district,” Jon
interjected automatically, eyes on his clipboard.
“-Bitch. District,” Rook
continued through clenched teeth. Jon knew it was only to keep from
smiling. He liked that Jon sassed him. “I felt the bastard's wards
flare up when her power did. I don't think it was him that spirited
her away, it was too instant a cut off, but I know he knows she's
been taken. His mojo will be blocked as surely as mine is. Whoever's
got her.”
He tapped a finger against his chin,
thinking. “It could be anyone, really, but I'm going to put my
money on someone within this district. High brow assholes would be
caught dead slumming here, let alone just to tail a semi-interesting
“human” girl.” He sighed, usual carefree facade settling back
over him. “I'll put out the feelers, trying and do some sleuthing
by pillow talk, see what I can turn up. Keep your ears open at the
bar for me Sergi?” But he was already walking away, not waiting for
an answer. Rook had a bone to chase, and he would be tenacious with
it until satisfied.
Especially since it affect him so
directly, for once.
–
Attempting to get
some writing done in the hour and a half before work, with me luck
1:44 pm
Brooke awoke with the sound of her
blood rushing in her ears. She couldn't sit up, and wasn't sure she'd
want to even if she thought she could. Her head felt like it was full
of cotton, her mouth too. Her throat was raw, like she'd been
screaming.
Delicate hands wrapped around her
shoulders and guided her upright slightly, enough to slip an arm
around her back. Then a cup was pressed to her lips and she sipped at
the water greedily. The girl who was holding her whispered soothing
sounds, pulling the water away before Brook could make herself sick.
Tentatively, Brooke opened her eyes.
The room she was in was dark, and
smelled powdery, like crushed gravel. There was a wet smell she
couldn't identify, it made the air seem cooler, though maybe that was
just the darkness. Or maybe it was the water, sitting in her belly
like a cold, smooth stone. A lot like a stone, actually. She was
pretty sure she couldn't move now, at least not get up and walk
around.
“I'm sorry for the well water,” a
familiar voice said. “Meliki insisted, and none of us really know
what else to do with you, anyway...” She trailed off, and Brooke
swallowed a few times to make her throat work.
“Wha- wher- huh?”
The girl made more shushing sounds and
laid Brooke back down. “Meliki will explain. I've probably said
more than I should have, you shouldn't have been awake just yet.”
A sudden light pierced the darkness and
Brooke winced away from it. The barista – she was able to recognize
her as one of the sisters before turning away from the light –
pulled away and mumbled something to the woman had just entered the
room before making a hasty retreat.
[cue scene with Rain and Meliki, but
I'm too damned tired]
303
words 12 mins 2:03 pm
Writing at work, timing will be bleh 10:06
pm
Rain wasn’t too worried about her
mom, she’d undoubtedly be gone all weekend anyways. She did send
her a voice message, saying she was staying with Megan, because of
the birthday party she’d told her about last week. She was counting
on her mother’s horrible ability to remember anything that Rain
ever told her.
She was nervous about meeting
Meliki’s other “children”, but if they were as nice as the
coffee shop fey had been, she wasn’t too worried.
How fucking weird was it that she
was calming talking about meeting fey. Or rather, that she was more
worried about meeting fellow humans than she had been about staying
with the faeries. To be fair, Rain wasn’t sure she could say
fellow humans anymore, but if they were children of Meliki’s, they
were probably about as human as she was anyways.
She wasn’t prepared for the Vespa.
When Meliki had talked to her about
moving, and how important it would be to move her quickly, she was
expecting an armoured car, or a pick up truck, or hell even a talking
flying eagle. But not a Vespa. And not for the boy under the helmet
to be covered in tattoos and piercings. Rain’s stomach
twisted in knots and she had to swallow hard before she could answer
his super chipper, “Hey! You’re Rainy, right?”
“Brook-“ she started to answer,
but he shook his head and cut her off.
“You’re Rain, and I’m Zig.
Let’s keep it simply like that, ok?”
She nodded and climbed onto the back
of the Vespa, wrapping her arms around Zig and holding on for dear
life.
--
“Here,” he said, leading her
down the stairs and taking her back underneath them through an
archway. A hallway opened up, ending in halls on either side. He
stopped at a door on the wall, laying his hand on the surface. Rain
felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, then he opened
the door.
“This’ll be your room for now,
I’ve “keyed” it to you, so this door will always open to this
room.” He turned as he stepped through the doorway, inviting her
in. “I know it sounds weird, and I promise, I’ll give you the
grand tour when you wake up, but that well water is gonna wear off
pretty soon and believe me, you’re gonna wanna be asleep for that.”
Beginning to feel overwhelmed, she
stepped toward the door, but Zig was stepping half out again. “Before
I forget, the other door in this hall is the bathroom. You’ll
probably want that when you wake up.” He felt really sorry for the
kid, but there wasn’t a lot he could do for her besides give her a
place to lay down and show her where to throw up when her body
finally rejected the fey magic the well water was helping her cope
with.
Rain followed his gaze down the
hall, seeing the other door and making note that hers was on the
right, the bathroom on the left. Easy enough. Zig had ducked back
inside, so she followed his lead and stepped in.
It looked just like her bedroom at
home. Her real bedroom, back at her real house, before
[insert step-dad’s name here] moved them across town. A tear slid
down her check, followed by another, and another, until she was
quietly crying. Zig finally noticed and stopped babbling, coming to
her side.
“Hey. Hey kiddo, what’s wrong?
You ok?” He put his arms around her, and without thinking about it
she just buried her face in his chest and started sobbing.
“Hey. Hey, hey, it’s alright.”
He started patting her hair and making useless shushing noises. “It’s
alright kiddo. It’s alright. Let it out. You’re gonna be ok.”
--
10:02 pm
“You're safe riding with me,” Zig
explained as they walked to the shed. “I've got a strong enough
signal, I'll mask anything you put off – most of the time.”
“Most of the time,” she asked,
trailing in his wake like a puppy.
He turned, hand tucked behind his head
in a nervous gesture. “Well, yeah. I mean, no one I've ever met is
as strong as you when you're actually using your powers – whatever
they are.” He had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I'm really
sorry about all this. I don't really know how to handle things. I
mean, I've helped the Spiders and everything, but...” He trailed
off, unsure. “I don't even know how to tell you what I mean about
everything it's all so weird for me. I can't imagine how much worse
it must be for you.”
He stood there a moment, completely at
a loss. Then he shook his head and turned back towards the shed.
“C'mon kiddo, let's get you home. Before your jerk of a step-dad
comes back.” He handed her a helmet and gave her a smile. “Don't
worry about it, Rainy day. He can't keep you under lock and key.
Where you spend your days is your business. He can't touch you until
curfew and I'll always have you home long before that. We'll keep ya
dosed up on well water for now, and as long as you come spend some
time in the Underground or the garden every day, you shouldn't reject
it. I know it's not ideal, but we'll come up with up something
better. Just need a little time, that's all.” He reached a hand out
and gripped her shoulder, big brotherly love shining in his eyes.
“We'll figure this out, Rain. It'll be ok. I promise.”
She smiled back at him, and even almost
started to believe it.
-
The girls called to let her know he was
coming as soon as he hit the shop. Sure, they didn't say so in so
many words – in fact, Nanae seemed to think he'd actually sit still
long enough for Meliki to come to him. Meliki knew better, and was
waiting in the lobby of 8 Legged Ink when he came sweeping in like he
owned the place. Typical witch attitude, especially when dealing with
non-witches.
“Can I help you?” she said
pleasantly enough, looking up from the appointment book on the desk
she'd been reading to pass the time. It was filling up nicely, word
was spreading. A bright note in what was sure to be a very unpleasant
afternoon.
“Yes, I'm here for my step-daughter.
Her ward alerted me when she'd been abducted by fey this morning.”
Meliki raised an eyebrow at his choice
of tactic. “A bold accusation. Not a very charitable attitude
towards someone who kept your step-daughter,” and she said that
word rather dubiously, “from being consumed by her own magic-at the
risk of my own people, I might add.” Implied by her tone was an
accusation that he was the responsible for putting everyone in
danger, and that she didn't much appreciate the risk to her people.
Before he could answer, however, she continued, gaze locked on his.
“Feeding your ward to our sithen was
an unfortunate side affect of trying to drain off her rampaging
powers before anyone came to harm. I assure you, it was not done with
ill intent. From what I could assess in the limited time before I had
to act, it would cause no harm to do so. If the ward was meant to
contain her volatile magic, it was clearly failing, and if it was a
simple alert or locator, well, I made no attempt to hide her from
anyone that wished to claim her.”
She
spoke plainly and clearly; she knew he had nothing to hide. Any
careful secrecy on her part was just fey habit, and any ill will
simply her responding to what she perceived to be a threat. There was
always the chance he didn't know what he had, but it was highly
unlike with witch-kin.
When
she had finished her piece, he returned with a list of his own
accusations. Let the fey think what it wanted, it was of no concern
to him. He just wanted to reclaim the girl and leave this uncivilized
place. Lowtown was such a blight on this community.
“You fled the scene, with my
doubtlessly incapacitated step-daughter in tow. I can only assume ill
intent. Now return what is mine to me immediately.” His words were
flat, emotionless, but with no room for argument. Meliki made room.
“I returned to the heart of my
sithen, so I had better resources to protect this girl from magic I
didn't understand. I brought her into my home, at further personal
risk, because clearly this girl wasn't under the protection
she needed. This district is home to countless of my number,” and
yes, she was threatening him now, albeit very subtly, “and I was
not about to let some stranger bring it crashing down around our
ears. But rather than simply sending her on her way and letting her
wander into some other unsuspecting's territory,” and here, her
words with thick with accusation at his negligence, “I did what I
could to help a poor, confused child deal with magic she was
unprepared to face.”
“An unfortunate oversight on my
part,” he answered dutifully. It seemed there would be no depriving
this fey of its beloved word games. “I hadn't realized she was
developing this quickly. When I took her and her mother in, I knew
the child needed attention, but I haven't had them under my care very
long, and her powers have surprised me.” That much was certainly
true. He had no idea he'd stumbled upon so promising a find. All the
more reason to collect what was his and continue to monitor her, much
more closely now, of course. And to guard her from petty theft, like
this fey was attempting.
“Clearly,” Meliki answered,
unwilling to give him any more than that.
“Please,” he said, drawing on the
concerned parent angle. “Her mother is extremely worried about her.
Return the child, and we will remove her from your lands and prevent
her from bothering you or yours again.” He would most certainly
stick to that bargain. The further he could keep her from anyone else
who might have witnessed her abilities, the better.
Meliki didn't fall for it for a minute.
“Her mother's memories of this event can – and most likely will-
be altered. Any distress she is feeling right now may as well be
considered imaginary. However,” she added sharply, “the child's
distress is very real, and very much unalterable. I know, because she
attacked one of my fey when she attempted to do that very thing
trying to help what she thought was a human girl forget an encounter
with an astral parasite – one she was left completely defenseless
against.” It was a risky move, admitting one of her own wielded a
magic against his claimed “property”, but Meliki was very
comfortable gambling, especially since he'd taken such poor care of
said property. She would weasel what she could out of this deal,
anything, everything, and figure out how to best make use of it
later. Whatever interest this witch had in the girl, it would in no
way benefit her sithen, certainly. There was too much she didn't
know, too much she wanted time to figure out. Meliki never let go of
any ground gained lightly.
Her
tone, and all it implied, galled him, but he let it go. It really
didn't matter what this lesser creature thought of him, as long as
she yield up the child. He continued with the parental charade, not
wanting to show too much interest in the girl, but wanting this
encounter brought to a swift end.
“If I'd have ever dreamed she'd set
foot in a place like this,” and he made no effort to hide his
disgust, “I'd have shielded her much more thoroughly. She was more
than adequately protected for any civilized areas of town. Clearly, I
have been remiss in my parental duties – something I intend to
correct as soon as you return my child to me.”
“Your wife's child, you mean,”
she corrected, quick to interject. She'd buy as much time as she
could, keep him talking, mentally recording every word to glean over
for hidden meaning when she had the chance. It had become clear that
she and hers were not a target of any sort of attack – this moron
had simply let his own arrogance blind him to the very real threat
his possess posed to the rest of the world.
“You want me to drag her down here?”
he asked, anger rising in his tone. “The girl is a minor, you
cannot hold her against the wishes of her legal guardian. If you
won't recognize my claim – one even the human authorities would,
mind you- then I will return with her mother and we will leave with
our daughter.” He made a point of claiming her as his own
again. This fey was being entirely too difficult. It wasn't pure
capriciousness, it was actively fighting him for this girl, and now
he was growing suspicious of what it suspected. He needed to end
this, now, but with as little appearance of desperation as possible.
“I never said I wouldn't release her
to you,” Meliki said coldly. “You are the one waving about wild
accusations of abductions and maligning my honor when you are the one
who allowed an untrained time bomb to wander into my territory and
attack one of my fey. Forgive me if I seem reluctant to turn my back
on you long enough to fetch your precious possession for you.” It
was bold to speak to him like that, but nothing she'd said had been
untrue. If he wanted to argue it, he'd have poor ground to stand on.
“Surely in the heart of your own
sithen you are defensible enough against one worried parent-”
“One agitated witch, who won't slow
down long enough to hear the truth of the matter. You appear to be on
the war path, and I'm not eager to reunite you with your weapon, it's
true. I will, actually, insist you produce her mother before I
produce her daughter. My kind are honor bound to their word, but the
more you speak, the more I fear you will simply turn on us out of
agitation once your magelet is returned to you.” It was her last
card, but he was clearly done playing.
“Typical,” he spat. “Leave it to
a fey to muddy perfectly clear waters with games and technicalities.”
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed. “You're out of games, fey.
I'll 'produce' her mother for you, but I'll be damned if I trust you
not to move her while I fetch her, so I'll stay right here until she
comes.” He glared at her while the phone rang, as if not trusting
her to not simply disappear on the spot if he didn't watch her.
“Hello, darling. Yes, I've found her.
Yes, please come at once. We're on the corner of 8th and
Goode, a tattoo shop. There's a large logo of a spider on the front.
You'll see my car, love. No, I won't go anywhere. Just hurry.”
11:06 pm 11/5/13
1837 words, 1 hour, 4 mins
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