Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 10e: Chaos

[Atomicweasel]

Hana stepped into the room behind Ashley and cautiously glanced about. She stayed by the doorway, without really venturing any deeper into the bedroom, choosing instead to hang back and busy herself with a lingering inspection of her navel.

At length she looked up, her dark blue eyes boring into Jennifer's back. Something strange had happened...hadn't Violet raced by this hallway earlier? Hadn't she run to and from this room? Hana felt too tired to puzzle it out.

"Where's Violet?" She asked bluntly.

[Venus]

Jennifer was listening to Kristin looking at the rose again and having a hard time thinking about something else.

"Yes... I live here.", she answered and slapped herself mentally for that stupid answer.

She was about to say something else when Hana's voice asked a question that brought her back to reality and sobered her up.

Originally Posted By: Atomicweasel

At length she looked up, her dark blue eyes boring into Jennifer's back. Something strange had happened...hadn't Violet raced by this hallway earlier? Hadn't she run to and from this room? Hana felt too tired to puzzle it out.

"Where's Violet?" She asked bluntly.

"Violet?", she repeated half-heartedly. "Is she here?...", she looked around feeling a bit silly playing this charade. They'll find out sooner or later... or will they?

Jennifer furrowed her brows and almost frowned struggling to find a reasonable explanation. Buy some time...

"Why? Have you seen her? I thought she was downstairs...", Jennifer asked unsure. She was good at this when she was Violet - good at manipulating people and make them think and do what she wanted but Jennifer wasn't that skilled or... persuasive.

The slim brunette wrapped her arms around her body in a self-defensive motion and nervously put a strand of loose hair behind her ear. They're kids... no one will believe them...

[z-Jules WhiteElk]

“I don’t care.” The despair in her voice wasn’t surprising. It fit perfectly with the image she was presenting. What was surprising were the words themselves. It was so out of line with the hope and perseverance that Jules had always displayed that Walker was a little taken aback. She was the one who had spoken to him about rebuilding a safe, prosperous place.

Jules pushed herself up and looked at him. For once, she wasn’t lovely; ashes and mud clung to her face, clothing and hair. Tears had marked trails in the filth clinging to her; her eyes were reddened and her nose swollen. “Why should I? Why? It didn’t change anything! Ben’s still dead… I still hurt! It was all so pointless!”

She curled back down to the ground, her black hair falling in a mass around her head. Her back bowed over her legs and her arms curled against her body. After a moment, she spoke again. This time, her words were so soft and muffled that Walker had a hard time understanding them. “I thought it’d make it all better. But I just feel so empty. And Ben… Benny… I couldn’t save him, or my sweet Danny, or little Sami. I never found my mother’s body, just a red stain in her trailer. Even if killing him felt good for a moment, it didn’t matter. So I don’t care.”

After another pause, she added, “I guess you’re going to tell me its okay, and then take me into the Refuge and let Morgan figure out what the fuck to do with me.” She turned her head and looked up at him, tired and worn out. “Sorry to dump all over you.”

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Originally Posted By: Jennifer

"Yes... I live here."

"Oh. Oh. Oh!" Kristin looked a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable, and uncomfortable that she was uncomfortable. "Violet made us pancakes, and we talked some, but then she had to go down stairs to see somebody. When I saw a woman run pass our room, I thought it was her. But I guess it was... you?" Kristin finished uncertainly.

To cover for her awkwardness, Kristin poured her self a cup of tea from the tray that Jennifer had placed on the small table. She added milk and suger till it was nearly overflowing, then took a sip, surreptitiously glancing around the room again.

"Er, um, uh..." Kristin offered into the stretching silence, "Does anyone else live here, too? I mean, before, uh, you and Violet took in some of us from Paradise. Just so I know who to thank for the place to stay."

[Venus]

"I do.", another female voice, a slight bit deeper than Jennifers spoke from the door. Jill had finally arrived and was seriously worried about the whole situation. She had heard about the mud throwing and wanted to check up on Violet. Finding Jennifer was a sure indicator that things were worse than she assumed.

The tall built woman that looked like a cross between barbie and an amazon warrior princes made a few but decided steps towards Jennifer giving the girls a short nod. "Jennifer - are you ok? You look... tired.", she was struggling for the right words but there was a kindness and compassion in her voice that implied that Jill was more than just a good friend of Jennifer's.

Jill was almost a head taller than Kristin with bulkier muscles but she didn't quite reach the superhuman ripped physique. Still one could tell that Jill worked out - a lot. She was wearing a smiths apron and a once white now very dirty tank top leaving parts of her abs and of course her arms open. Even with some dirt smeared on her forehead Jill was quite attractive. It seemed that Violet's friends were all real lookers and extraordinary beautiful women...

Jennifer barely noticed Jill's presence and sighed heavily. Something was most definitely on her mind.

"Jill... I...", she looked at her with imploring eyes. There was sadness but also a lot of fear in her eyes. Jennifer looked almost terrified. Something was really off here...

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

The three young girls turned in surprise at the husky voice then stared goggle-eyed as the woman resembling Barbie the Barbarienne entered the room. The tall, buff woman had all her attention on Jennifer, save for an acknowledging nod for the girls, and her look was more than just friendly.

Kristin gazed up at the gorgeous blacksmith in wonder, unconsciously flexing her arms and abs in comparison. Is that what I'm gonna look like when I grow up?

Ashley couldn't quite keep her lips from pressing into a tight line, hooking a strand of brunette hair behind an ear. What is it with this place - every woman is insanely beautiful. First Kristy - which I don't mind, really! - but now Violet, Jennifer, Bodybuilder Barbie, those women with Conan. Her soft brown eyes cut to Hana, her lips growing even tighter. Even Hana. It doesn't matter, Simon still...

Who knew what passed behind Hana's deep blue eyes.

But one thing the three girls all agreed on, there was a sudden sense that they were intruding. With unanimous accord, Kristin and Ashley put down their cups of tea and stood up, beginning to move back to Hana, who still slouched by the door.

"Uh, yeah, well, we were just looking for Violet, so we'll go now," Kristin explain, voice a bit rough with the roused emotions hanging in the air, "And you two can do - say! Say whatever you need to. Thanks again, Jennifer, and, er, you too, miss, for letting us stay here."

[Atomicweasel]

"Yeah, thanks." Hana agreed, eager to be free of the crushing awkwardness in the room. She had been the last to step in, now she was the first to step out, quickly returning to the room the three girls were sharing.

Back in the room Hana quickly worked her way under the covers of her bed. She stretched into a deep yawn and then turned on her side to watch Kristin and Ashley get ready for bed.

"So, Hana..." Ashley asked once she and her cousin had settled into their bed. "How did you make it here in one piece?"

Hana looked back at Kristin's cousin, licked her lips as if she were preparing the answer and then simply said "I'm really tired. Let's just go to sleep, okay?"

The two girls looked at each other, taking quiet measure of one another. Finally, Ashley shrugged. "Sure. That's fine." Their stare down continued while Kristin fluffed her pillow and tried to get comfortable, but when Ashley's cousin raised her head to look quizzically at Hana, the younger Asian girl closed her eyes. In repose, Hana looked perfectly innocent and adorable.

Ashley grimaced and turned to look up at the ceiling. "What's wrong?" Kristin whispered.

"Nothing," Ashley smiled sweetly and reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind Kristin's ear. "Go to sleep." Then Ashley's hand stretched out for the light on the little night table and the room went dark.

Kristin did try to sleep. She counted sheep. She looked for the cool spot in the sheets. She tried to match her breathing to the gentle rise and fall of Ashley's chest. But her mind kept racing and her body stayed tense.

At length she did fall into a fitful sleep, but her dreams kept her twisting and turning...She was in a dank cell inside the prison, wrists locked behind her back, neck bolted to the floor by a thick collar. She was naked and cold, her skin dotted with goosebumps, her knees raw from kneeling on concrete. With her face held so close to the ground, Kristin couldn't see behind her, but she knew someone was there. She could hear him moving behind her, the heavy footfalls announcing his approach. It was only a matter of time, she knew, until he began to hurt her. She sensed him stop and settle down behind her. She wanted to scream, but her throat wouldn't work. She felt his hand, rough and calloused, slap against her ass, making her jump and squeal. Then his voice, low with menace. A voice she would never forget. "Miss me, baby?"

Kristin screamed.

"Shhh! Kristy, it's..." Ashley started to stay, and then she screamed. Kristin jolted awake next to her cousin. The room was no longer simply dark. It was pitch black. "Something touched me!" Ashley yelled, and then Kristin felt it too, a cold silken touch as something crawled across her cheek.

Kristin made a keening noise and tried to jump to her feet...but something had wrapped itself around her. The darkness all around her had grown heavy, oppressively thick. She tore at it, and it gave, but it was like swimming up through a black ocean of mud. It tried to drag her down, it tried to hold her still...and all the while she could not see.

"Help!" Ashley shouted in a panic.

"What!? What happened?" Hana gasped. And just like that, the darkness vanished. It sucked back from Kristin, leaving an icy tickle across her skin, pulling away from her in great inky whorls that drifted through the air.

"What's all the screaming for?" Hana was standing next to the light. The room was just their room again, but in the dim glow from the table lamp, Kristin saw Hana's eyes. They seemed to have grown darker. They seemed a deep impenetrable black. And then Hana blinked, and they weren't. They were just blue. Like always.

"God, you guys scared the shit out of me!" the little teen complained.

"But...it was just here. It was all over." Ashley murmured, sitting up in the bed and looking around in confusion.

"What was!?" Hana demanded.

"The dark!" Ashley answered.

It took a long moment for Hana to reply. "You guys were just having a nightmare."

[Venus]

Originally Posted By: Kristin Mackenzie

But one thing the three girls all agreed on, there was a sudden sense that they were intruding. With unanimous accord, Kristin and Ashley put down their cups of tea and stood up, beginning to move back to Hana, who still slouched by the door.

"Uh, yeah, well, we were just looking for Violet, so we'll go now," Kristin explain, voice a bit rough with the roused emotions hanging in the air, "And you two can do - say! Say whatever you need to. Thanks again, Jennifer, and, er, you too, miss, for letting us stay here."

Originally Posted By: Atomicweasel

"Yeah, thanks." Hana agreed, eager to be free of the crushing awkwardness in the room. She had been the last to step in, now she was the first to step out, quickly returning to the room the three girls were sharing.

Jill pulled Jennifer closer into a tight embrace and hushed as the much smaller brunette started to cry. Jill nodded again at the girls as they left the room wording a voiceless ‘thank you’. This was one of the rare moments when Jill got to be the stronger of them and she wouldn’t fail to be there for her lover.

Jennifer cried like there was no tomorrow and her tears washed away all the pain and fears she felt leaving her somewhat empty. After a while she let go and Jill carefully picked her up and put her on the large kingsize bed. Then she took of her apron and most of the dirty clothes putting them neatly on a nearby chair and quickly took one of Violet’s girly-T-Shirts.

Sitting down next to her she carefully put one strand of hair out of Jennifer’s face and stroked her head gently, “What’s going on, Jennifer? I heard there was some quarrel about James?”, Jill wasn’t really up do date and her information was based on hearsay.

Jennifer shook her head and croaked weakly, “No… I tried to speak in his defense but I fucked up. I should’ve known better…”

She pulled her knees under her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs looking at Jill through swollen eyes. “There was this other guy they brought in – Simon… he…”

“Did he hurt you?”, Jill asked with rising suspicion and a hint of anger.

“No…”, Jennifer replied not really sure what caused all the trouble and breakdown inside her. “He just said something that… I just couldn’t bear it anymore and… and Dan is keeping me waiting, although he knows I need him right now. But he’s being responsible, he’s a reputable Marine and I’m just the campwhore… I guess he doesn’t want to be seen with me.”, Jennifer suppressed another sob but she couldn’t stop a single tear that escaped her swollen eyes.

“Hey… shhh… Honey I was… I mean I don’t think that’s the way he is. Dan has responsibilities and right now they need every helping hand they can get out there. I’m sure he’ll pick you up once he’s not needed anymore.”

“But I need him right now! I should be the first on his list if he really cared about me.”, Jennifer said frustrated. Deep inside she knew she wasn’t doing him justice. She was being selfish but her broken ego wasn’t strong enough, not confident enough.

“I’m gonna look for him and tell him to pick you up…”, Jill concluded somewhat disappointed.

“No… don’t leave me alone… I don’t want to be alone right now.”, Jennifer pleaded still fighting tears back. “They are sending someone over here to help me out with the women and the Captain said I should use my powers to sooth some of the pain… but I… I can’t change back… I tried… but it’s not working…”, there was another short outburst but she quickly swallowed it down.

“It’s gonna be alright, honey… don’t take it too hard on yourself.”, Jill tried to sooth her but felt that Jennifer wasn’t really trying. She was too caught up in her own selfpity. Jill thought about her options but there wasn’t much she could do right now. Everything she came up with would mean leaving Jennifer alone.
“Common – it’s late and you need some rest. I’ll stay here and tomorrow everything will be better, ok?”, Jill walked around the large bed and carefully draped a blanket over Jennifer who just nodded and laid down. Then Jill put her arm around her and spooned her tenderly holding her tight against her body until they fell asleep…

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan for his part went about the camp, aiding wherever he was needed. He sought out Alicia, but she was resting by the time he found her and he didn't want to disturb her. He'd check on her again the next day when she woke up. He was almost totally exhausted. Still he'd promised to go to Violets and catch up with her. He found her window and rose in the air slowly and shakily. He tapped on the window that was at Violet's bedroom and hoped he wasn't waking her at this godawful hour.

"Violet it's Dan."

[Venus]

It was Jill who woke up and carefully slipped out of bed leaving Jennifer with a pillow to cuddle up against, instead of her strong arm. She reached the window and opened it fully giving Dan enough space to squeeze through.

“She’s sleeping… and Violet’s not in the house.”, her voice carried some concern and Jill’s eyes showed some fear that went beyond being worried. “I think it was a tough day for her…”, she tried to explain in a low voice.

Dan could see Jennifer, small and fragile curled up in a ball sleeping rather fitfully now that Jill was gone. “She cried herself into sleep… I couldn’t do much to calm her down. Thank God you’re here...”, she quietly added and gave him and Jennifer some room by retreating to the far end of the bed. Jill felt a bit out of place and it hurt a little that Jennifer demanded Dan’s presence and couldn’t be calmed down by her alone. At least she was there for her…

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan looked At JEnnifer and then over to Jill. "I'm not supposed to be here Jill, no men are, but considering what's happened I'll stay for a moment."

He looks at her and offers her a weary smile. He was obviously exhausted too. "Don't leave on my account Jill, you mean just as much to her as me. Your place is beside her too."

He takes a small pad of paper and writes up a little note, stroking Jennifer's hair, before climbing back out the window into the air. "Goodnight Jennifer, goodnight Jill, I'll stop by tomorrow."

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Originally Posted By: Hana

"You guys were just having a nightmare."

Kristin gave a jerky nod, wracked with trembles, frozen, almost catatonic, her wide eyes unseeing. Or rather, locked on the terrors of her own mind. She had been back, bound and helpless, she could still the imprint of his hand on her ass, his... And now, the dark chains of Paradise had followed her to the Refuge, to their room at Violet's, where for a moment, she'd thought they might be safe, free.

But there was no succor, no freedom, not from this.

She wrapped her arms around herself, emitting a soft keening once more, her undersized nightshirt straining to near transparency against her taut, incredible physique. By the soft glow of the table lamp, Hana could see her bronzed skin glistening with night sweat.

Ashley looked on her cousin with grief-stricken sympathy, suppressing her own fear of the dark, the dark that had had heft, a terrifying, undeniable tangibility. Kristin may have thought the corporeal darkness was a product of her own nightmares, but Ashley knew it had been real; she had seen Hana's eyes.

Ashley gently guided Kristin back to bed, murmuring soothingly, running a soft hand through her silky hair, wincing at the steely tension knotting Kristin's back. After a startled flinch, Kristin let herself be led back to bed. She pressed herself into the corner, curled up into a tight ball, her stuffed elephant held desperately to her chest. Her green eyes glittered in the dim light, her keening dropping to barely audible whimpers.

Ashley wrapped a blanket around her distraught cousin, then turned back to face Hana, narrowed eyes dubious and discerning as she studied the younger girl's closed expression. First Simon, now this. There is something not right about her.

"Leave the light on," Ashley told Hana coolly, pointing at her own eyes with two fingers then at Hana, silently informing her that she was watching, even as she mouthed the warning.

Then she settled down to bed as well, snuggling close to Kristin, to give the comfort of a warm body that loved her unconditionally.

[Atomicweasel]

“Okay.” Hana meekly agreed, her voice barely a whisper. Her legs felt weak and she took a step back and sat down on the edge of the bed. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Hana thought, doubling over and holding her head in her hands as Ashley spooned around Kristin, their backs turned to her. I’m watching you. Ashley had mouthed at her. Hana’s hands trembled as she pushed them through her hair, smoothing her long black locks back from her forehead. She grabbed two fistfuls of her hair, tugging as she’d once tugged on her pigtails. She hadn’t worn her hair in pigtails in a very long time.

She knows. Hana let go of her hair and sat straighter, looking across the room at the back of Ashley’s head. Now what? It wouldn’t take much. It wouldn’t hardly take anything at all. It could be over before Kristin even noticed anything. Yeah, and then? Oh, hey Kristy, your um...cousin disappeared! Maybe she went to find your goat! You should go look for her! Hana twisted around and slumped back onto the bed, pressing her palms into her eyes. No. No no no no no. I’ll just talk to her. She doesn’t know anything. If she did then... ...if she did it would all be over. Everything she’d been through to get here, to win herself the protection of this place—the warm bed she was lying on, the pancakes in her stomach, the hot shower that awaited her in the morning, the clean clothes she was wearing—everything would be undone. And then she’d be back on the road, one day blurring into another, counting her scraps of food and always looking over her shoulder.

Hana glanced again at Ashley. It’s her or me. But Ashley had Kristin. Even if she let it all out, every last drop, Hana wasn’t sure she had enough to beat to Kristin. Sure, she was curled up and whimpering like a whiney baby now, but she had survived that prison and come walking out of it looking like she’d just stepped from a salon. The other survivors were all broken and scarred and used up. Not Kristin. Not physically, anyway.

“nnngh.” Hana muffled her groan by pulling her pillow down hard over her face. Her mind kept going round in circles. Think. She told herself. If Ashley really knew she’d have said something. She wouldn’t have just left it at that and gone to sleep again. She would have told Kristin. She would have told Violet. She would have told Simon. Hana pulled the pillow down just far enough to breathe. So what if she knows... Even if she did, what would she say? Who would believe her. Breathe. Hana reminded herself. She inhaled. She exhaled. She let her arms and legs relax. I’ll just talk to her...

Eventually, Hana’s eyes drifted closed and she fell into a light sleep. She was awoken several times in the night by Kristin’s tormented mewling, until a bone deep exhaustion finally set in and carried Hana into a merciful oblivion. Light was streaking in through the open window when Hana stirred awake. Her sheets and covers were all tangled up with her legs; her pillow was wet with her drool. “Mmn.” Hana rubbed her sleep puffy face and looked blearily around the room. Drowsiness made the epicanthic folds of her almond shaped-eyes especially pronounced.

[Amarant]

Walker stood over Jules awkwardly and listened in silence as she blew up at him.

When she was done, he said, "S'okay", and hid his uncomfortableness and embarrassment at the situation by clearing his throat. He held out one of his hands to her to help her up and said, "Not gonna telya it's ok, cuz it'd be a lie. S'posed ta hurt. Otherwise, you'd ferget."

"Should get back to the Refuge now, so Fox c'n figure out what th'fuck to do with you", he added, with just the faintest hint of a smile touching the corners of his lips. Maybe the shock of seeing Walker actually display a sense of humor would pull Jules out of her funk.

[z-Jules WhiteElk]

There had been rumors that John Walker didn't have a heart anymore; that it had been replaced by a black mass. There were rumors that he'd never been human, and had just taken advantage of z-day to emerge from his cave. Others said he was a hero, just terribly misunderstood.

Jules had never listened to those rumors, but she'd heard them. And she'd known they were wrong; now she wished that his detractors had seen what she had just seen - Walker showing compassion and reaching out to another person. Just because he wasn't demonstrative didn't mean he didn't care.

So she didn't snap that the last thing she needed was Morgan Fox, or even collapse into the yawning grief inside. He was right, so right, about grief and forgetting. Instead, she worked up a smile for Walker before implusively leaning in and kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you," she said simply. He was a good friend to her.

Turning, she fell into step with him, and considered what to do next. That was the question. She really had no idea what to do anymore. Ben had kept her going, then vengeance had been the fire that lit her up inside. She felt empty inside, hollow, lifeless. Her thoughts fell to darkness again as she headed for the Refuge.

[Amarant]

Externally, Walker seemed about as eerily calm and collected as he always did, but internally he was fairly reeling with shock as Jules did the utterly unexpected and gave him a kiss. Even if it was just on the cheek, where had that come from?

"Welcome", he muttered, barely able to speak around his sense of shock. Operating purely on instinct, Walker turned and began walking back to the Refuge, with Jules falling in beside him. The two of them walked in silence, Jules' thoughts bleak and despairing and Walker's tenebrous and alien.

[Dawn OOC]

Click to reveal..

5 xp