Aberrant: Dead Rising - Simon Says [Complete]

[Atomicweasel]

May 9th, Early Evening

Hana picked her way back across the camp, following the wall. A sour taste was in her mouth and a tightness had settled into her stomach. Ashley probably hated her now, which meant Kristin would soon hate her. Way to make friends. Hana thought miserably. The two cousins were the only girls close to her age Hana had met, or even seen, at the Refuge. Maybe there’d be more chances. But maybe there wouldn’t.

The loneliness felt crushing. There were tents and people all around her, but Hana felt no connection to any of them. It was like she was floating outside of herself and looking down at something make-believe. Those weren’t really people. They were just dirty hungry faces. They were just hard jaws peppered with scruffy growths of beard and dull unthinking eyes and bodies bent by the weight of their own grief. She passed by a group of men huddled around a trashcan fire, roasting something that had been speared through with a crooked stick and propped up between two empty coffee cans that had been turned upside down and set over wooden planks. A rabbit maybe. The smell of it made Hana’s mouth water. She thought of approaching them. She could wander up and gaze at them, all doe-eyed until they offered to share...but when one of the men glanced her way and grinned a broken toothed smile at her, she just walked on.

By the time she reached the edge of the river, the tightness in Hana’s stomach had reached her throat. Underneath a tree she found a branch and dragged it with her to the pebbly shoreline. She squatted on her heels by the riverside, poking the branch into the silt and watching the soil drift up like plumes of smoke beneath the water. Hana sat and tugged off her Adidas. She carefully stuffed her ankle socks into her shoes and stretched her legs out, dipping her feet into the river. The water was colder than she’d expected. She wriggled her little toes and felt the current slide cool and strong across her skin. From where she sat she could look up and see the tall outer fence of the Refuge. Someday, maybe, there would be a city there. Sprawling and messy. With muddy streets and people trading vegetables for bullets and trying to get by. Or maybe there won’t be anything, Hana thought maybe this is it. Maybe five or ten years from now there won’t be anyone at all... Then the weeds would curl their way up the walls of the Refuge and push through the cracks in the stone and Violet’s stripper house would get old and dusty and covered with cobwebs and the whole ragged place would just disappear back into the earth little by little until it was all gone. Reclaimed. And then even the zombies would go hungry and die. Again.

Hana watched the sun set in the reflection of the water. Deep wounded purples. Angry shades of orange. Silent tears were spilling down Hana’s cheeks when a long shadow stretched across her, blocking out the last of the fast fading light. She twisted around and looked up...

“Simon?”

[Dawn OOC]

"Hey, Hana," he said casually, crouching on the riverbank next to her. With a gentle touch, he reached out and caught her tear with a thumb. "What's wrong?"

His blue eyes were intent on hers; the compassion in them left her breathless. It took almost every ounce of willpower she had not to fling her arms around his neck and weep into his shoulder. The only thing stopping her was that she'd lose so many cool points if she did that.

Hana shrugged and looked away, too miserable to think of anything that didn't sound lame. "Ah," Simon said after a moment. Shifting slightly, he lowered himself fully to the ground, crossing his legs. "If you want company, I'd be happy to stay, or listen. Whatever you need Hana."

[Atomicweasel]

"Okay." Hana answered indistinctly.

The two of them sat in silence for a while. Hana slowly kicked her legs in the river. Simon picked pebbles and tried to skip the little stones across the surface of the water.

"What do you think?" Simon finally asked, showing Hana a smooth white stone with darker gray whorls, about the size of a quarter.

Hana nodded her approval and Simon cast the stone. They both watched it bounce and jump across the river, skipping five times before it sank. "Nice." Hana murmured. Simon simply smiled at her until Hana felt compelled to say something more...

"Do you ever just feel like..." Hana sighed in frustration. She didn't know how to put it into words. She tried anyway, "...like, everything and everyone that ever mattered is gone? And like no one really gets it? Like maybe we all died on Z-day, like the whole world did, but we just haven't figured it out yet?"

Simon absorbed this, then gently asked "Do you feel that way now?"

"Kind of. I don't know." Hana looked down at her knees, stilled her kicking feet. "Sometimes I just think like, what's the point of people trying to keep going when it's all gone. I mean, there's never going to be a New York again. And there's never going to be picnics and barbecues and dancing and just hanging out anymore. Everything changed. No one's ever going to be the person they used to be."

Simon watched Hana, waiting for her to go on. She glanced up at him, chewed her lip, and lowered her eyes again. "Ashley hates me." Hana blurted, apropos of nothing. "Are you guys like..." she trailed off, blushing, and finally left it at a little shrug.

[Dawn OOC]

Simon sighed. "Ashley's had a hard time of it," he said softly. "She... lost pretty much everything because she agreed to stay with Kristin. She had her own problems in that place, and I was the only person she could depend on for help. She's scared of losing me. It's not about you. It's about her."

His blue eyes looked out over the water and he looked a little sad. "She's a little troubled," Simon said softly. "I mean, we all are. We all have troubles. And yeah, none of us are the same.

"But Hana, life has always been about changing," Simon said simply. "Even before z-day, life changed things, sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad. Like z-day was very bad. But there has been some good - like meeting you." He gave her a crooked little smile that made her heart beat a little faster.

[Atomicweasel]

Hana felt a jolt of nervous energy. He likes me! She smiled back at him in her demure recalcitrant way and hoped that her excitement didn't show too plainly, that it was too dark to see the rosy blush under her eyes.

"Yeah," Hana withdrew her legs from the river and tucked her knees up to her chest. With swift swipes from her palms she wiped the water from her shins and calves. Her mind raced for something more to say. Something cool. Something not dorky. "I'm glad I met you, too." Dork. Dork dork dork. Hana's blush deepened.

"So," Hana hastened to add, wanting to move past the awkward tension she'd created for herself, "where are you staying now?" she asked with as much casual disinterest as she could feign, even as her heart skipped another beat.

[Dawn OOC]

"Well... last night I slept in a borrowed sleeping bag against the side of Miss Violet's building," Simon said softly, rubbing the back of his neck. Casually, he braced his neck with his hand and rotated his head, grimacing a little. "But I wanted to be close. Just in case."

He lowered his head a little and murmured, "You're being safe, right? There are a lot of rough sorts around here, and I don't want to see you getting hurt."

"I'm careful," Hana said, delighting that it sounded a little more sophicated to her ears this time.

"Good," he said with a smile. "I mean, I worry about the others, too, but you're-" He stopped, cleared his throat and looked away.

"Hey, do you know what kind of tree that is?" he asked suddenly, rising to his feet. Simon pulled out a pocket knife and cut off a branch, bringing it back to her. "My dad used to do this with me," he said, his voice really excited. He pulled off some of the dark green leafs and crushed them by rolling them back and forth between his palms. "Smell."

When Hana leaned in, she caught the smell of root beer. "Mmm," she purred softly. "What is that?"

"Sassafras," he said, cutting a twig off and stripping off the bark. "Here, chew on it. Natural breath freshner-" He chuckled a little. "I'm sorry, you don't need that, really. But it still tastes good - fragrant."

[Atomicweasel]

Hana took the proferred sassafras twig and dutifully chewed it. It shouldn't have surprised her that Simon knew about nature stuff too; he was just so cool. She imagined what it would be like if he just leaned forward and kissed her. She would tilt her head back and he would follow her and their lips would brush together with the taste of sassafras and then he would reach behind her to craddle her head as he lowered her to the ground and then...

Hana blinked. She was staring at Simon. She looked away, down at her toes. She had the dainty little feet of a child, because I am a child, Hana reminded herself. Or at least, that's how Simon would see her, try though she might to act grown-up. It was so unfair! And never before had Hana felt that unfairness so acutely as she did now. She was ten times more mature than Kristin and Ashley put together, but either one of them could play at being a woman while Hana would invariably be labelled 'just a kid.'

What made it especially unfair, Hana reflected as she slipped on her ankle socks and worked her feet back into her Adidas, was that Simon liked her. She could tell. She could feel it in the air between them. He'd been about to say it and those unspoken words special to me hung around as palpably as the root-beer smell of the sassafras.

"You wanna...walk around a bit?" Hana shyly invited Simon.

"Sure." His smile was warm and reasurring. It should've made her feel more relaxed. It didn't. Her heart was still nervously racing as she uncurled and got back to her feet. Should she try to hold his hand? Would that be totally lame and kiddy?

Simon solved that crisis for her by offering Hana his arm. She beamed. Perfect. And grown-up, too.

They crossed back into the Refuge, entering through the tent camp and strolling under the light of the stars as the sun finally dipped beneath the horizon in a last wash of bruised purple. "Hey, Simon..."

Simon glanced down at Hana. She opened her mouth to speak, paused, and then asked, "I've been wondering, how come there were so many women at that prison you came from?"

[Dawn OOC]

The smile left his face, and Hana momentarily panicked, wondered if she'd said something wrong. Then Simon cleared his throat and said, "They were being abused, Hana." There was no blunting of the truth for her; he looked her in the eyes, and she saw sorrow. "The men were keeping them as things, not people. Torture, rape... and they killed anyone who didn't agree with them. The only reason I'm alive is because I was friends with the leader, and he protected me."

Hana's eyes were wide as she absorbed this news. "It's funny, while I was in there, I just wanted to get out," he told her, the emotional magnitude of what he was saying clear in his voice. "Now, I wish I'd done more... more than saving one person. I thought..." He swallowed and looked away. "That's why I want you to be careful, Hana. People can seem to be really good, and then they're sick fucks. I don't want you getting messed up by someone like Joshua." He gave her the ghost of a smile, brittle and tender. "You're too sweet to suffer the things I saw."

[Atomicweasel]

Hana shook her head. “Don’t worry. I won’t.” She looked up at Simon, watching him as they walked together. “I’ll be careful.” She promised again as they skirted around a muddy puddle and kept walking unhurriedly past the tents. Hana wasn’t sure whether she was leading Simon or whether he was leading her. Their steps just seemed matched together, falling neatly into place one after the other. Hana thought back to all those long days spent walking the road. How much easier that time would’ve been with Simon at her side, to watch out for her, to protect her, to make sure everything came out alright. That must have been how Ashley felt with him. Protected and cared for. It was easy to see how much of a difference it had made for Kristin’s cousin...especially when you thought about what had happened to Kristin. Hana didn’t want to, but she couldn’t help imagining Kristin in a dank cell, naked and crying and pleading as a group of filthy men leered through broken yellow teeth and closed in...hands outstretched like claws.

“At least you did help someone though, even if it was just one person.” Hana pointed out as they ambled aimlessly through the Refuge. “You didn’t have to do that. You could’ve been like those other men there...the ones Daniel shot.” Hana’s dark blue eyes fixed on Simon searchingly. “You could’ve just taken whatever you wanted from Ashley or...whoever...” Hana hesitated, then pressed on, “That’s what people do...when they think they can get away with it. But you didn’t. You could’ve and you didn’t.” Hana gave Simon’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “That means you’re a good person. Not just not a bad person.” She smiled then, a heartbreakingly tender and coquettish smile.

A few steps later, emboldened by the giddy sense of elation she felt from sharing in Simon’s secrets, Hana’s mood turned mischievous. “And I’m not that sweet.” She whispered playfully.

[Dawn OOC]

Simon listened to her. She could tell he was really listening, like few other adults did. Her words were important to him. "I know you're right," he said softly, but his expression didn't look any happier. "But even when you know something to be true, guilt keeps us from feeling that. I'm glad I talked to you, though. Talking about things that make me feel guilty, especially secret things... sometimes the guilt doesn't feel so bad if you share it." Simon shook his head. "We weren't meant to be alone, or suffer alone. We're built to need friends and people we can trust."

Suddenly, his lips quirked in a bit of a smile. "And Miss Hana, you are far sweeter than most of the women I've known in the past seven months. The first time I met Ashley, she tried to kick me. You gave me pancakes and have been nothing but kind. Believe me, when I say sweet, I mean it as a good thing."

[Atomicweasel]

"Yeah, I guess I'm kinda sweet." Hana demured, with a little self-depreciating smirk. She didn't want to disagree with Simon. She didn't want to tell him that he was dead wrong. That the last thing you could count on was other people. That she didn't need anyone. Ever.

But even as she repeated her little mantra to herself, she found herself wrestling with doubt. If she didn't need anyone, why was she with Simon right now? Why had it filled her with hope when he sat down beside her. Why were his words Miss Hana tingling down the nape of her neck and making her throat go dry? Women Simon had said. Not girls. It took an act of will for Hana not to start skipping.

"Plus, you looked kind of hungry." Hana said, dragging herself out of her visions of Simon standing inches from her, staring longingly into her eyes. Miss Hana, I can't help myself. I love you... She gave a little cough and cleared her throat. "What did you used to do? You know, before Z day?"

[Dawn OOC]

Simon chuckled. "I was a cop," he admitted, grinning at her shyly. "A really bad one, actually. I'd been raised on the good ol' boy network." He looked away from her. "It was funny. When the zombies came, I found myself acting like a cop for the first time, ever. I tried to save some people, and that went wrong. Then Josh found me and offered to let me stay in the prison. By the time I realized what the full plan was, I also knew what we were facing out there. It was really easy to stop being a cop then."

He dug into a pocket and pulled out a badge, handing it to her. It was oblong, golden and stamped with designs. The metal banner on it was emblazoned with 'New Mexico State Police'. The back was simplier, with a pin to fasten the badge and a number stamped into it. It felt heavy in her hand and was still warm from being carried so close to him. "This was yours?" Hana asked.

"Yeah," he said, looking a little sad. "A long time ago, in another life." Suddenly, he laughed. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you all this. You're just... I find it easy to talk to you. About real things. Important things. I'm boring you, aren't I?"

[Atomicweasel]

Hana shook her head adamantly. "You're not boring me..." I really like you almost made it past her lips before she bit her tongue. Way too Junior High. She smiled lightly at Simon and handed him back his badge, her fingers brushing briefly over his.

She blushed at that and looked down at her Adidas, then tried to synchronize her steps with Simon so that her feet rose and fell just as his did. After a few steps she had it...and then she lost interest in her little game and returned to taking a step and a half for every one that Simon took.

"You know when I asked you before, about all the women in the prison?" Hana glanced up at Simon and saw his expression turn serious again. "And you told me about what happened, but what I meant was...how did they get there? Why were you all there? Or, okay, you were there cuz of your friend Josh...but how come everyone else was...and how come when Daniel and the others went over there they found zombies still there? Didn't you know about them?"

[Dawn OOC]

"Some of them were prisoners, before Z-day," Simon said softly, slipping the badge back into his pocket. His expression became troubled as he added, "Some of them came seeing santuary. Some were brought there by their husbands. But most had been locked up for crimes."

"What... kind?" Hana asked, her eyes wide at the thought that she'd been sleeping in a building full of convicts.

"All kinds," Simon said softly. "Theft, drugs, murder." He smiled humorlessly. "Most of them won't trouble you, Miss Hana. And if they do, let someone know. I understand this place has rules. They'll protect you.

"Many of the men were there for protection, to start," Simon continued. "Some of them... lost sight of reality. They thought that what they were doing was okay, because Josh said it was. It's something weird that happens to people. They lose realistic perspective if they recieve a constant supply of a new reality, over and over. Kidnapping, rape, torture, murder - it was all okay if it happened to a prisoner or an outside man." Simon sounded disgusted.

"The zombies." He stopped and swallowed hard. He stopped walking and turned to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Hana, I don't want to tell you. I really don't. But if you ask me to, I will, because I believe that truth is important. I think that people should know the truth, if they really want it. I'm going to ask you to think about whether you really want to know before you ask me to tell you why there were zombies there."

[Atomicweasel]

Simon was looking down at her, waiting for an answer. Hana looked up at him and gulped. Simon didn’t have to tell her. She was already imagining it...an enclosed courtyard with a high barbed wire fence, flood lights aimed down from the prison watch-towers. Inside the courtyard a forgotten basket-ball court where inmates had once played. Now shambling shapes lurched across its concrete surface, ravaged bodies with the skin pulled taut and gray across sinewy bits of muscle, here and there exposed, missing limbs, trailing bits of themselves with every slow and plodding step. And then the figures stop, and turn as one. A tense groan, a low inhuman noise, comes from the gaping holes of their mouths. Then the screams of a young woman, bruised and beaten, as she is shoved into the courtyard. The laughter of the men behind her distinct even over the noise of her terrified wailing. Hands reaching for her like claws. A desperate attempt to run on weak rubbery legs, that ends with a fall on the cold concrete. Shin and knees bloodied as they come for her. Rotting fingers dig through her hair, pull her open and naked as she screams and screams and screams at this last and horrible affront, this final gruesome indignity. And the men watch. Watch and joke nervously with one another. Laughter helps convince them they are still men and not monsters as the girl is taken apart, reduced literally and figuratively to meat. They smoke a cigarette as her pretty eyes glass over with the knowledge of her death. Maybe one of them turns away when her buttery insides are torn loose, spooled out of her like yarn. But maybe they all keep watching right up to the end. Later, what’s left of her will rise up again, a rotting husk that once had dreams and hopes and fears and wants...now another groaning empty thing that knows only hunger.

Hana decided she didn’t need to know if she was right. She shook her head at Simon and her voice came out in a small whisper. “I don’t need to know.”

Simon looked relieved. He gave Hana’s slender shoulders a small squeeze before letting go and gave her a somber smile. “You don’t.” He agreed. Together they walked back to Violet’s and Hana took comfort from the hard weight of Simon’s arm in hers. As they neared the building, Hana noticed Ashley fixing up a tent near one of the walls. She paused as Ashley’s gaze fell on her and Simon. It was a hurt, accusatory stare. Hana turned toward Simon, wanting to ask him outright, but when she opened her mouth to speak Simon bent down and held her in a brief and friendly hug.

“Thank you, Miss Hana.” Simon straightened. “I really enjoyed our walk.”

“Uh huh,” Hana murmured back at him dumbly, flushed with a warm glow that had chased all her suspicions away.

“And if you ever need a friend to talk to, you know where to find me.” Simon affectionately pushed Hana’s long mane of dark hair back from her forehead.

“Okay.” Hana choked out, smiling brightly even as she fought back a sudden urge to start bawling like a baby.

“Alright, sleep well, Miss Hana. And remember what I said about staying safe.” Simon clasped her arm in parting and turned and walked toward the tent. Hana stood there a moment, and then jogged up to Violet’s, hurrying to escape Ashley’s venomous stare. Padding quickly past the prison women downstairs, Hana climbed the stairs to her shared room. She found Kristin deep in sleep, curled up like a bug in the cousins’ bed, all bundled up in the covers. She looked so adorable, Hana couldn’t help but smile. Stripping quickly out of her clothes and folding them back into her bag, Hana got out her pajamas and began getting changed for bed.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

As Simon approached, Ashley hid her glare for the lying little hoyden behind a fond smile for the man who had given her succor in Paradise. She took his hand in a tight grasp and pulled him down onto the firm air mattress in the open arch of the tent.

"Dear Ashley, you are too kind. This was very thoughtful, and I thank you for it," Simon said with a warm grin, giving Ashley's hand a returning squeeze.

"It was nothing." Ashley tossed her head, flinging loose chest nut strands out of her face, suppressing a blush from his thrilling smile. He didn't leave me - us. "It's little enough, for everything you've done for me and my cousin."

"Ashley..." Simon sighed. "You don't have to thank me. You and Kristin should never have been put in that situation. None of the women should have been." He placed his hands on her shoulders, rubbing the tenseness away. "I regret that I couldn't have done more. You were the only one I could spare, and even there, I couldn't spare you from everything."

"You did enough." Ashley met his clear blue eyes with ones of gold-flecked brown. Her lips parted, back slightly arched. She had found a friend where she had no reason of finding one. As much as she thought she wanted more, she was extremely grateful he had never taken it further. Now it was her turn to watch out for him, especially as he couldn't see the danger. She chewed her lip worriedly, then pressed on. "That girl you were with... Hana? I think you should be careful around her. She's...hiding something..."

"Ash, Hana's very young and lost a lot too." Simon's voice was reproving but the amused quirk to his lips took the sting out of it. "We all have things that are hard to share. Give her time, okay Ashley, for me? Please?"

"No, Simon - you don't understand, there were these shadows - I felt them!" She saw Simon's eyes harden and she pressed on, not wanting him to think she was nuts. She had to explain. "First she said it was just a nightmare and then she said Violet did it, but Violet wasn't even there. She did it! I know it."

Simon's hands grew tight on her shoulders, almost hurting and the look in his eyes was very grave. "If this is true... Ashley, please, listen to me. I think you should stay away from her, okay? She could be very dangerous. You trust me to handle it, don't you? Promise me. I couldn't take it if something happened to you before I had a chance to stop."

The only time Ashley had seen Simon like this was when the worst was happening at Paradise, so she knew he was being very serious. But Kristin was there, in the room with Hana, and she couldn't take it if something happened to him. Her lips pressed into a tight line, hiding the fluttering in her heart, then nodded.

"Oh - okay, I promise, Simon. I'm just going to check on Kristin, now, then." She ducked her head, looking at Simon through a curtain of dark hair. "I'm not sure what we're gonna do. She... she just found out she's... pregnant."

"Interesting," Simon pondered in a low voice, blue eyes cold and distant as a smirk played across his lips. Ashley withdrew from his touch with a shudder, her eyes wide. She had never seen him like that. "Wha - what do you mean, Simon?"

Simon shook his head, and when he look at Ashley, it was him again, not some creepy imposter. "It is a surprise, Ashley, and that's going to be a very difficult decision for her. You should go check on her. And remember what I said about avoiding Hana."

"I will," Ashley tossed over her shoulder, her heart pounding with... something. She hustled around the large building and entered through the back, running softly up the stairs. She took a deep breath, then cracked open the door and slid inside.

Ashley found Hana inside, her back to her, just finishing changing into her pajamas, pulling the top on. She padded up behind the little lying pre-teen, a hand snatching out and twisting tightly in her midnight.

"You fuckin' tiny cunt!" Ashley spat venomously, bending down to put her mouth next to Hana's ear. Using her greater weight and leverage, she began shoving the smaller girl towards the empty bed. "Those - those Darkness...things were yours, you lying bitch! And whatever you're doing to Simon, you're gonna stop. Now!"

[Atomicweasel]

“Oww!” Hana yelped, “Ashley, what the fuck!?”

“Shut your fuckin’ hole!” With her fistful of the little teen’s hair, Ashley kicked Hana’s legs apart from behind and slammed her face-first into the bed, dropping her hard onto her knees. She bent Hana roughly at the waist, pressing up behind her and leaning over her to hiss “keep your fuckin’ voice down, cunt. If you wake Kristy up, I’ll beat your fuckin’ face in. Got it?” To emphasize her point Ashley yanked Hana’s head back by her hair and then smashed her face back into the mattress.

“mmmnnngh!” Hana squealed. She tried to push up with her arms, but Ashley had dropped onto her back, smothering her, digging her hips painfully into the bed-frame.

“First, you little cock-sucking piece of shit, I want to know what you did to Simon. You fuckin’ infected him didn’t you!? You got your…your fucking Darkness into him!”

“I didn’t!” Hana gasped, her scalp burning where Ashley jerked at her hair.

“You fuckin’ did! I know it was you! I know you made those things!” Ashley dug her elbow into Hana’s back and pulled harder on her hair, cranking her neck up. “You didn’t tell me Kristy was pregnant you fuckin’ whore! This is your last fuckin’ chance, do you hear me? Don’t fuckin’ lie to me, Hana!” she whispered savagely.

“You’re crazy!” Hana was crying in short scared sobs.

“I’m crazy? I’m crazy?” Ashley growled in Hana’s ear. “You haven’t even seen crazy yet. I’ll fuck you up, Hana! What did you do to Simon!? Tell me what you did to him!”

“Fuck you! I fucked him, okay!?” Hana shot back defiantly.

“You fuckin!—” Ashley saw red. She whipped Hana over onto her back, yanked her up by her top and gave her a blistering slap across the face. Hana saw stars. Her ears were ringing. She felt the back of her head strike the mattress, then dizzily registered that Ashley had knotted a fist in her top and was jerking her back onto her feet for another slap…

Instinctively, Hana tucked her chin into her shoulder and shot an arm up, elbow high, to block Ashley’s blow. For a split second, Ashley’s rage gave way to surprise. It was all Hana needed. She threw a crisp right left combination and felt and heard her knuckles crack against Ashley’s jaw and nose. Ashley’s head snapped back.

“Aaahhh!” the older girl cried out, “You bitch!” Ashley surged at Hana.

,,

“HAIISH!” Hana yelled, ducking under Ashley’s hard right cross and swiveling her hips sharply to drill a roundhouse kick into Ashley’s chest.

“Unnnf!” Ashley groaned, the air bubbling out through her bloodied nose, her right breast stinging horribly. “You slippery little—“ Hana slammed a shin kick into her stomach and a second later another kick blasted Ashley’s ribs.

“Aanghh!” Ashley doubled over and wrapped her arms around her head protectively. She blocked another combination from Hana then jerked back and took a glancing kick to the head. Hana was fast, much too fast, Ashley saw. It was time to get serious. She saw Hana's feet shift, and then the kick hammered into her side. Only this time, Ashley was ready. She caught Hana's leg against her waist and heaved up as she shot in, taking them both to the ground with a crash. Hana jerked her legs up, wrapping them around Ashley's sides. She curled up defensively and Ashley's fist struck her forearm instead of her face. The second punch glanced off Hana's elbow. When Ashley reared up, cocking her fist and looking for an opening, Hana pushed her legs against Ashley's hips with all her might and rolled...

...Kristin finally came awake at the sound of the fighting. She blinked at what she was seeing. Hana was sitting on top of her cousin, trying to rain punches down on Ashley's face while Ashley was punching up from the bottom. Both girls looked completely exhausted, but they kept batting at each other, cursing and crying out when one of their weakly thrown punches connected.

“Stop!” Kristin shouted furiously. She sprang out of the bed like a lioness, and in one swift motion grabbed the back of Hana’s top by the collar and flung her off of Ashley.

Hana sailed across the room and cracked into the door, sliding down onto her butt and holding the back of her head in both hands. “Ow.” She whimpered.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Hana!?” Kristin demanded, outraged.

“She started it!” Hana accused, pointing at Ashley. Fresh tears spilled from her pretty dark blue eyes and her lower lip quivered with wounded indignation.

Ashley lurched back to her feet, her face red and angry and her own eyes bright with unshed tears, but Kristin jerked her thickly muscled arm out, stopping her. “I said, STOP.” Kristin repeated with finality.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin was pissed. She had been having a good dream for once, winged and flying with Gabrielle, in a sky bluer than bluer, all her worries far away, just like the world so far below. And now she had woken up to this, two girls fighting for no reason she could see. Her lips peeled back in a silent snarl - it reminded her of the 'gladiatrix' fights Hornsbeck would sometimes force some of the women to do.

Kristin glowered down at Hana with hard, green eyes, then turned her narrow-eyed gaze on Ashley. "What the hell is going on?"

Ashley swallowed, scrubbing the tears from her eyes with an arm, then forcing a contrite smile on her lips. She placed a hand on Kristin's arm, suppressing a wince at the feel of the iron muscles coiling beneath her skin.

"Kristy, I'm sorry, but please, listen. Kristin, you can't believe a word that little bi-" Ashley took a deep breath and changed what she was going to say as Kristin lowered her brows, "that Hana says. She lies about everything. Remember last night, those heavy shadows?"

Kristin nodded sharply, giving Hana a warning glance when the small girl tried to stealthily reach for the door. "Yes, it was just a nightmare, a bad one."

"It wasn't! She did that." Ashley pointed accusingly at Hana. "She lied about it, and when I confronted her about it, she said Violet did. But that was a lie too. Violet wasn't even here."

Kristin stalked across the room, bunching a hand in Hana's pajama top and effortlessly lifting her to feet. Her other hand was stretched back, keeping Ashley from getting any closer, though over Kristin's strong shoulder, Hana could see the taller girl's gold-brown eyes gleaming gloatingly.

"Well?" Kristin growled menacingly.

"I - it's - please-" Hana stammered, desperately trying to think up a plausible excuse that the over-muscled teen would buy.

"And that's not even everything." Ashley grinned viciously with cruel triumph. Fuckin' whore can't squirm her way out of this one. "I was trying to warn Simon about her, and he didn't believe me. He was almost... not quite himself. That - Hana said she fucked him - and that's a total lie. Simon would never do anything like that with a little girl. And if he did, it could only be because she did something to him, got her darkness into him-"

"I lied! I lied about that, I swear, Kristy." Hana twisted, prying futilely against Kristin's arm and having about as much success as she would against a railroad track. "Ashley saw me talking with Simon and must've been jealous or something 'cause then she came back here and was all 'What the fuck cunt!' and totally attacked me like a crazy bitch, hurting me and I just wanted to hurt her back, but she's lots bigger'n me and so I said the first thing that came to mind and-"

"Why you!" Ashley lunged again, but Kristin held her back with negligent ease.

"That's ENOUGH!" Kristin's furious scowl was directed at both girls. "You're fighting over a man? Simon? Simon? He was a fuckin' guard in Paradise. If he seems nice, it's 'cause he's better at hiding what he did and what he wants to do." Kristin snarled, her anger a palpable thing. "That's IT! I'm dragging both of you to see him right now! An' if he doesn't explain what-the-fuck, I'm gonna rip his balls off!"

"NO!" Hana and Ashley squealed at the same time. Neither of them wanted Simon to see them as there were.

"Yes."

Kristin's strength was implacable. Hana was swung over a shoulder, barely able to squirm with the unnaturally strong arm around her waist. Kristin's other hand snatched Ashley's wrist, her grip gentle, but unbreakable, despite straining with everything she had. Heedless of their pleas, she dragged them out into the hall, then down the backstairs and outside.

"Where is he? Tell me, or I'm gonna carry you two all through the Refuge, yelling his name." Her jade eyes blazed, her voice low and eerily matter-of-fact, and both resisting girls knew that it wasn't an idle threat. Hands trembling, Hana and Ashley simultaneously pointed around the corner of Violet's.

Kristin stomped around the corner, battered captives in hand, and stalked right up the tent. "Simon!" she snarled, in question and demand.

In front of the entrance, Kristin swung Hana and Ashley around in front of her, a hand on the back of each of their necks to keep them from running. Ashley had grown deathly pale, but tried to hold herself confidently straight. Hana sagged in the incredible grip, trying to portray an innocent helplessness.

[Atomicweasel]

Hana's pajama top was a ruined, stretched out mess. The collar had torn some, where Ashley and Kristin had jerked at it, and now the little top kept slipping down Hana's shoulders and threatening to expose her. Her cheek still stung where Ashley had slapped her, her scalp still burned from having Ashley yanking on her hair, and her stomach ached from being bounced up and down on Kristin's rock-hard shoulder.

"Kristy, this is stupid," Hana murmured miserably, "let me go." She held the top in place with one hand, but she still felt vulnerable standing barefoot on the grass in her thin pajamas. "You're hurting my neck." Hana added with a wince.

[Dawn OOC]

The affiable smile on Simon's face disappeared into a mask of anger. "Let them go," Simon said to Kristin, his voice a whip-snap of command. The blond glared at him but released them. Snatching a blanket off his sleeping pile, he put it around Hana's shoulders, covering the threatening exposure. "Go change," he ordered her, "and then come right back."

His blue eyes raked angrily over all of them. "Then we're all going to talk about this. Like adults." To Hana, he added, "Hurry. We won't start without you."

[Atomicweasel]

Wrapped in Simon's blanket, Hana blinked back tears and did as she was told. She shot a parting glare at Ashley, but stalked obediently back into Violet's and up to their shared room. There she angrily flung the ruined pajama top on the floor, and changed into her old pair of torn jeans. She pulled on a white tank top inherited from Kristin and stuffed first one arm and then the other into her hoodie. Then she jammed her feet into her Adidas, not even bothering with the laces. She was about to leave when her eye caught the gleam of her father's .38 shining from inside her backpack. She walked back, knelt by the bag and looked down at it.

After a moment she zipped her backpack up and shoved it under her bed, then rose to her feet and tromped back down the stairs. She stopped rubbing her sore neck as she neared Simon's tent and slipped her hands into her hoodie pockets.

"This is her fault," Hana said sullenly. "I didn't even do anything to her." She looked briefly at Ashley, the way one might look at a particularly icky bug.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

"You-" Ashley began, cutting herself off under Simon's azure glower. Restraining herself to a single vicious glare for the little skank, Ashley composed herself with an effort, giving Simon a confident and sincere smile.

"Simon... Hana is a pathological liar, I'm afraid to say, and dangerous as well. Last night, she tried to strangle me and Kristy with... I guess you can call it solid darkness. She tried to bluff and say it was only a nightmare, but when I challenged her, she tried to blame Violet, which was another lie, since Violet wasn't even there. And was mean as well, since Violet had been nothing but a good host."

A note of pleading entered Ashley's voice and she took a step forward, stretching out a hand to Simon. "I know you said to avoid her, but I had to go back for my cousin, and she was right there and I couldn't just let her get away with it. And I think- You understand, right, Simon?" Her golden-brown eyes cut to Hana, seeming to say, You're fucked now.

Kristin stayed quiet, strong arms crossed beneath her breasts, attention flipping back and forth from her cousin and Hana, avoiding Simon's angry blue eyes. She was free now and didn't have to take looks like that anymore. At the moment, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her hands around his throat and squeeze, feeling the life die within him.

[Dawn OOC]

"Your turn, Hana," Simon said. His voice was still hard, and he didn't respond to Ashley's extended hand. He was implacable at the moment, a cold man far removed from the warm one who'd offered her a Twix bar and a smile. In fact, he looked pissed.

[Atomicweasel]

"I don't get why you're angry at me!" Hana began, taking a little step forward so she could turn sideways to face all three of them. "It's so unfair!" Her lower lip was quivering, her hands secretly trembling inside her hoodie. "I'm getting ready for bed and out of nowhere Ashley comes up and starts pulling my hair--really fucking hard--and shoving my face in the bed and calling me cunt and whore and bitch and saying I did all this stuff to you and that I make black shadow shit or whatever!" Hana blurted in a rush. She sucked in a breath, eyes wide with hurt and anger. "Just because she had some dumb nightmare and has a total hard-on for you--and okay maybe I did tell her about how Violet can make you feel happy or sad or scared or whatever she wants but that's true. And I only said that because I was just trying to help her figure out what happened!"

Hana sniffled, then hastily wiped her sleeve across her eyes. "Even if I could make stupid dark things that choke people and stuff, why would I try to hurt you guys?" she twisted to appeal directly to Ashley and Kristin. "You gave me food and you gave me clothes..." Hana drew up her hood and tugged hard on the strings. She looked dejectedly down at the grassy ground in front of Simon's tent, entirely hiding her expression. "...I just wanted to be friends." she finished in a faltering little whisper.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Black, Eyes: Very dark blue, Appearance 4 (cute), Dexterity 5 (flexible), Intelligence 4 (bright).

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin shifted uncomfortably under Hana's deep blue-eyed appeal. Ashley was starting to sound sorta unreasonable, but she still had to believe Ashley had a good reason for her assertions - she wouldn't just make stuff up like that. "I want to be friends too..." Kristin began uncertainly.

"So do I," Ashley said over her cousin, gritting her teeth from the effort of restraining herself from giving the bitch another slap. She blew out a sharp breath, then continued in a voice the very soul of reasonableness, if still a bit tight. "But friends don't lie to each other, Hana. Both of us know what really happened last night, don't we? And it wasn't a nightmare, was it? Maybe as you say, you have no reason to want to hurt us, but maybe that means you don't know how to control whatever the fuck it is you do, and are scared and ashamed about it."

Ashley arched a brow, giving Hana a chance to respond, but she keep her face down, eyes on the grass and wouldn't meet Ashley's accusing gaze. "I might even believe that, but you have to look at it from our perspective. Kristin is really strong and could probably deal with your shadow things, no problem, but I'm not. When those things were around me, I couldn't move!" Ashley's voice rose sharply, and she took a step closer to Hana, but was stopped by a strong hand from Kristin. "Do you have any idea how fuckin' terrifying that was? And worst, rather than taking responsibility for what you did, you made excuse after excuse for why is wasn't you. So how are we to know if it was an accident what you did, or if you did it on purpose?"

Ashley strained against Kristin's hand, and she was openly angry now, her voice a low hiss. "For all we know, you might be a psychotic little bitch who thinks just 'cause you're young and cute, no one will suspect you of doing anything bad. Then you choke them in their sleep. How did you survive all by yourself so long, huh? Huh?!" Ashley's attention snapped back to Simon, eyes hot. "You know, she said she fucked you, Simon. Either she's lying, and proves that she's a liar... Or she's not. And what does that mean?"

[Atomicweasel]

"God, Ashley, you're such a fucking pill!" Hana looked up sharply, then cast a quick nervous glance at Simon. "That's not how it was!" Hana hastily explained.

"She was pulling my hair all over the place and going 'what did you do to Simon, what did you do to Simon'?" Hana flaps her arms around and makes a face in imitation of Ashley, "and I'm like, 'nothing, stop being a hobo' and she's all 'I'll kill your face' or whatever, and like 'tell me what you did, tell me what you did,' so, finally I'm just like, 'fine, I fucked him!' just to get her to shut the fuck up!"

Hana whirled back on Ashley, "And I'm the psychotic bitch?" Hana rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. "Seriously, this is so unfair."

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Black, Eyes: Very dark blue, Appearance 4 (cute), Dexterity 5 (flexible), Intelligence 4 (bright).

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Ashley laughed, hands clapping sarcastically as she sneered at the exasperated Hana. "Oh, brava, Hana, that's an amazing performance. Oscar-worthy, for sure. Please! No one's gonna buy your bullshit anymore."

Ashley turned her gaze back to Simon, pleading with silent eyes of honey-brown. "I... I admit that maybe - maaaaaybe, I overreacted, just a bit. But I was scared, who knows what she can do, and she's trying to take you fr-" Ashley cut herself off with a noise that sounded like she was punched in the gut. She closed her eyes, trying to reclaim a remnant of composure before she appealed to Simon again.

"Simon, listen to her, according to her, nothing is ever her fault, everyone else is to blame. She sneaks around, being all 'Oh, don't mind me, I'm just an angel', and 'overhears' everyone's secrets - Dr. Myfwany talking about Violet's powers, telling Kristy that she's pregnant, and who knows what else. Then she spreads lies like rain, with just enough truth to make them seem believable."

Ashley gave Hana a sidelong glance, then sniffed contemptuously. "Who are you gonna believe, Simon? A little girl you met just yesterday and don't know anything about? Or me, who was with you nearly constantly for more than three months and told you everything?"

Kristin was getting really angry. Ashley and Hana were just arguing, fighting over Simon, she thought. And Simon just stood there, long furious, looking just like... the men from Paradise. He was from Paradise. Kristin pushed between Ashley and Hana, casually brushing them aside, and glared up at Simon, hands balled into tight fists.

"Ash said you were nice, that you helped her, but you don't seem different than any of the men from Paradise to me." Men was spat like a filthy curse. "I think you're doing something to Ash and Hana, making them fight over you. Is this a game to you?!" Kristin accused.

Ashley gasped as she saw conscious thought fading from her cousin's large, green eyes, buried beneath a tortured rage, her muscles taut, ready to pounce. Ashley scrambled back to her feet and wrapped one arm over Kristin's shoulder, one around her waist, and tried to hold her back, knowing that she would fail.

"Kristy! No! Please, it's not Simon's fault!" she called desperately in Kristin's ear, struggling against her impossible strength. "It's just me and Hana fighting, cause- Please, please don't do this! It'll just hurt you more than him."

[Dawn OOC]

Simon appeared to be responding to Ashley as she wound down her rant. Then he saw the loss of control in Kristin's eyes.

"Kristin, your rages will only be tolerated so long," he said softly, his voice pleading. Anger was still there, but there was concern, something she'd never seen in Paradise. "You'll lash out and hurt someone, and then you'll be in trouble. No one wants to see that; I know I don't want to see that. I'm not trying to set Ashley and Hana against one another. I don't play games. I swear that to you."

He seemed completely sincere, but not afraid of her. "What do you want from me to convince you that I'm not going to try to enslave you, Kristin? What will it take? Me on my knees, begging forgiveness for something I had no part in? Do you want to flog me until my back is open and bleeding? Or is your hatred so great that only my death will satisfy?" He spread his hands, his blue eyes locked on her green ones. "Name it, Kristin. Just tell me what you want from me. No promises on granting it, but at least I'll know where we are."

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

“I don’t – I want…” the over-muscled teen said in a small voice, Simon's sincere concern at war with her tortured soul.

Kristin quivered, her breaths coming in ragged gasps and her hands pressed to her head. She was held back from her need to lash out purely by her cousin’s arms, and it had nothing to do with Ashley’s strength. She had been infected with a poison of hate, she knew it was consuming her, and yet, it was so hard to stop. Tears rolled unheeded from the corners of eyes of burning jade, trailing across her perfect cheekbones.

“I see you, Simon, and I’m back there! I want to do to you everything that was done to me. Everything!”

“The skinnings.” Kristin twitched, a hand going to her chest.

“The savage beatings.” She jerked from unseen blows.

“The hot pokers.” She convulsed, throwing Ashley free.

“The crucifixitions.” Hands and feet knotted into useless lumps.

“The chain and tight, tight collar. Tight!” Her breathing was a thin rasp.

“Piss and crushed glass in you food.” She gagged, dry-heaving.

“The cocks and other things shoved in my ass and my cunt and my mouth.” Kristin collapsed to her knees, forehead pressed to the ground, keening.

“Even being infected with the fucking spawn of those motherfuckers,” she whispered, glaring up at Simon from her knees. Her face broken and beautiful with a fearful symmetry, jade eyes not seeing him, but the horrors he represented. “I try, but holding back the rage, for every man, from everyone… it’s so hard and it’s killing me, I think.”

Wracked with tremors, nearly catatonic, Kristin slumped on her heels, staring up at the night sky, the serenity of the stars cruelly mocking. Her voice was soft and empty. “Kristin died in Paradise and a monster wearing her skin came out. Dad and Aunt Abby and Caleb were right to leave me. You should have left too, Ash.”

Ashley stalked back to her cousin, fighting back angry tears, her conflict with Hana completely forgotten, and took Kristin’s chin in her hand, turning her head to face her. Then she slapped her resoundingly across the face, her palm reddened more than Kristin’s cheek.

“Never say that, Kristy. Never!” Ashley placed a hand on either side of Kristin’s face, kneeling in front of her and pressing her forehead against her cousin’s. “They left, but I stayed and I don’t care if we never see those fuckers ever again. They were so wrong. You’re not a monster. You’re Kristin Colleen Mackenzie and the most incredible girl I know. What you were willing to do for me... No one would do that, or should. You’ve been hurt, but you’ll get better, I promise, and I’ll be with you all the way.”

[Atomicweasel]

Hana raised the sleeve of her hoodie to her mouth and quietly watched the pain spill out of Kristin. She looked on as Kristin fell to her knees and spelled out her grief. Hana felt her throat thicken and her stomach tie itself into a knot. Kristin's story was far different from her own, but the ending seemed the same.

When had Hana Rothschild gone away altogether? Had it happened right off? Had it been a slow festering, little nibbles of her real self gone each day until one day the face in a cracked rest stop mirror, in the shimmering puddle of spilled oil, hadn't been her own? She didn't have an Ashley to tell her she was still there. And if she had, would it even have made a difference? Did it make a difference to Kristin? Hana decided it did. Ashley was the last bit of glue holding the pieces of Kristin together.

Hana's fingertips grazed softly over Kristin's shoulder as she turned to leave. She'd taken no more than five steps when Simon called after her.

"Wait a moment, please."

"I'm...I'm tired, Simon." Hana turned to tell him, her face washed clean of emotion, as inscrutable as a stone. She still slowly backpedaled, taking a few more hesitant steps. "I just want to go to bed."

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Black, Eyes: Very dark blue, Appearance 4 (cute), Dexterity 5 (flexible), Intelligence 4 (bright).

[Dawn OOC]

"Then I'll walk you back," he said, ducking out of the tent with her. Speaking softly, he murmured, "They need some time alone, I think. I wish there were more I could do to help."

He was silent until they reached the front door. "Hana, are you ok?" he asked her softly. "Did Ashley hurt you?" He looked honestly concerned.

[Atomicweasel]

"She's totally nuts about you," Hana said in a low voice, trying to look back over Simon's shoulder to see if Ashley were coming up behind them. She leaned against the wall next to the door and looked up at Simon earnestly. "Ever since she saw me talk to you, she's been all weird. She acts like you guys are married or something, and I'm trying to steal you for myself."

"I was all she had for a while, the only protection," Simon said, his voice sad. "Why wouldn't she feel possessive, even now that she doesn't need me?"

Hana shrugged. "I just don't know what to do." the little teen said heavily, lowering her eyes. "I mean...she thinks I'm some kind of psycho killer; she says I have evil powers and shit; she says I listen in on everything everyone says--but I was just there when Dr. Myfwany told her cousin she was pregnant...and I didn't tell anyone! I didn't even tell Ashley and she tried to make me...it's like nothing I do or say or anything is ever okay with her." Hana swallowed thickly. "And you should've seen her go after me upstairs. I mean...what the hell?" Hana lifted her deep blue eyes and looked imploringly at Simon. "I didn't want to fight her...but she made me. And then, obviously Kristy's gonna take her side..."

The growing darkness outside seemed to fill Hana's eyes, like they were drinking in the night, and the tears that shone in them and brimmed over made them shine like black oceans...beautiful, but tinged with some quiet menace.

"It just makes me so mad."

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Black, Eyes: Very dark blue, Appearance 4 (cute), Dexterity 5 (flexible), Intelligence 4 (bright).

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Ashley held her cousin's face to her chest, rocking her lightly on the grass in front of the tent. Kristin was utterly silent, her breath coming deep and slow, iron muscles tense and slack by turns. Over Kristin's silky blond head, Ashley saw Hana come close and was about to tell her to fuck off and die, until she saw the expression in the girl's midnight blue eyes. It was the same, the exact same, expression Kristin had in her eyes when she said she, the person known as Kristin, was dead.

Watching Hana approach, brushing her fingertips across Kristin's shoulder, Ashley's deep amber eyes grew unfathomable, hate fading into a neutral wariness and something else Hana couldn't identify. But there was one thing Hana was instinctively sure of - Ashley knew.

Ashley rubbed Kristin's back, humming softly as she watched Hana walk off with Simon, her expression smooth and contemplative. As far as she was concerned, her suspicions were proven. Kristin may have had so much taken from her, done to her, but she wasn't able to hide her changes, not like Hana seemed able to do. Kristin and Hana had both lost pieces of themselves, one from the outside, one from the inside, but in the end, they both had the same fear, the fear of losing who they were.

Ashley didn't hate the other girl, didn't even fear her anymore, save for a slight trepidation. But there was no chance they could be friends, or have anything to do with each other, until Hana admitted what she was. She didn't trust the extent she would go to protect her secret, perhaps even from herself.

[Dawn OOC]

"You probably need to get away from her," Simon said softly. He leaned against the building and sighed. "I'm sorry that you two fought. I want you to like one another, to be friends. You're both nice people, but this world tears people apart, sets them against one another."

He was silent. "Hana, what I said before, about being able to trust me? I mean that. I'm your friend, and I'll be here if you need it."

[Atomicweasel]

“I need to show you something.” Hana murmured after a deep and pregnant pause. She couldn’t meet Simon’s eyes, and spoke to his feet instead. “If you’re really my friend...”

“I am.” Simon said simply and sincerely.

“You might not want to be.” Hana answered, eyes glued to the ground until Simon gently raised her chin and forced her to look up at him.

“What is this about, Hana?”

“Not here.” Hana reached for Simon’s hand and pulled him to the door, but he stopped her, squatting down in front of her.

“Hana, I can’t go in there.” Simon patiently explained. “It would send the wrong message to those women. They’ve been through so much already and emotionally, it must be very tense for them. Seeing me in there, it might undo the sense of safety and security we’ve tried to create for them at this place. You understand that, don’t you?”

Hana nodded hesitantly. “Yeah. But—“

“The quarantine building is empty, I think.” Simon rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “If you feel we need to speak in private.”

“Yeah, I do.” Hana looked back to where Ashley still crouched by Kristin, comforting her cousin. She could never tell them. Ashley already hated her. Maybe it could’ve been different...if she hadn’t seen, if they’d been friends first. Maybe then. But now it was too late by far. Hana figured she’d be lucky if they let her keep the clothes Kristin had given her. She’d be luckier if they didn’t kick her out of the room.

“C’mon, then.” Simon began picking his way carefully through the dark to the quarantine building. At his side, Hana strolled along, as sure of foot in the night shrouded Refuge as if she were a cat. They finally reached the quarantine building, and the two of them slipped inside like burglars planning a heist.

“I can’t see a thing in this place...” Simon muttered, feeling along the wall for the light switch.

“Here,” Hana said from a few feet away. The overhead lights flickered on, casting a wavering sickly yellow light over the rows of cots.

Simon turned toward Hana, watched her stray shyly to the side of one of the beds. “So, what is this secret you’ve been carrying around?”

“I don’t want you to hate me.” Hana sat on the edge of the cot.

“Of course I won’t hate you.” Simon crossed the room and sat beside Hana.

“Ashley does.” Hana pointed out.

“Hana, you can tell me anything. Or if you don’t want to, you don’t have to say anything at all.” Simon fixed her with an earnest stare. “I just see you struggling...under this weight. And I want to lift it from you.”

“If I show you, you can’t tell anyone.” Hana implored.

“Of course not.”

Hana twisted the bedraggled friendship bracelet around her wrist. She gave it three full turns before she whispered, “Okay.” When she raised her eyes to Simon they were flecked with darkness. As he watched, those flecks became deeper whorls until the blue of Hana’s pretty eyes became a shining black, as if someone had poured ink into them. They filled and filled with darkness...and then they began to overflow. Black ichors spilled from Hana’s eyes, dripping slowly down her cheeks like tears of oil. A second later the room vanished into a darkness so complete that Simon could see nothing.

“That’s my secret.” Hana said in a small voice.

[Dawn OOC]

In the cloying dark, Simon put a hand on her back. "It's alright, Hana," he said softly. "You did this to defend yourself, didn't you?" As he said it, she was there again, in trouble, surrounded. With a shudder, she forced the memory away. It wasn't as hard as she feared; the memory slid away easier, driven off by the comforting hand on her back and the gentle harmonics of Simon's voice.

"I don't see anything wrong with this," her friend added a moment later. "Of course, I don't see much of anything.

"I see why you don't want to tell other people," Simon continued. "This would be scary, to those who don't trust you enough. They might be frightened of you, scared that you'd blinded them, or that you were about to attack them." His hand moved up her back to her hair, and his fingers brushed her hair behind her ear. "I'm not afraid of you, and I'm honored that you'd trust me with this."

[Atomicweasel]

"But it's not just this!" The darkness seeped away, sucking itself back into Hana's eyes with alarming speed, great big ribbons of it vacuumed as if into a black hole. It happened so fast, Simon barely had time to make sense of it before the darkness was all gone, and they sat once more under the faulty stuttering lights of the quarantine bunker.

“It does other things…worse things.” Hana raised her face to Simon. “It…it’s like…” she struggled to find the words for it, stammering, then drawing a deep breath and blurting it all out in a rush, “It’s always inside me and I can feel it swimming around in me and trying to bubble up out of me and I try to hold it back but sometimes I can’t like when I’m angry or scared and then I have to hold onto it so tight because if I let go even a little bit it’ll get away from me and do…and…”

“And do what?” Simon’s hand returned to Hana’s back as she bent over and put her face in her hands. He rubbed gently, kneading out the tension in her slender frame until Hana at last lifted her eyes to him again. The black had gone out, leaving her irises deep blue as before.

“I’ve done really bad things, Simon. I’ve hurt people. Real bad.” Hana’s lower lip trembled as she kept back her tears. “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t want to…but I couldn’t help it.”

“It’s not your fault, Hana. You only did what you had to do to survive. You know that.” Simon said soothingly.

“No.” Hana shook her head, and sniffled back a sob. “No. It’s worse than that…” She let out a trembling sigh and pressed her palms into her eyes, fighting for control. “Sometimes…sometimes I liked it.”

[Dawn OOC]

Hana expected horror or fear from Simon. That's not what she got. "Of course you liked it," he said, his voice soothing. "Everyone likes having power over others. That's our nature, as human beings."

"But... that's wrong," Hana said, sniffling.

"Why?" Simon asked gently, tilting his head at her.

"Because... we're not supposed to do that to other people!" Hana said.

"Actually, even in America, the way it used to be, people exercised power over others all the time. Was a policeman wrong to use the power of the law to stop a criminal?" Simon asked.

"He's a policeman," she said softly.

"Yes, he is, and because he protects us, we welcome his exercising power," Simon stated matter-of-factly. "Society functioned because those in power used it.

"Now, you have power over others, Hana," he said. "It's a massive privledge, and it is in your nature to use that power. Here, let me tell you a story." She stiffened, thinking he was about to give her some fairy tale. "Just listen. Once, a scorpion came to a river. Scorpions can't swim, so he couldn't cross. Nearby, a frog was sitting on a log.

"'Friend Frog,' the scorpion called, 'please give me a ride across the river on your back. You can swim, and I cannot.'

"'Oh, no," the frog answered. 'I would gladly give a ride to you Friend Scorpion, but you'll sting me!'

"'Oh, no! Friend, I will not string you, for then I would drown, too,' the scorpion answered.

"The frog considered this; it seemed logical to him. So he hopped down and let the scorpion climb his back. Moving carefully, he started into the water.

Halfway across, the scorpion stung him. As the poison filled him and he started to sink, the frog cried, 'Why did you do that! Now we'll both die!'

"'I couldn't help it,' the scorpion answered. 'It is in my nature.'

"There are two lessons to learn from that tale," Simon said, his voice falling out of story-telling cadance. "First, your nature is a powerful thing, and can't be ignored. Second, you are not an animal; control your nature, and don't let it drown you."

[Atomicweasel]

Hana lifted her head to look at Simon. Her expression was uncertain, but hopeful. “I try really hard not to let it drown me.” She folded her hands in her lap. “But, I mean…how do I do it? How do I be true to my nature and still control it?” Hana went on before Simon could answer. “You don’t know what it’s like! The way it feels…the way it sits in me. I’m scared all the time that it’s going to just come out of me some day and I won’t be able to stop it…how do I make it do what I want?”

Simon placed his hand over Hana’s. “First, you need to learn to accept that it’s a part of you.”

Hana shook her head free and stood up. She paced back and forth in front of Simon, wringing her hands, while he watched her.

“Remember what I told you by the river, Hana?”

“What?” Hana asked.

“Things change, but you’ll always be you, Hana.”

“Then, why do I feel like I’m not!?” Hana demanded, growing teary-eyed again. “Why do I feel like I’m…far away from myself, like I can barely even remember me?”

“Because you’re scared.” Simon said.

“I don’t want to be scared anymore.” Hana pushed her hands through her hair.

Simon rose to his feet and moved to catch Hana in a light hug. “Hana. I’m your friend and I’m here for you. You don’t have to go it alone anymore.”

Hana let her forehead rest against Simon’s chest, and clung to him. “Simon, you can’t tell anyone about me.”

“I won’t.”

“…thanks.” Hana murmured gratefully. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too, Hana. Me too.”