09-03-2016, 03:14 PM
He'd told her to leave, but Ekene hadn't done it. He'd found Laurene and Ayo, though, in the room Natalie shared with the other Red Cross workers, and he'd told them solemnly that it was important that they hid. The little girl, his best friend's sister, had made an anguished sound and threw her arms around his waist, hollowing Ekene's heart with guilt. Laurene had only rubbed her face wearily.
They'd escaped the building when wispy tendrils of smoke had begun to burn their nostrils. Sounds of the fighting echoed beyond; the stutter of firearms, the cries of men. Screams and shouting. If the soldiers made it through to the gardens and grounds where much of the camp sprawled, there was little could be done to defend them. Ayo cried. Ekene gripped her small hand tight, swollen with the importance of protecting her. Like it could somehow make amends for the things he had done. He thought of Jared Vanders, then, and pooled all his courage into the image of a man he could some day hope to be.
It felt like days passed in that hateful place. Ekene looked for Natalie and did not find her amongst the chaos. She'd promised to find him. Where was she?
And then it was over.
Hours later, Legionnaires once again walked the camp. More food and medical supplies filtered in with them, and the frenzy and fear turned to industrious order. No one was quite sure where the fire had come from, but much of the building's front had been lost before the flames had been beaten into control. Triage tents overflowed. People still sobbed. Sheets covered bodies. He tried not to look at those.
Relief left a pit of shock. For a long time Ekene sat with Ayo and Laurene, rooted to the spot, fear and adrenaline leaking out of him. Laurene hugged them both, her fingers brushing his forehead with a gentle rhythm. She kissed Ayo's head from time to time, humming words of comfort as they watched the camp move around them.
Early on he'd caught a frozen glimpse of Natalie, limp and unmoving, and feared her dead. The courage to find out for sure deserted him for now, but eventually he made to move, untangling himself slowly from Ayo. His broken hand ached abysmally where she'd gripped tight to him, but it had felt like just punishment at the time. Now it just made pained tears spring to his eyes.
"I'll be back,"
he told her, as Natalie had once told him. Jared Vanders' words were circling in his head, and the memory was a comfort. Seeking the same, he began to look for the man.
The girl stands by a stone balustrade. A warm wind ruffles her hair, tickling it over her shoulders and sending dark tendrils across her vision. Long white skirts ripple across her legs, wreathed in bands of colour. There is a weight stilling her hand, far heavier than the physical gold band imprisoning her finger, and her gaze yearns across an open vista. The sea is touched by night, the stars hung above like jewels. A man stands on the beach below, clung by shadows and strange smokey light.
She turns around to a hand outstretched. It stirs something in her. The smile that teases her lips is an unspeakable temptation, but her own hands are behind her back, gently gripping the wall. It is a ruse. The Pattern has already tangled and knotted, the two threads inseparable.
In the dream she sees only the hand. A soldier's hand. Calloused. Collared in black. These are dangerous hands, but it is not fear that she feels.
When she takes the hand, it grips around hers firmly, and pulls her in.
~*~
"Jai?"
The word tasted familiar, like something precious wrapped up tight in a piece of her own soul. The dream washed over her and faded, leaving a sense of incompleteness that ached in her chest. The panic of loss brought her round, like jerking to grasp fingers over a cliff-edge. She never realised she'd spoken aloud. Her gaze blinked up.
And he was there.
A little blurred around the edges, almost in double vision, but definitely there. As she fought to focus she wondered about telling him his eyes were the wrong colour, blinked the question away, confused, and tried to sit up.
Immediately regretted it.
Everything wavered, and she rocked on the edges of slipping back under. She didn't hurt, not like she should, but she was tired. Lead lined her bones. Her stomach a hollow cavern. The second time Natalie pushed herself up more slowly, and still found herself blind to everything but him. Surrounded by echoes. Desperate to capture something before it slipped away.
She bit back from saying something stupid. Wrenched her gaze away. Flecks of blood crusted her skin, but no obvious injuries. She was wreathed in a faded Methos t-shirt, and heaped under blankets. Memories trickled in as the bonds of reality tightened, but they ended abruptly. Gingerly she pressed a hand to the back of her head, but felt no pain - nor even tenderness. That couldn't be right. "What happened?"
They'd escaped the building when wispy tendrils of smoke had begun to burn their nostrils. Sounds of the fighting echoed beyond; the stutter of firearms, the cries of men. Screams and shouting. If the soldiers made it through to the gardens and grounds where much of the camp sprawled, there was little could be done to defend them. Ayo cried. Ekene gripped her small hand tight, swollen with the importance of protecting her. Like it could somehow make amends for the things he had done. He thought of Jared Vanders, then, and pooled all his courage into the image of a man he could some day hope to be.
It felt like days passed in that hateful place. Ekene looked for Natalie and did not find her amongst the chaos. She'd promised to find him. Where was she?
And then it was over.
Hours later, Legionnaires once again walked the camp. More food and medical supplies filtered in with them, and the frenzy and fear turned to industrious order. No one was quite sure where the fire had come from, but much of the building's front had been lost before the flames had been beaten into control. Triage tents overflowed. People still sobbed. Sheets covered bodies. He tried not to look at those.
Relief left a pit of shock. For a long time Ekene sat with Ayo and Laurene, rooted to the spot, fear and adrenaline leaking out of him. Laurene hugged them both, her fingers brushing his forehead with a gentle rhythm. She kissed Ayo's head from time to time, humming words of comfort as they watched the camp move around them.
Early on he'd caught a frozen glimpse of Natalie, limp and unmoving, and feared her dead. The courage to find out for sure deserted him for now, but eventually he made to move, untangling himself slowly from Ayo. His broken hand ached abysmally where she'd gripped tight to him, but it had felt like just punishment at the time. Now it just made pained tears spring to his eyes.
"I'll be back,"
he told her, as Natalie had once told him. Jared Vanders' words were circling in his head, and the memory was a comfort. Seeking the same, he began to look for the man.
The girl stands by a stone balustrade. A warm wind ruffles her hair, tickling it over her shoulders and sending dark tendrils across her vision. Long white skirts ripple across her legs, wreathed in bands of colour. There is a weight stilling her hand, far heavier than the physical gold band imprisoning her finger, and her gaze yearns across an open vista. The sea is touched by night, the stars hung above like jewels. A man stands on the beach below, clung by shadows and strange smokey light.
She turns around to a hand outstretched. It stirs something in her. The smile that teases her lips is an unspeakable temptation, but her own hands are behind her back, gently gripping the wall. It is a ruse. The Pattern has already tangled and knotted, the two threads inseparable.
In the dream she sees only the hand. A soldier's hand. Calloused. Collared in black. These are dangerous hands, but it is not fear that she feels.
When she takes the hand, it grips around hers firmly, and pulls her in.
~*~
"Jai?"
The word tasted familiar, like something precious wrapped up tight in a piece of her own soul. The dream washed over her and faded, leaving a sense of incompleteness that ached in her chest. The panic of loss brought her round, like jerking to grasp fingers over a cliff-edge. She never realised she'd spoken aloud. Her gaze blinked up.
And he was there.
A little blurred around the edges, almost in double vision, but definitely there. As she fought to focus she wondered about telling him his eyes were the wrong colour, blinked the question away, confused, and tried to sit up.
Immediately regretted it.
Everything wavered, and she rocked on the edges of slipping back under. She didn't hurt, not like she should, but she was tired. Lead lined her bones. Her stomach a hollow cavern. The second time Natalie pushed herself up more slowly, and still found herself blind to everything but him. Surrounded by echoes. Desperate to capture something before it slipped away.
She bit back from saying something stupid. Wrenched her gaze away. Flecks of blood crusted her skin, but no obvious injuries. She was wreathed in a faded Methos t-shirt, and heaped under blankets. Memories trickled in as the bonds of reality tightened, but they ended abruptly. Gingerly she pressed a hand to the back of her head, but felt no pain - nor even tenderness. That couldn't be right. "What happened?"