02-11-2019, 05:34 AM
Jacinda nodded in and out of sleep. The whole basement womb thing only get stronger the longer she stayed here. In her more lucid moments, she thought she might come down here to catch her breath. Not that Ten spoke a whole lot. But the...air seemed quiet. She felt swaddled in warmth. The chairs weren’t great. She eyed Amelia's chair enviously. She’d had worse though. She must have dozed off cuz next thing she knew the girl was awake and breathing heavily and looking around frantically. She was at her side in moments. HR elevated. Duh. "Amelia. It's me Jacinda. You're safe." She held her hand.
Hot. She was burning up. X was suddenly right next to her face. And holding her hand. What the hell? Her head pounded. What the hell drugs were in the bags? An unwelcome feeling twisted her insides. Nika shook off X’s hand like she’d touched a spider and stumbled up and toward the loo. The door was open, thankfully, and Nika skidded on her knees to the bowl. Might not have made it otherwise. There was not really a dignified way to vomit your guts out. Nika lost count, the pressure in her head increased each time and ended with her coughing, occasionally spitting and otherwise miserable with her new found porcelain friend. Ugh.
This was either the drugs or the concussion. Sonofabitch. She doubted there was a treatment machine here but you never knew. There were more pressing matters to think about at the moment. Like the harpy question.
Jacinda saw her run- wobbly- girl was messed up, that was for sure- for the throne and her heart went out. This time, even as she watched she gave the girl space. She had no long hair to hold back. Instead she looked around and saw a small fridge. Bottles of water, as well as energy and hydration drinks filled them. She pulled the hydration and then, after a moment, a couple of waters. She could use one. She placed a bottle of each next to the girl.
The seat was cool on her cheek and head at least so Nika tried not to dwell on location and...germs. Harpies. There were creatures who could take over hosts, she knew there were. Vampires and were-things...those were based on real things. So, were harpies the basis of the lore or legends? Whatever the correct terms were. She didn’t know. Nika didn’t specialize in that kind of monster. Niche. She was niche. X had brought some bottles, kindly. That was nice. Her throat wasn’t keen on letting words out right then so thanks would have to wait. Nika took a grateful mouthful of water, a lucky grab as she didn’t look, and swished it around in her mouth before adding that to the swirling flush. Another cough and she rest her face on the cool surface once more. Her blackened eyes found the telltale dotted triangle; two pips on the bottom and one on top. A pyramid. That meant there was a gun right behind the bowl. Nika wouldn’t even have to stretch to reach it.
Okay. So if harpies were parasitic and took over people, where did that leave Nika? The nightmare was fresh in her mind, certainly. She could nearly feel that thing draping itself across her. I mean...dreams were sometimes a way of your mind telling you things you needed to know, right? Needed to know or problems solved? It wouldn’t be the first time she’d figured out the solution to a dogging problem in her dreams, that’s for sure. This though? There was only one course of action if it were true.
The gun was right there. Nika’s heart beat in her ears. Seconds passed. She wouldn’t couldn’t be responsible for murdering the people in this house. Silence in her ears. Nika breathed. Clarity. Calm. There was a drain in the floor, that would make it easier to clean up. For the others to clean up. She didn’t want to create work for them but ultimately, it wouldn’t be anything to hose the place down. It was an operating theatre and designed for it after all. Time stretched out. Nika went over the plan again in her head. The gun was right there. It was the right thing to do. She believed that. The gun was hers. It was the right thing. Peace. A sense of peace unlike anything she’d ever experienced descended upon her.
First. Really, last wasn’t it? Nika swallowed and turned her face to look out the door. What was the blonde’s name? “Hey.” That was not her name. Nika’s voice was...odd. Off. There was something off about it. “May I ask you a question?” She was floating. Euphoric. The answer was hers after all. Nika knew what she had to do. She accepted it, owned it. It was right.
Jacinda watched patiently, heedless of the time. And then something pricked her. Something was off with Amelia. She looked around, trying to ascertain the source of her unease. Nothing came to mind. Her eyes were narrow as she watched everything. Amelia, voice low and raw, finally spoke. After a moment, Jacinda spoke, voice warm but tinged with concern. "Of course, dear."
The peace was so filling. Calm embraced her still, beckoning. The next life called to her. Warmth. Love. Such love it made her heart ache. “Those things were what, harpies?” Someone had said that. That’s what she’d been calling them somehow in her head for quite some time even if she couldn’t quite account for that knowledge. “How do harpies come to be?” Love. She could see her parents again. She was going to join her parents.
Jacinda heard the dreamy quality to her voice. Had she taken too many pain meds? That was the last thing the girl needed. She pulled a towel and wet it in the sink with cool water, then rinsed it out. It was a risk, but she was spiraling down. She wiped Amelia's brow gently. "Honestly, I'm not sure. They lay eggs though." Regan hadn't been much on lore. But she'd learned a bit in the decades since then. Not enough. Then again, she wiped gently at the girl's face, especially her mouth, and then rinsed the cloth, making a compress she folded for her head. She sat, knees to chest next to her. "The gods were creative. You have to give 'em that. The things I've seen...." Her tone shifted. Some things began to click. Worry formed. "They're not chupacabra, Amelia." She scanned the room, looking for the thing that was pinging her alarm.
Nearly black eyes amid bruised and cut features regarded the woman tending her. Nika swallowed. Still at peace. “The tablet. Can you pull up 8’27” on the drone feed?” She wasn’t trying to get rid of the woman at all, for once, it was the last affirmation. Before. “Just say, ‘Play Tennant feed 8’27”,’ that’s it.” Nika looked at Jacinda. “Please?”
Jacinda looked at this girl. God. She was a girl. Had she ever been this young? She tried to remember. And for some reason she couldn't fathom, something began to well up in her. Anger. Oh yeah. She remembered. All of it. Every. Fucking. Bit. And something burned. Rage and protectiveness. Fucking Atharim throwing kids out like chum in the waters. Strongest survive and all that shit. No more. Jacinda decided. Here. Now. It begins now. With this kid. And Ten. And Rune. By her look and smell, the girl had been abandoned. Alone. These were her sisters.
She nodded at Amelia with a reassuring smile and called out the commands, unsure what she was supposed to see. Didn't matter. Jacinda had the beginnings of something. And no one was gonna hurt hers. The screen lit up and amid the darkness of the tunnel she saw the big bitch harpy at the end. Her stomach turned as it came toward the downed Amelia. Gross tongue and lips drooled as it hovered over her. She remembered the tickle of the rougs lips and tongue at her ears all those years ago. The feel of the quetz on top of her last year. Death had come. She wished the bot had a better angle. It was hard to see what it was doing. Likely playing. Harpies were like that and these were female. The massive low hanging tits swinging to and fro made that clear.
"It's playing with its food. With you. We took her sisters. She has to gloat." She called a halt, looking at the child. "You weren't infected or anything." She remembered the old rougs hands pressing into her womb. She knew what they wanted to put there. She remembered the choice she'd given those women in Mexico. A bullet or a pill. Ricky had thought her cruel. Men never understood. Women could be warriors. She ran her hand over her forehead as her mom might have done.
Nika watched the woman, dark eyes large. Processing what she’d said before about eggs and now about the feed. Her mind raced. Nika let the woman touch her. For once she didn’t flinch away. Peace. That eternal, welcoming sense of the End, that was sucked from her being as quickly as a muzzle flash. An emptiness remained. A chasm. Energy abandoned her too. All of her focus had been the colossal effort of making such a decision and she had been committed to ending her own story. Because it was the right thing to do. ...and Nika was a hair’s breadth from having done so.
Nika released the hammer and clicked the safety catch on. She flipped the weapon and offered the grip across her body to the other woman. That motion took the last of her reserves. Nika was still on her knees. She couldn’t get up, couldn’t move. She was done. Exhausted. She did turn her head away though, face still resting rather undignified on the seat. She turned her head so the other woman could not see her tears. Then Nika closed her eyes and slept.
Jacinda's heart jumped as she heard the tell tale click. Fuck fuck fuck fuck! She was angry. At herself. How did she not see it? At this house that she was living in with weapons everywhere. At this girl- this little girl who had been this close to blowing her brains out. For the sake of all of them. She knew. She got it. She would have done the same. But this was so fucked up. She pulled the weapon and slid it out into the other room. Useless, she knew. Amelia could have used it anytime. She just felt so....helpless. She started to slip and she passed out. Jacinda bent down, ignoring any twinge, and lifted her in her arms, carrying her to the bed. It was sterile looking with hospital style paper sheets, but it was something. She laid Amelia down and gently eased her under the covers. And then she pulled up a chair and watched for a while. It wasn't right. This being alone thing. Gradually, the warm quiet enveloped her and she drifted off. But she never let go of Amelia's hand.
With Jacinda Cross
Hot. She was burning up. X was suddenly right next to her face. And holding her hand. What the hell? Her head pounded. What the hell drugs were in the bags? An unwelcome feeling twisted her insides. Nika shook off X’s hand like she’d touched a spider and stumbled up and toward the loo. The door was open, thankfully, and Nika skidded on her knees to the bowl. Might not have made it otherwise. There was not really a dignified way to vomit your guts out. Nika lost count, the pressure in her head increased each time and ended with her coughing, occasionally spitting and otherwise miserable with her new found porcelain friend. Ugh.
This was either the drugs or the concussion. Sonofabitch. She doubted there was a treatment machine here but you never knew. There were more pressing matters to think about at the moment. Like the harpy question.
Jacinda saw her run- wobbly- girl was messed up, that was for sure- for the throne and her heart went out. This time, even as she watched she gave the girl space. She had no long hair to hold back. Instead she looked around and saw a small fridge. Bottles of water, as well as energy and hydration drinks filled them. She pulled the hydration and then, after a moment, a couple of waters. She could use one. She placed a bottle of each next to the girl.
The seat was cool on her cheek and head at least so Nika tried not to dwell on location and...germs. Harpies. There were creatures who could take over hosts, she knew there were. Vampires and were-things...those were based on real things. So, were harpies the basis of the lore or legends? Whatever the correct terms were. She didn’t know. Nika didn’t specialize in that kind of monster. Niche. She was niche. X had brought some bottles, kindly. That was nice. Her throat wasn’t keen on letting words out right then so thanks would have to wait. Nika took a grateful mouthful of water, a lucky grab as she didn’t look, and swished it around in her mouth before adding that to the swirling flush. Another cough and she rest her face on the cool surface once more. Her blackened eyes found the telltale dotted triangle; two pips on the bottom and one on top. A pyramid. That meant there was a gun right behind the bowl. Nika wouldn’t even have to stretch to reach it.
Okay. So if harpies were parasitic and took over people, where did that leave Nika? The nightmare was fresh in her mind, certainly. She could nearly feel that thing draping itself across her. I mean...dreams were sometimes a way of your mind telling you things you needed to know, right? Needed to know or problems solved? It wouldn’t be the first time she’d figured out the solution to a dogging problem in her dreams, that’s for sure. This though? There was only one course of action if it were true.
The gun was right there. Nika’s heart beat in her ears. Seconds passed. She wouldn’t couldn’t be responsible for murdering the people in this house. Silence in her ears. Nika breathed. Clarity. Calm. There was a drain in the floor, that would make it easier to clean up. For the others to clean up. She didn’t want to create work for them but ultimately, it wouldn’t be anything to hose the place down. It was an operating theatre and designed for it after all. Time stretched out. Nika went over the plan again in her head. The gun was right there. It was the right thing to do. She believed that. The gun was hers. It was the right thing. Peace. A sense of peace unlike anything she’d ever experienced descended upon her.
First. Really, last wasn’t it? Nika swallowed and turned her face to look out the door. What was the blonde’s name? “Hey.” That was not her name. Nika’s voice was...odd. Off. There was something off about it. “May I ask you a question?” She was floating. Euphoric. The answer was hers after all. Nika knew what she had to do. She accepted it, owned it. It was right.
Jacinda watched patiently, heedless of the time. And then something pricked her. Something was off with Amelia. She looked around, trying to ascertain the source of her unease. Nothing came to mind. Her eyes were narrow as she watched everything. Amelia, voice low and raw, finally spoke. After a moment, Jacinda spoke, voice warm but tinged with concern. "Of course, dear."
The peace was so filling. Calm embraced her still, beckoning. The next life called to her. Warmth. Love. Such love it made her heart ache. “Those things were what, harpies?” Someone had said that. That’s what she’d been calling them somehow in her head for quite some time even if she couldn’t quite account for that knowledge. “How do harpies come to be?” Love. She could see her parents again. She was going to join her parents.
Jacinda heard the dreamy quality to her voice. Had she taken too many pain meds? That was the last thing the girl needed. She pulled a towel and wet it in the sink with cool water, then rinsed it out. It was a risk, but she was spiraling down. She wiped Amelia's brow gently. "Honestly, I'm not sure. They lay eggs though." Regan hadn't been much on lore. But she'd learned a bit in the decades since then. Not enough. Then again, she wiped gently at the girl's face, especially her mouth, and then rinsed the cloth, making a compress she folded for her head. She sat, knees to chest next to her. "The gods were creative. You have to give 'em that. The things I've seen...." Her tone shifted. Some things began to click. Worry formed. "They're not chupacabra, Amelia." She scanned the room, looking for the thing that was pinging her alarm.
Nearly black eyes amid bruised and cut features regarded the woman tending her. Nika swallowed. Still at peace. “The tablet. Can you pull up 8’27” on the drone feed?” She wasn’t trying to get rid of the woman at all, for once, it was the last affirmation. Before. “Just say, ‘Play Tennant feed 8’27”,’ that’s it.” Nika looked at Jacinda. “Please?”
Jacinda looked at this girl. God. She was a girl. Had she ever been this young? She tried to remember. And for some reason she couldn't fathom, something began to well up in her. Anger. Oh yeah. She remembered. All of it. Every. Fucking. Bit. And something burned. Rage and protectiveness. Fucking Atharim throwing kids out like chum in the waters. Strongest survive and all that shit. No more. Jacinda decided. Here. Now. It begins now. With this kid. And Ten. And Rune. By her look and smell, the girl had been abandoned. Alone. These were her sisters.
She nodded at Amelia with a reassuring smile and called out the commands, unsure what she was supposed to see. Didn't matter. Jacinda had the beginnings of something. And no one was gonna hurt hers. The screen lit up and amid the darkness of the tunnel she saw the big bitch harpy at the end. Her stomach turned as it came toward the downed Amelia. Gross tongue and lips drooled as it hovered over her. She remembered the tickle of the rougs lips and tongue at her ears all those years ago. The feel of the quetz on top of her last year. Death had come. She wished the bot had a better angle. It was hard to see what it was doing. Likely playing. Harpies were like that and these were female. The massive low hanging tits swinging to and fro made that clear.
"It's playing with its food. With you. We took her sisters. She has to gloat." She called a halt, looking at the child. "You weren't infected or anything." She remembered the old rougs hands pressing into her womb. She knew what they wanted to put there. She remembered the choice she'd given those women in Mexico. A bullet or a pill. Ricky had thought her cruel. Men never understood. Women could be warriors. She ran her hand over her forehead as her mom might have done.
Nika watched the woman, dark eyes large. Processing what she’d said before about eggs and now about the feed. Her mind raced. Nika let the woman touch her. For once she didn’t flinch away. Peace. That eternal, welcoming sense of the End, that was sucked from her being as quickly as a muzzle flash. An emptiness remained. A chasm. Energy abandoned her too. All of her focus had been the colossal effort of making such a decision and she had been committed to ending her own story. Because it was the right thing to do. ...and Nika was a hair’s breadth from having done so.
Nika released the hammer and clicked the safety catch on. She flipped the weapon and offered the grip across her body to the other woman. That motion took the last of her reserves. Nika was still on her knees. She couldn’t get up, couldn’t move. She was done. Exhausted. She did turn her head away though, face still resting rather undignified on the seat. She turned her head so the other woman could not see her tears. Then Nika closed her eyes and slept.
Jacinda's heart jumped as she heard the tell tale click. Fuck fuck fuck fuck! She was angry. At herself. How did she not see it? At this house that she was living in with weapons everywhere. At this girl- this little girl who had been this close to blowing her brains out. For the sake of all of them. She knew. She got it. She would have done the same. But this was so fucked up. She pulled the weapon and slid it out into the other room. Useless, she knew. Amelia could have used it anytime. She just felt so....helpless. She started to slip and she passed out. Jacinda bent down, ignoring any twinge, and lifted her in her arms, carrying her to the bed. It was sterile looking with hospital style paper sheets, but it was something. She laid Amelia down and gently eased her under the covers. And then she pulled up a chair and watched for a while. It wasn't right. This being alone thing. Gradually, the warm quiet enveloped her and she drifted off. But she never let go of Amelia's hand.
With Jacinda Cross