Jordenova

Ethie

I awoke back in my room with a start, my body in the same cross legged position I had left it in. My joints groaned and creaked as I began to move them through their range of motion. Oh but I was getting old. Luckily, my soul felt well rested, and my mind felt like I had been given a little peace. Still, I felt an odd tingle all the way in the back of my mind. A feeling, barely noticeable yet uncomfortable enough to be so.
*it's just my unease with the class* I assured myself, before shoving the feeling down beneath my centered air of calm.

Ro

I had tried everything. I had tried hitting this damn thing against every surface known to mankind.....well, at least those that were in my reach while I was handcuffed to a hospital....so steel.....and some more steel.....and a little bit of linoleum and dry wall.

Okay so it wasn't every known surface to mankind. I need something hard and strong and....wait a second. Aren't diamonds like really fucking hard or some shit?

....I have a diamond earring on......

Gal'rik.

In my daughter's chambers. There's a man. In my daughter's chambers.

Oh no.

"Thank you, Tamar." I state plainly before quickly turning to my companion. My voice is deep and gruff when I next speak. "Come then, to my daughter's chambers."

Ven

Is he so incapable he cannot open a door? I breath a sigh and slowly push myself to my feet, using the clay wall to support myself in place of my damaged leg. I carefully lean forward and pull the door slightly open before returning to my bloodstained place on the ground.

Annabelle

"Yes, it most certainly was." I spit, lunging forward at the man yet again and latching onto his shirt. He moves to shove me away, or perhaps shoot me, but a group of armored men beat him to it, wrapping their padded hands around my arms and tearing me away from him.

"You know what I'm going to do to you?" I sneer, fighting against my captors. Locks of platinum blonde hair fall in front of my eyes and my arm burns. "I'm going to drain every last drop of life out of you. I'll cut it from your fingers, slice it from your chest. I'm going crawl under your skin and into the deepest recesses of your being and suck it from your neck and lips and eyes-"

A group of white-coated men enters the room next, one of which has a large syringe in hand. I don't care. For a moment they stop to watch, I'm not sure why.

"I'm going to drink you until your skin shrinks and shrivels and your lungs are too small to take in air, your heart to weak to pump blood."

The room starts to vibrate, and the men holding me start to shake. The one on the right fall first as I clench his wrist with my injured arm, stealing his warmth. The one on the left quickly follows suit, and I look up at the man again, my eyes murderous. He raises his gun higher and the doctor with the syringe runs forward.

"And just as you feel your final breath hitching in your throat, just as the very last fragment of your soul slipping away-" There's a sharp pinch in my neck, followed by the clatter of something dropped and a loud thump. My head starts buzzing and the words begins to fade to black.

"-I'm going to give it all back and do it again."

...thump

(accidentally posted twice)

Ro

So maybe my brilliant plan wasn't so brilliant after all. In theory it might have worked except the gap between my wrist and the bracelet was just short of the width of the earring. But, I figured, it was worth giving it the old college try. So I pushed and shoved and wriggled and sawed as much as I could until...
SNAP.

There was fluid dripping down my arm. I pulled the earring out and looked down to see that the thin needle had simply snapped out of place, allowing whatever was in the bracelet to spill out everywhere.

I looked back at the time on the watch.

20 min.

Perfect

Will

A psychopath. This girl is a legitimate, certifiable psychopath. And now I was on her hit list.

My face did not show anything. I was trained in internalizing everything. But even still, I couldn't help my eyes from widening, by nostrils from flaring, or my heart from racing. All of which, I know she noticed. Her eyes were darker, and any emotion on her face hid her true, murderous rage. I left the room before I was driven mad by her stare alone.

I heard the guards talking. "She didn't kill them, only knocked them unconscious. But still, those threats alone make her a Case A. She needs to be moved immediately to the next stage."

I taunted a Case A. Case A's only occurred once in every 1,000 people we bring in. They are usually more outward, like she was just now, which is why I only pegged her as a Case B at most. Now, my judgement was completely clouded. "You should check on her friend. If she could hide that for this long, maybe he could too." I say monotonously. They leave to follow my orders, and I just sink into the wall, feeling my pulse, and hearing her voice in my head.

Zeph

I see her struggling. "Do you need a healer? I'm sure we could get one soon." I sit on the edge of her bed and hold out her food for her.

Az

Gzal'rik was scaring me. I pray that boy isn't in his daughter's room, for his sake.

Gaelen

She opens the door. Nope. Going for the face

Ro

15:37. Almost there.

Annabelle

*is sedated out of her goddam mind*

Gal'rik

It doesn't take us long to reach Gal'ash's room, I know the way quite well. I'm about to open the door when-

...thump

There's a deep moan. It starts low but grows in intensity until-

"Mhm, how's that?"

There's another moan, more familiar-

"Yes, yes, yes! Oh... Please!"

I suddenly back away from the door, wide-eyed and in horror. "Um..." I begin, unsure of how to proceed. I'm simultaneously seething in anger and burning with embarrassment.

Venwe

The door creaks open. I begin to sense the golden mist returning, swirling in through the door in shimmering eddies and whirls. It starts to envelop me, softening my senses, making me drop my guard-

Stop.

I stare forward at the wolf at my lips, his hot breath filling my nose instead of the golden mist. I press on his mind and he backs away, whimpering.

Idk what happened here

Gae.

stop

It’s in my head. It’s not me. I feel it. It’s pressing. I rub my head against the floor. get out. I need to hide. It smells like too many things. Snake. Bird. Bad men. Too many. Why does it smell like that? I need to get away.

Ro

I can hear the heavy thudding of boots heading down the hall. Excellent. Nows my chance.

I watch the door creak open, and in comes several men, all armed with guns. And all of them are aimed at me. Lovely. One of the men step forward.

“You. What are you? What can you do?”

“Me?” I begin, falsely innocent. “Why I’m just a simple farm boy from South Carolina.”

“Lies! I’ve seen your report!”

I sigh dramatically “Very well. Seeing as you’ve asked sooo politely...”
I broke the chain on the handcuffs.

“What the-?”

I was on them before they could finish. Broken gun here. Broken bone there. It was like clock work. Some took more one then I would have liked to spend, but, luckily, they all went down eventually.

I stood among the pile of knocked out and painfully groaning men.

“Thanks for the help boys.”

Zeph

"What the-" I look at the events in total confusion. Could she...communicate with him? Or control him... "Hey you okay?" I ask them both, but I'm on the ground next to Wolfie, who is having a panic attack.

Az

I think we're both equally stunned and embarrassed, and I decide to walk down the hall away from the room.

Will

I hear commotion coming from the other boy's room. I jump up and run, making it in time to see him push through the door. I quickly pull out my gun and aim it at him. "I would stop if I were you." My fear prevents me from doing something physically, so I go for a mind game. "There are hundreds more guards waiting around every corner. Can't escape that easily."

Ro

“So like.....a bunch more of them?” I turn to the twenty or so guards laying on the ground, guns broken and skewed beside them. I feel a tiny but giddy at the moment, perhaps from the adrenaline, perhaps because I had been kidnapped and become a mutant all in one day, perhaps it was because I had been spending a lot of time with Annabelle. But, feeling very much like her, I turned around and smiled at the man

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem”

Gae

I ran away. Hide. All I could think about was hiding. I like under my bed. It’s like a cave. Safe. Very safe.

Will

"It will be if you make me shoot you." I hold my gun higher. My own adrenaline hasn't subsided since my encounter with Annabelle.

Zeph

I watch Wolfie run out. "What the hell did you do to him?"

Venwe

I gaze up at the golden man, suddenly drawn to his silken voice. I frown at his question, even more so at his confusion. I open my mouth, remembering what sounds to form. "It attacked me." I speak slowly, deliberately. "I stopped it."

Gal'rik

For a moment I can't move from my spot, my eyes locked on the wood-paneled door. The thin, cracked, likely unlocked wood-paneled door.

And then my legs decide to work again and I walk over to Azuya. "I think we should get something to eat before we, um, see him."

Ro

I took a tentative step back, but something about him doesn’t seem right. He seems.......nervous? Tense somehow. Not suave like before. I try to think of a plan of escape but....ive never been much of a planner. More a natural improviser.
“Ah well.” One step forward, “Ya see? That’s be a damn shame. Because I’d be dead, and all your hard work would be for nothing. I mean, financially you spent quite a little bit of money on me. Counting transportation, medication, restraints, hotel fees, and the salary of you and everyone involved, I imagine me and Annabelle came out to be quite a large amount.”

I’ve taken quite a few steps forward at this point. And now I’m staring down the barrel of his gun. do I have a death wish?

Will

I stand my ground, my hands not faltering, but I'm considering my own judgement. Hopefully, the guards will come around the corner with tranquilizer. My hesitation is unnatural, and it causes my failure. The boy steps closer once more and I watch as a fist comes into my peripheral vision, followed by blackness.

Az

"But we just-" I then realize what Gal'rik really wants to do. "Yes, that would be nice." I follow him back down the corridor, towards the smell of food.

Zeph

"But how? Did you hurt him? Communicate with him? What did you do?" I sit on the edge of the bed, confused, concerned, and curious.

Ro

I look down at him. Whelp. That was easy. I take off around the corner, and, so far, no ones making any attempts to stop me. Interesting. Woulda thought there’d be “asset out of containment” warning lights or some shit.

Ethie

It’s late, but New York City never sleeps, and, most of the time, neither do I. It’s the perfect time of night to go for a ride. As I make my way down to my motorcycle near the bottom level, I can hear sirens and shouts of excited populations crying out. I sometimes regretted my decision to study in the city, but it was the safest place for people like me to be. I could blend in large crowd, appearing with my greenish-white hair and tattooed body just to be another member of punk society, my tendency towards leather jackets and skin tight jeans adding to the appearance. No one ever suspects an elf.

At least, not until today.

“Ethelona March.” A deep voice calls out, and I turn. He’s a man, neatly dressed, though his tie is slightly crooked. His smile, however, is even more so. He looks perfectly smug, like a cat that’s cornered his mouse.

how surprised he’ll be, I thought, when he finds his more to his mouse then he thought .

ignore

Gal'rik

*some amount of time passes, Azuya and Gal'rik get some more food, it's a bit awkward, and now the coast is clear*

Tamar shoots us a knowing smirk as we walk back into the tower to which I make no response. Azuya seems to be quieted as well- that was not a pleasant situation for anyone.

It doesn't take us long to reach Gal'ash's room again, which is- thankfully- much quieter than before. I suck in a deep breath and compose myself. My daughter is a grown woman, she is welcome to do- I gulp- what she wants with who she wants.

I've in no way convinced myself of that as I rap on the door.

Ven

I pause, unsure of how to continue. I could imagine no way to... explain what I did. But I can show him.

I look back up at the golden man and reach out with my mind- pressing against his consciousness, threatening to overtake it. I can feel his deepest wants and desires, his joys, his sorrows. His pain. And he, he can feel mine. It's brief, this moment, but we are one.

I pull away. "That."

Az

Answering the door is a light brown skinned orc, with braided dark hair, and clothes similar to the ones around the tower. She's smiling widely, looking at her father, who looks less scared, wearing a small smile.

Zeph

Scared. I feel scared. My head starts to spin and I feel the need to stable myself against the bed. I don't even know what she just did, but I understand Wolfie's want to run away and hide. I stay silent for a little while, and then leave the bowl of food on the ground. "Here's your breakfast. I'll call a healer." I don't recognize my own voice. The usual melodic teasing tone was monotonous and quiet. The noise didn't even resonate, it was muted. I stand outside her door, trying to shake that horrible feeling.

Ethelona
“Interesting. You seem to know my name, but I don’t believe we’ve met before.”
He chuckled, grin beginning to widen. “Oh we haven’t. But I know plenty about you.”
“Do you now?” I don’t change my face, speaking slowly and lowly.
“Oh yes. Ethelona March. Age 21, or so you say. Senior at NYU. Astrophysics major. Owner of a triumph bonneville t100, liscense plate number 762835. Immigrated to this country four years ago from Romania after the untimely death of your parents, coming with a birth certificate, a diploma, and proof of citizenship. Later applied for American citizenship, but still haven’t quite made the requirement s needed to be naturalized. But,” his smile became absolutely feral “there’s something about you that isn’t like other people, something that makes you special. Isn’t that right Ethelona?”
It was my turn to chuckle. Clever child. He deserved a reward.

He was sure to get it

Ro

Damn that dude really wasn't kidding about high security. This was the fourth set of twenty I had taken down, but the plus side was I hadn't even broken a sweat! Super strength is awesome!
I still wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do. I mean yeah great I broke out, but it was only a matter of time before they caught me again. So I needed to get out fast....and also find Annabelle. I think she'd really appreciate me not leaving her here.
But Annabelle aside, I couldn't do anything without knowing where the exits were. And they were proving difficult to find. It was just like everything else about this situation. Difficult.