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safeashousesI was no stranger to waking up disoriented and in new and unusual places but this was a stretch even for me. I had grown used to the island, the ins and outs of it, and while it would never be ideal (I was missing some very important members of my family, after all) it was something that I could live with. If nothing else, I felt guilty that I had a place that was safe from Souls and any other external threats where I could live openly as a human and not have to worry about getting hijacked again.
I had a little hut with a garden that I shared with Wanderer and I spent...an inordinate amount of time with Nick and for the first time since the Souls first showed up on earth, I was happy, relaxed and free to do anything I wanted. So of course that all had to come crashing down on me, didn't it?
It started with disappearances. People were being snatched up left and right and I lived in constant fear that Wanderer or Nick was going to be next. I didn't know how to ensure that they would stay on the island with me because it seemed like the disappearances didn't care about families at all; a mother might disappear and leave her children behind, a father next. I didn't want that for my little family, small as it was, and I didn't know how to stop it.
So I fought. The only thing I have ever known how to do in my short life was fight and I took my aggression out on Nick's heavy bag more often than not. I didn't put a dent in it, thank god, but between the two of us it got plenty of work. I had just finished working it over something good and had headed up to the Compound for a shower when it happened. One second, I was pulling open the door and expecting the fresh, cold air of the air conditioning to hit my sweat-soaked face and the next I was faced with air conditioning...but not the right room.
Instead of the haphazard quality the Compound always had with so many people living there and using it at any one time, this was a cool, quiet hotel lobby. There was a clerk at the desk and a few people milling around and I panicked, remembering the night I had originally been caught by the Souls when I was trying to hide my brother. Was I back home? Were these people or had they already been caught? I ducked around a corner into a hallway and backed up, running straight into a laundry bin full of dirty towels. Great. Even better was the fact that I had been spotted and I instantly cast my eyes down, hoping they hadn't noticed I was missing the tell-tale ring around them.
Maybe I could just hide under the towels until everyone left.
I had a little hut with a garden that I shared with Wanderer and I spent...an inordinate amount of time with Nick and for the first time since the Souls first showed up on earth, I was happy, relaxed and free to do anything I wanted. So of course that all had to come crashing down on me, didn't it?
It started with disappearances. People were being snatched up left and right and I lived in constant fear that Wanderer or Nick was going to be next. I didn't know how to ensure that they would stay on the island with me because it seemed like the disappearances didn't care about families at all; a mother might disappear and leave her children behind, a father next. I didn't want that for my little family, small as it was, and I didn't know how to stop it.
So I fought. The only thing I have ever known how to do in my short life was fight and I took my aggression out on Nick's heavy bag more often than not. I didn't put a dent in it, thank god, but between the two of us it got plenty of work. I had just finished working it over something good and had headed up to the Compound for a shower when it happened. One second, I was pulling open the door and expecting the fresh, cold air of the air conditioning to hit my sweat-soaked face and the next I was faced with air conditioning...but not the right room.
Instead of the haphazard quality the Compound always had with so many people living there and using it at any one time, this was a cool, quiet hotel lobby. There was a clerk at the desk and a few people milling around and I panicked, remembering the night I had originally been caught by the Souls when I was trying to hide my brother. Was I back home? Were these people or had they already been caught? I ducked around a corner into a hallway and backed up, running straight into a laundry bin full of dirty towels. Great. Even better was the fact that I had been spotted and I instantly cast my eyes down, hoping they hadn't noticed I was missing the tell-tale ring around them.
Maybe I could just hide under the towels until everyone left.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-08 02:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-08 02:13 am (UTC)"You can maybe not offer yourself up as a blood bank!" I said, absolutely angry now. "God, Wanderer, it's dangerous. It's dangerous to offer yourself up like this and I won't lose my sister because of someone who doesn't even care if you live or die."
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-08 02:25 am (UTC)"He does care if I live or die, Melanie," I answered, hands on my hips, "and I won't have you saying he doesn't without even talking to him first. I know you think I can't make my own decisions, but I really can. And Eric doesn't mean me harm, I promise."
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-08 02:27 am (UTC)"You're too good for your own good," I spat out. "Be careful. I absolutely refuse to lose you, especially not if there's something I can do to prevent it. I don't care if I have to dunk him in a swimming pool of holy water. You are not going to get hurt by some vampire. Not with me here."
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-08 02:36 am (UTC)I smiled, the anger melting because I knew what had caused it. I stepped forward instead of continuing my little tirade back at her and looped my arm through hers. "He's not going to hurt me, and you're not going to lose me, okay? Not after everything we've been through to get here."
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-08 02:43 am (UTC)"I had better not. I just started liking you," I teased. "And if you have to go in my head again because you let some vampire drain Pet's body, I am going to be cranky with you for months."
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-08 02:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-08 05:10 pm (UTC)"Yeah, I'm never cranky," I deadpanned. "I'm glad we could agree on such a positive description of my shining personality."
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-08 06:06 pm (UTC)I grinned and then giggled before hugging my sister tight. "I can think of no better ways to describe your calm, and positive demeanor."