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» New Active User
Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 EmptyFri Feb 23, 2024 12:52 am by sirvanyev

» Map of station?
Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 EmptySat Aug 17, 2019 6:23 am by Reanna Aloi

» Price of Liberty crew
Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 EmptyTue Jun 18, 2019 11:11 am by HareBrained

» Curiousity Topics
Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 EmptyThu May 30, 2019 7:16 pm by Reanna Aloi

» As ithers see us?
Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 EmptySun May 26, 2019 10:08 pm by Reanna Aloi

» Species profile - the Thuln
Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 EmptyFri Apr 19, 2019 7:48 pm by Reanna Aloi

» Is it time we had our own system of "stardates"?
Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 EmptyWed Mar 13, 2019 4:37 pm by Seeker

» For VR buffs
Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 EmptyTue Mar 05, 2019 10:26 am by Reanna Aloi

» Noelle's Request to join the Fleet
Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 EmptySat Mar 02, 2019 5:44 pm by Lastline


4 posters

    Pocket-full of Pain

    Reanna Aloi
    Reanna Aloi
    Dean of the Academy


    Fleet Rank : Fleet Admiral
    Special Operations Rank : SPO Rear Admiral
    Number of posts : 3666
    Location : Somewhere in a home, in a city, in a country, somewhere on the planet...
    Ship Name : The Immortal
    Ship Registry Number : Special Registry: NCC 082270
    Ship Class : Defiant (modified refit)
    Fleet Division : Intel/Special Ops

    Main RP Character Profile
    Name:

    Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 Empty Re: Pocket-full of Pain

    Post by Reanna Aloi Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:25 am

    Dunh dunh dunhhhHHHHHhhhhh!!!
    Alethearia
    Alethearia
    Jaynestown resident


    Fleet Rank : Captain
    Serenity Starfighter Corps : FSC Flight Commander
    Number of posts : 2149
    Location : STILL in a giant metal robot bent on DESTROYING the world! sigh
    Ship Name : USS Valiance
    USS Windsong
    Ship Registry Number : NCC-74109
    ....
    Ship Class : Intrepid
    Stormcrow
    Fleet Division : Starfighter Corps (The Fireflys)

    Main RP Character Profile
    Name: Angelina Eli

    Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 Empty Re: Pocket-full of Pain

    Post by Alethearia Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:31 am

    I love you.

    Wonderful thing about dun dun dun endings is that you can pick right up in the next chapter without skipping a beat! cheers
    Reanna Aloi
    Reanna Aloi
    Dean of the Academy


    Fleet Rank : Fleet Admiral
    Special Operations Rank : SPO Rear Admiral
    Number of posts : 3666
    Location : Somewhere in a home, in a city, in a country, somewhere on the planet...
    Ship Name : The Immortal
    Ship Registry Number : Special Registry: NCC 082270
    Ship Class : Defiant (modified refit)
    Fleet Division : Intel/Special Ops

    Main RP Character Profile
    Name:

    Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 Empty Re: Pocket-full of Pain

    Post by Reanna Aloi Sat Apr 07, 2012 1:40 pm

    *blushes* Awwww, shucks, thanks.... Embarassed Laughing hehe And that is true...
    Alethearia
    Alethearia
    Jaynestown resident


    Fleet Rank : Captain
    Serenity Starfighter Corps : FSC Flight Commander
    Number of posts : 2149
    Location : STILL in a giant metal robot bent on DESTROYING the world! sigh
    Ship Name : USS Valiance
    USS Windsong
    Ship Registry Number : NCC-74109
    ....
    Ship Class : Intrepid
    Stormcrow
    Fleet Division : Starfighter Corps (The Fireflys)

    Main RP Character Profile
    Name: Angelina Eli

    Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 Empty Re: Pocket-full of Pain

    Post by Alethearia Sun Apr 08, 2012 12:56 am

    Here's the first third of chapter 3!

    What was I thinking? Stupid, stupid girl! This isn't an adventure it's a nightmare. How could I have trusted him? I knew he was insane. I ran in great leaps, covering more ground, taking up less energy. I tore my dress, muddied my feet, tripped. In that moment I glanced behind me. Dristan was following, gaining at an incredible speed. He'd removed his jacket. How can he not be freezing in this fog? How can you not be freezing in this fog? Shut up, Maria! Just move! I obeyed.

    My legs pumped, urging me up. I grabbed my train again and sprinted for what I thought was the nearest street. I was horribly mistaken. My right foot landed on the edge of the rock wall that lined the Sein. It was all I could do to keep my back foot from propelling me over the edge. Fortunately––or else unfortunately–– before I could think Dristan's bare arms wrapped around me and held me tight.

    “Nasty fall. Can't have you dying just yet.”

    “Yet?” Panic, real panic, clutched my chest, froze my throat. I found myself turning my head every which way, looking for a means of escape.

    “Please,” he begged, “please, don't run away.”

    “Why? You're the one working with a homicidal maniac,” I spat, eager to fight, to fly.

    “He's not homicidal.” He inhaled deeply. “There's no way to make you understand. Just no way. You're going to have to see for yourself. I can't make you... can't make you believe me. I just can't.”

    What is he going on about?

    He spun me around to face him, holding me sharply like he had when he let down my hair. Again, he studied my face with pained curiosity. Something about his eyes, his midnight eyes, drew me into him. I relaxed, not wanting to fight. I only wanted to make that expression go away. I wanted to see him smile, genuinely, not that maniacal one that made me think of the mocking faces on some of the Opera's masks.

    “What is it?” I asked quietly. “Why do you want me?”

    His voice was so quiet. “I need you.”

    This confused me more than anything. More than being kidnapped in the middle of a recital. More than having my dress waiting for me in the car. More than my dizzying spell and certainly more than Dristan's connection to Gilgamesh. This confused me.

    “What do you need me for?”

    “No no no no no no no. Shush.” He put a finger to his lips, closed his eyes, and touched my lips with the same finger. “No, I need you. I need you. I need you. You have to understand.” His lower lip quivered. He had to bite it to make it stop. His hand moved to my cheek. He stroked it once before grabbing my chin firmly. His skin was so warm. “I am supposed to be dead.” He enunciated every word very slowly as though fighting them off. Releasing my chin he stepped back looking defeated. With his sleeve he wiped his mouth, turned away from me.

    “What?” Hesitation held me fast, stopping my heart, forcing me to think. What is alive and isn't? “Shut up,” I mouthed. I didn't want to think about that. I didn't want to think of the possibilities. It would explain everything. “Shut up!” I mouthed again. No response from my subconscious. I'd won this fight.

    “You can't be dead,” I whispered. “You're standing right in front of me.”

    “Yeah.” He swung my way, facing me for the briefest moment before turning away again. “No, really. Truly. You can probably find it in the papers. Trevor Augustine died 1925 at the ripe old age of 19.”

    “But you said your name was Dristan Fortier.”

    “Oh.” He turned back to me again. “It is. Just like Cassandra Fortier and Nereida Fortier and Gilgamesh Fortier and Orpheus––well, Orpheus isn't really part of this family, but he's Nereida's pet so I suppose that counts. But we can all blame our founder for letting that on into the family.” He spread his arms and laughed hysterically. “And you!” Dristan grabbed my shoulders, pulling me into him. His face, so close to mine I could feel his heat, relaxed, loosing all pretenses of mania. His breath licked my skin as he murmured, “Adrianna Fortier. Mine to protect, mine to claim, mine to do with what I will.”

    “But...” I gasped for air, unsure how to think how to react. A portion of me fought against his grip, repulsed by the uninvited closeness, but the other part of me, the one that saw through the insanity wishing for a moment of physical contact. “But I thought Cassandra was yours.”

    My wish wasn't granted, much to the relief of the part of me that was still sane. Dristan pulled away, paced around me, laughing. “Cassandra? No, no. Cassandra's my sister. Well, not actually my sister. Well, she is, but. Oh! Renee Alamania Fortier, if only you could see us now, quibbling over relations like you hadn't made us family. No. No.” He stopped behind me, wrapped his arms around me again, held me tightly against him. I feared he was going to break me. He didn't.

    A cold electric shock stunned my face as his cheek touched mine, the same one I felt when I'd woken up. I wracked my brain, trying to think of what medically could have caused that sensation. No answers came.

    Dristan's voice was in my ear, soft, sad, broken. “I need you, Adrianna Fortier. Nothing less can pull me out of this delirium of powerful, agonizing pain.”

    I closed my eyes, relaxing into his embrace. No one had held me like this, not once. The emotion channeled through that touch was intoxicating. I was not an outcast here.

    “What are you?” I asked in all innocence, feeling no fear or accusation.

    He shivered, his arms still around me. “Dureri––”

    “Nosferatu!” The voice boomed from behind.

    Dristand and I spun around together. At first, he urged me behind him with his arm protectively. Then he stopped. A dark figure, tall and imposing, wafted out of the mist. In his hand was a black cane crusted with gold. His robes looked like one dark mass. His face, round and rippling, bore the scars of battles long ended.

    “Gilgamesh,” Dristan whispered with a bow.

    I just stood there, staring at the man. So this is the greatest murderer in all of France. Even the war could not hide his fame.
    Alethearia
    Alethearia
    Jaynestown resident


    Fleet Rank : Captain
    Serenity Starfighter Corps : FSC Flight Commander
    Number of posts : 2149
    Location : STILL in a giant metal robot bent on DESTROYING the world! sigh
    Ship Name : USS Valiance
    USS Windsong
    Ship Registry Number : NCC-74109
    ....
    Ship Class : Intrepid
    Stormcrow
    Fleet Division : Starfighter Corps (The Fireflys)

    Main RP Character Profile
    Name: Angelina Eli

    Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 Empty Re: Pocket-full of Pain

    Post by Alethearia Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:43 am

    And the final part of chapter 3:

    I just stood there, staring at the man. So this is the greatest murderer in all of France. Even the war could not hide his fame. He fought in the great war, I thought. What atrocities must he have seen to drive him to this madness?

    “Well, it seems that she is doing just fine. Cassandra was going on about opioids.” The sheer volume of his deep bass made me flinch.

    Opioids? That would explain a little, but how did they slip me opioids?

    Dristan reached back and took my hand. At first he seemed intent on lacing his fingers through mine. When I refused, attempted to pull away, he settled for a simple clasp. “Yes, something like that,” he said, running his thumb over my knuckles.

    “But she seems so calm now.” Gilgamesh tilted his head, pursed his lips, furrowed his brow.

    “I did just feed,” Dristan said calmly. The frequency of his thumb's stroke increased. Maybe there was some truth to his words, not just that he needed me, but that I'd bring him out of a delirium, but at what price. Dureri Nosferatu? What did that mean?

    “Ah, that explains it. Is she ready?”

    “I think so?”

    “You don't seem so sure.”

    He was right. Dristan's face had doubt written all over it. His breathing quickened a step, his palm was getting sweaty. Concern for him rushed up inside me. I didn't know why. On instinct I squeezed his hand. He pulled me in closer.

    “Yes,” he said, quietly at first then with confidence. “Yes. Gilgamesh, this is Maria Astria Laurent.” So, he does know my name. Cocking his wrist, Dristan urged me forward. “Maria? Gilgamesh Fortier.” He released my hand.

    “She is lovely. Spin.” Gilgamesh urged me with a hand gesture. I obliged him, feeling silly. “And I've been told that you're a dancer. Would you grace us?” He nodded his head, waved his hand again.
    I glanced back at Dristan, now relying on him for support. He nodded with a slight smile. A genuine smile. It touched me. It amazed me how quickly my feelings about him had changed. What's wrong with me? I hitched up my skirt, extended my leg. A few short movements later I stopped, bowed and edged back toward Dristan. Security, that's what I wanted. Guidance out of this rabbit hole. He pulled me in, kissed the top of my head.

    Gilgamesh was smiling. It was so similar to Dristan's. Sane people don't smile like that. “Follow me.” With that, he spun on his heal, his robes billowing around him like a great dark mass.
    Well, someone's trying to be dramatic. That little thought made me giggle. Maria, this man is a murderer! You're insane. I knew that. I knew that fully. But it wasn't enough to stop me. So what if I am? Maybe a little insanity is exactly what I need.

    Dristan and I descended the stairs following Gilgamesh. It was one of many stair cases leading to the Seine from the rock wall I had nearly toppled over, only minutes before. At the foot of the stairs, waited a small flatboat, nothing fancy, but certainly enough to fit ten people on comfortably. Is it just the three of us, or are Cassandra, Nereida and Orpheus already waiting? The question barely floated into my mind when my skirt caught behind my knee, tripping me. The bottom of my foot sliced open as I fell back into Dristan's waiting arms. Cradling me with his knee, he looked down at me.

    “You know, for a ballerina, you're not very graceful,” he said with a smile.

    I grimaced back at him. “Oh, shut up.”

    Not looking forward to putting weight on my foot, I groaned as he hefted me up. As the cool stone touched my flesh, I felt no pain. It was odd. Maybe the cut was shallow and had only gone through my well earned layer of callouses.

    “Are you coming or not?” Gilgamesh boomed from where he waited at the mouth of the boat's cabin.
    I smiled, slightly confused at my lack of pain. Still, curiosity can be quite the driving force when you're seventeen. With Dristan holding my elbow I descended the last remaining steps to the flatboat. I stepped confidently onto the smooth wooden surface of the boat, feeling it give a little and adjusting automatically. Dristan let go of my elbow as I took another step. Sharp, searing heat ran up my leg. The bottom of my foot felt like I'd stepped on a hot coal. I screamed as I collapsed.

    “Take her,” Dristan said quickly as he clambered onto the boat behind me.

    A hand touched my shoulder. The pain subsided again. I looked up to find Nereida's sweet doll face smiling down at me. She helped me get myself into a chair. One phrase ran through my mind, dureri nosferatu. I had no idea what the first part meant, but given the second word I could venture a guess.

    You should be afraid, Maria.

    I don't want to hear it.

    You should be diving in that river right now.

    Shut up!

    You have no idea what they're capable of.

    But they're helping me now. Haven't I noticed how we're not feeling any pain?

    They could be luring me into a false sense of security.

    I doubt that. I saw his eyes.

    Eyes can lie.

    These ones can't. He's borderline psychotic. What he feels, he expresses. It's in his nature.
    Oh, like I've known a lot of psychopaths in my day. I'm only 17. What could I possible know about people like him?

    That he loves me, didn't I see it in his eyes back at the recital?

    Again, eyes can lie.


    “Which foot is it?” Dristan suddenly appeared at my side, looking up at me with a serious expression. Those midnight eyes, suddenly so warm, so steady, dug into me, washing away all apprehension.

    “The left one. On the heal.” Cassandra's voice in from my right in a mocking sultry tone. The three of us turned to look at her. “I think.”

    So, everyone's here except Orpheus. He's probably just hiding in the cabin.

    Dristan looked back at me. I nodded. He pounced on my foot, lifting it, examining it. He gave the slightest expression of “yuck”, muttered something I couldn't understand, and pressed his palm against my heal. I expected it to hurt more. That burning, stabbing sensation should have returned. It didn't. Nereida's grip on my shoulder tightened. I could feel her sweet, little, well groomed nails digging into my flesh. I didn't feel any pain.

    My heart rate doubled––I could feel it in my wrists, in my neck. My legs started throbbing. My head, pounding. Why wasn't I in pain? Shouldn't I be feeling something?

    “I'm sorry, love.” Dristan's face was pained again. “We have to start early. I really didn't want to do this. But you are injured and we can't have anything... permanent happening to these precious feet.”

    “What...? I don't understand.” My mind was spinning. I ran through every detail of my conversation with Dristan.

    Gilgamesh's dark imposing form appeared in front of me. His eyes were bigger than I remembered them being––the angels of his face, more angular, hawk-like. His posture was that of a predator stalking its prey. He cocked his head, analyzing me, sending thoughts of dark shadows and monsters under the bed loose in my mind. His great billowing robes rippled up around him, reaching toward me, threatening to strangle me.

    His great booming voice reverberated in my chest. “He told you what he was.”

    “No,” I groaned, my head lolling back. “No, no!”

    “You told her?” Cassandra cackled.

    “Quiet girl!” Gilgamesh snapped, hissing through his teeth.

    The sharp hissing sound made my jaw clench. I didn't like that sound. My eyes popped open.m Nereida's huge, watery, doll eyes stared down at me. I could drown in those eyes.

    “Get us out of here.” I don't know who said it, only that my mind translated it as a “big sound.” And then there were voices. So many voices! Echoing in my ears, haunting my thoughts with mist and shadow and twisted faces.

    “Orpheus?”

    "The doll has a sweet voice," I murmured.

    “No, Adrianna. Stay with me a little while longer.” Soft hands grasped mine.

    “I don't know who you're talking about, Dristan. Who's this Adrianna?” And why did I remind him so much of her?

    “Move us out. People are going to notice.”

    “Quiet Orpheus.”

    “Big noise!”

    “Shush sweety, it's okay.”

    “He's right. We need to move now.”

    “Move where? I'm tired of moving. Can I please sleep?” My head was drifting, floating along the Seine without my body.

    “Then you do it, Dristan.”

    “But she––”

    “Do it.”

    “Big noise...”

    The pressure on my heal subsided.

    “Nereida, help him.”

    “But––”

    “Make the shadows stop... in my head.” Harsh, cackling laughter rang in my ears, danced through the shrouds of my muddled mind. “No, no. Not the ghost, not the ghost. Make her go away.” I struggled against Nereida's tight grip.

    “Do it!”

    She let go. Sharp pain lanced up my leg again. I rolled out of my chair. My face hit the hard dry wood of the flatboat's deck. My breathing was shallow. Blurs of light and shadow flashed in front of my eyes. So many feet. Cackling floated over the river, bounced off the stone walls. I tried to talk, to cry for help, but my lips wouldn't respond. I blinked. Once, twice. Tears welled up as my eyes closed a third time. I whimpered.

    “Cassandra!”

    “Dristan,” I breathed.

    “What?” she said through her maniac laughter. “Have you been listening to her? She's higher than a blue jay.”

    “Get over here,” Dristan growled. “Take this oar.”

    “Whatever you say little brother.”

    Harsh foot falls. A green-white dress. Swearing, more big noises. Dristan's face next to mine. No more sounds. I felt his soft warm hand on my cheek. His lips moved quickly as he stroked my face. The pain subsided.

    I should have listened to those impressions when I had the chance.

    His eyes are so pained.

    He's a vampire, Maria!

    He loves me.

    He's going to kill me. And if doesn't, I'll suffer excruciating pain. I know where this is going. I've heard the word dureri before.

    No, I haven't.


    “Pain...” I whispered.

    Dristan answered with a shaky voice. “Shush. I'll make it go away. I promise.”
    “...vampire.”

    His lower lip trembled. His eye widened. He stood up, looking like a startled dear. A deep throbbing ache settled into my heal, throbbing with the slow, tired beat of my heart. I just want to sleep.

    “Dristan?” Nereida's sweet voice sounded so distant.

    Dristan.

    “Dristan! Come back. She needs you.”

    “Give him some time.” Big noise. “He has to come to terms with the fact that she knows. You remember how long it took him last time.”

    Last time?

    “Yes, I remember.”

    Is he talking about Adrianna?

    “Take her to the back. We can sort things out there.”

    “Yes, Gilgamesh.”

    But Nereida can't lift me. I'll break her. In defiance of this very thought, the tiny doll of a woman scooped me into her arms. I only closed my eyes for a moment.
    Reanna Aloi
    Reanna Aloi
    Dean of the Academy


    Fleet Rank : Fleet Admiral
    Special Operations Rank : SPO Rear Admiral
    Number of posts : 3666
    Location : Somewhere in a home, in a city, in a country, somewhere on the planet...
    Ship Name : The Immortal
    Ship Registry Number : Special Registry: NCC 082270
    Ship Class : Defiant (modified refit)
    Fleet Division : Intel/Special Ops

    Main RP Character Profile
    Name:

    Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 Empty Re: Pocket-full of Pain

    Post by Reanna Aloi Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:02 am

    Kewwwwlll..... Oh, wait, maybe not so kewlll..hehe
    Alethearia
    Alethearia
    Jaynestown resident


    Fleet Rank : Captain
    Serenity Starfighter Corps : FSC Flight Commander
    Number of posts : 2149
    Location : STILL in a giant metal robot bent on DESTROYING the world! sigh
    Ship Name : USS Valiance
    USS Windsong
    Ship Registry Number : NCC-74109
    ....
    Ship Class : Intrepid
    Stormcrow
    Fleet Division : Starfighter Corps (The Fireflys)

    Main RP Character Profile
    Name: Angelina Eli

    Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 Empty Re: Pocket-full of Pain

    Post by Alethearia Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:42 pm

    thank you!

    Sponsored content


    Pocket-full of Pain - Page 2 Empty Re: Pocket-full of Pain

    Post by Sponsored content


      Current date/time is Thu Mar 28, 2024 12:48 pm