#sorry if that sounded horrifyingly morbid
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shrimpsicality · 3 years ago
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hi hae!! 🍜 and fruit, predictably :]
Hi Callas!! Thanks for the ask! (The post said flower emoji sjsjshshsjjsjs I still think this turned out great though, but it has nothing to do with noodles)
STOP COMING BACK (WHY ARE YOU HERE AGAIN) is a superhero AU where Fruit, tired college student and procrastinator extraordinaire, just wants to live his life in peace but some idiotic heroes apparently picked the roof his apartment building as a battleground– oh, and one of them fell from the roof and landed in his balcony. And they're on fire. (Spoiler alert: That hero is Illumina. This happens a few more times.)
"Come back and fight me, coward!" Someone screams, and Fruit nearly drops the kettle. Burning hot liquid spills from its spout and he takes a hasty step backwards, then precariously pours some into the cup.
He just wanted some tea, he laments.
Taking a deep breath and frowning in confusion at the sound of lasers overhead, he dunks a teabag into the cup and shoves the kettle far, far away, at the end of the counter.
There's more shouting overhead ("Sorry, what did you say? Can't hear you from up here!"), followed by indignant screeching ("Fuck off, I'm not that short!") and gleeful cheers ("Get his ass, Illumina!"). Fruit wishes they would pick a different rooftop to fight on.
At least the name-calling is harmless enough– or so it is, until a loud thud shakes the entire building. Illumina and Not-short-guy scream in tandem. Fruit jumps about a foot in the air and swears loudly. His cup rattles as the ceiling trembles; he tries not to think about it collapsing.
Frankly, he wouldn't be surprised if it did one day.
With that unnerving thought, he grabs his cup and retreats to the living room–if it can even be called such, when all the tiny square of a room holds is a miserable table with half a tablecloth, a television that doesn't work, two doorways with no doors, and a glass door opening into the balcony.
Well, it's supposed to be a glass door, but Fruit thinks its main component is more like duct tape. It's been through a lot.
The balcony is the only saving grace of his apartment. With nothing better to occupy his free time (sorry, what homework? No such thing), Fruit has slowly cultivated an array of plants in the–still tiny, still miserable–balcony over the years.
It started with a few pots of cacti, forced upon him by one Geosquare, resident cactus enthusiast, and quickly and horrifyingly escalated into rows upon rows of ferns, flowers, and even, a little ambitiously, a small shrub.
It also happens to have one of the two chairs in his apartment, so Fruit heads there to drink his tea.
Big mistake.
From the balcony, it's much easier to hear the absolute pandemonium on the roof above him. Pink and blue lasers occasionally fly from the scene, while a large pair of golden wings flail wildly as their owner grapples with another winged person, this one with dark purple bat-like wings.
The taunts he heard earlier have descended into incoherent laughter, even as Purple-bat-guy is slammed unceremoniously into the concrete ground–ouch–by Guy-in-a-suit-that-shoots-lasers (Fruit dubs him Laser-dude for future internal complaints) and Gold-wing-guy falls over when trying to fly.
They're a bunch of incompetent idiots, and Fruit doesn't know why the city's council picked these three to be their protectors. They must be insane.
Case in point: Purple-bat-guy shoots to his feet and lunges for Laser-dude, but misses spectacularly and throws himself off the side of the roof instead. Fruit is caught between laughter and horror as he hangs, suspended, in the air for one comical second, then plunges towards the ground.
"Illumina!" Laser-dude shouts, leaning over the railings. A neon blue laser whizzes past Purpl�� Illumina, narrowly missing his wing. Its pink counterpart burns through his sleeve and, well, sets him on fire.
Fruit watches with morbid curiosity as Illumina free falls past the apartment above him, screaming all the while. He throws his wings open as he reaches, in vain, for the balcony rails, and manages to wrench himself towards the building walls–still on fire, mind you–
And falls directly in front of Fruit and his tea, which he hazily realises he's been gripping for the past few minutes without drinking.
Face down on the floor, Illumina makes a sound that Fruit doesn't know how to describe, annoyance, petulance, and pain condensed into one long, drawn-out sigh. His sleeve is still burning, flames licking at the fabric.
"ILLUMINA! ARE YOU OKAY?" Comes a shout of concern.
"YEAH!" Illumina shouts in response, standing and flapping his hand at his sleeve to try to extinguish it. He turns back to Fruit, a sheepish smile on his face. "Sorry for crashing into your balcony. I hope I didn't break anything."
"I–" Fruit finds himself at a loss for words. "I hope you didn't break any bones, dude, what the fuck?"
"Oh, right." Illumina makes a show of prodding his limbs. "Nope, they seem good."
With a final shrug, he takes off, wings carrying him back up to the roof. Fruit watches his companions fuss over him for a few moments and– yep, they're back to fighting. Ugh.
Damn those superheroes.
Fruit sips his tea and finds it sweeter than usual. He blames that on them too.
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anghraine · 5 years ago
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“the jedi and the sith lord” - chapter eleven
>_>
Last chapter:
“I’m not listening to this,” she said, backing away.
“Hide from the truth all you like,” said Vader. “That won’t change it.”
“It’s not true,” she insisted. “You’re trying to—you’re just trying to turn me to the Dark Side, aren’t you? I’m not fooled.”
“Yes, you are,” he said. “By Obi-Wan.”
This chapter:
“My Jedi teacher—Obi-Wan Kenobi—told me that Darth Vader murdered my father,” she said. “Vader says that he is my father and that Obi-Wan tried to burn him alive.”
His eyebrows rose. “Not quite the usual behaviour of a Jedi.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant Ben or Vader.
chapters: The Adventures of Lucy Skywalker– prologue, chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, chapter eight, chapter nine, chapter ten; The Imperial Menace–chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven; The Jedi and the Sith Lord—chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, chapter eight, chapter nine, chapter ten
-
Vader had not, it turned out, been joking about the restriction on Lucy’s movements. Not that Lucy thought he had, but she’d grown used to her comparative freedom. For the rest of that day, however, she was confined to her locked bedroom except for meal times, when Ellex marched her to the dining hall and loomed while she ate, before all but dragging her back.
Lucy knew the consequences of her escape could be worse, but that just made her think of why she’d been let off so lightly, which made her think of Vader insisting he was her father, which sent her thoughts spinning off into uncertainty and anger at all involved. She simmered all that day, and that pulled the Light Side out of her reach until she managed to scrape together some calm that night.
She drifted off to sleep under Ellex’s unrelenting sensors, and opened her eyes to the half-familiar city in the desert.
Oh.
Lucy made her way over to the oasis where the monk customarily sat, and sure enough, found him there.
“Hello again,” she said.
“Good evening,” said the monk, as serene as ever.
Lucy paused, then added, “I don’t know your name. Leia—Princess Leia of Alderaan—told me, but I can’t remember, sorry.”
“It’s Chirrut Îmwe,” he replied.
For no particular reason, she’d expected some resistance, or even a denial. She nodded.
“Chirrut. Okay. Did you call me?”
“No,” said Chirrut. “It’s a relief to encounter you alive and well, of course.”
She hopped up onto the rough bench beside him and pushed her loose hair back, anxiously running her hands through it before dropping them in her lap.
“Then it’s me doing it. Sorry, I just … I’m not sure I am well.”
Concern passed over his face. “Have you been harmed?”
“No,” she said, then thought about it. “I mean, I was, but I did it to myself—I snuck out of the fortress and got poisoned by the fumes. I’m fine now.”
“It sounds like a charming place,” said Chirrut.
She gave a startled laugh. “Oh, definitely.”
“How are you unwell, then?”
Lucy lowered her gaze to her hands, not knowing what she expected to find. Something in her not-quite-human blood, or … something.
“My Jedi teacher—Obi-Wan Kenobi—told me that Darth Vader murdered my father,” she said. “Vader says that he is my father and that Obi-Wan tried to burn him alive.”
His eyebrows rose. “Not quite the usual behaviour of a Jedi.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant Ben or Vader.
“I guess not,” said Lucy. “I just … I don’t know what to think, or who to trust.”
“What does the Force tell you?” said Chirrut.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “It’s all tangled up here. I feel like it’s true—I was pretty certain at first—but I don’t know if that’s the Force or wanting to believe it.” She frowned. “I mean, I don’t want to believe it. It’s just that it explains some things.”
He considered this.
“Were you close to your father?”
“I never knew him,” said Lucy. “My uncle and aunt said he died around the time I was born. But they talked about him as my real father, and everyone’s said I’m like him. I always wanted to believe it, and hear stories and—and—in a way, I guess I was close to him. Not like people whose parents are there, though.”
Her teeth dug into her bottom lip.
“Hm,” said Chirrut.
“And I admire him for what he did,” said Lucy. “I used to, anyway. He was born into slavery on Tatooine, but he got out and became a Jedi.”
She remembered asking, Are you kavashti?
And Vader had said, No.
It might not mean that he came from free folk. It might, horrifyingly, mean that he’d been a slave himself. But the idea seemed as impossible as the rest.
“Not to be morbid,” Chirrut said, “but do you know if there was there a body?”
She shook her head. “Nobody ever said.”
“Then it’s possible,” he said simply.
“If it’s true—” Her voice broke off. Her throat didn’t bother her here, but she had to clear it, anyway. “If it’s true, what should I do? I can’t just act like it means nothing! He said he wants to rule the galaxy with me!”
“Do you want to rule the galaxy?” said Chirrut, imperturbable as ever.
“No!” She bit her lip again. “But I do want to bring down the Emperor. I just don’t want to replace him with more of the same. Vader’s awful.”
“Not many people would disagree with you there,” he replied.
She hesitated. “He hasn’t been what I thought, though. I wouldn’t say kind, but—not cruel. Not to me.”
“You think you’re receiving special treatment?” said Chirrut.
Thinking of Tuvié, Lucy squeezed her eyes shut. “Yes. I just don’t know if it’s because he wants my help or because I really am his daughter. It’s hard to think of him as sentimental.”
“Very hard,” said Chirrut. “But I don’t exactly know him personally. I hardly know you. I can’t tell you what you should believe or do.”
Her stomach sank, but at the same time, she wasn’t really surprised. She nodded.
“What I can tell you,” he went on, “is that the Force is with you. Trust it. If your choices serve its purposes, it will carry you through anything.” Then he smiled. “So make sure they do.”
“But I don’t know what it’s saying,” she protested. “Everything is mixed up here. How can I make the right choices if I don’t understand what’s going on?”
He looked thoughtful. “I can’t help you with that. But perhaps—yes, I might find someone who could.”
“Like Captain Andor and Jyn Erso?” she said hopefully.
“No,” said Chirrut. “It took all our strength to bring them, and I doubt they’d be of much help in this situation. Remember their advice, though.”
“Be ready. And—” She swallowed. “And remember who I am.”
I don’t know who I am anymore.
“That’s right,” he said. “Now, rest. I think you’ll need it for tomorrow.”
“Is something going to happen?” asked Lucy.
But he was gone, and his city with him.
-
The next day passed very much as the first had, with added anticipation of what might occur. It seemed unlikely that it would actually occur in daytime, shut up in her bedroom, though Lucy constantly checked for some change or sign. Ellex seemed even more suspicious than usual, though she had yet to stun her. Thank the Force for small blessings, Lucy supposed.
The hours seemed to creep by, and she was so keyed-up by the time she crawled into bed that she couldn’t sleep. Tense and frustrated, she lay awake for a good two hours before she finally drifted off.
She woke—or rather, didn’t wake—to Chirrut’s city, and swiftly made her way along the usual path to his bench. As she approached, Lucy saw him standing with another man, one who had his back to her but appeared rather elderly.
“I couldn’t do it on my own,” Chirrut was saying. “Though, of course, neither could she.”
“Extraordinary,” the man said. “Quite extraordinary.”
Lucy knew that voice.
“Ben?”
The old man turned around—and sure enough, she saw the familiar face of Obi-Wan Kenobi. It looked particularly unreadable at the moment.
“Lucy, it’s good to see you.”
“I—” She held herself still, trying to understand, then took several steps forward. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, wholly,” said Obi-Wan. “I’ve tried to reach you, but could only sense that you were surrounded by the Dark Side. We feared you were lost.”
Lost could mean a lot of things. But Lucy thought she had a pretty good idea of which one he meant.
“I’m surrounded by the Dark Side because Darth Vader captured me and locked me up in his castle,” she said indignantly. “I haven’t turned—I wouldn’t.”
At that, his stiff shoulders relaxed. Dead though he might be, he exhaled.
“Good. That is … an inexpressible relief, Lucy.”
She could only nod, unsure what to say with so many fears and questions whirling around her brain, and Chirrut sitting idly by.
“I hope you have not suffered too much,” Obi-Wan added.
“Not much at all,” said Lucy. She thought of her days of blindness, and almost suffocating on toxic fumes. “I mean, it could be worse.”
“Vader can always get worse,” he said grimly. “I won’t ask what he’s done to you, but be very careful.”
“He hasn’t done anything, hardly,” she replied. “Except—”
Obi-Wan looked at her inquiringly, managing to exude sympathy despite his neutral expression. Unable to think of any other approach, she steeled herself.
“Except,” Lucy said, “he told me he’s my father.”
His eyes went wide, the neutrality replaced by shock—enough shock that she could almost think her hopes didn’t mislead her. But every instinct warned her against it.
“Is it true?” she demanded. “Is Darth Vader my father?”
As quickly as it had come, Obi-Wan’s shock faded. He walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking down at her in his quietly kind way.
“This is unexpected,” he said, and sighed. “I’m afraid that he is, in a sense.”
In a sense?
“You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father!” cried Lucy.
Even in the dream realm, or whatever it was, Obi-Wan managed to look older.
“Your father was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force,” he told her. “He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I have told you was true, from a certain point of view.”
Chirrut, who had withdrawn into unobtrusive observation through all this, said, “Hmm.”
“A certain point of view?” Lucy said incredulously.
“Lucy,” said Obi-Wan, “you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”
He could wrap it in whatever fine words he liked. He’d lied. It really was Vader who’d told her the truth. Lucy shrugged off his hand and turned away, her fingers curling.
Then Obi-Wan said,
“I don’t blame you for being angry. Anakin was a good friend.”
She faced him again, struggling for some sort of composure. He could tell her the real story—but it might just be more lies. How would she know?
Dità juradiiyad echoed in her mind.
“When I first knew him,” said Obi-Wan, “your father was already a great pilot, but I was amazed at how strongly the Force was with him. I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi.” He shook his head. “I thought that I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong.”
Her feelings had been right. She shouldn’t have convinced herself to doubt them. Now, she knew she had to follow where they led her.
��I don’t understand him,” Lucy admitted. “There’s … I don’t know. Something that doesn’t fit.”
“He’s more machine now than man,” said Obi-Wan somberly. “Twisted and evil.”
He meant something by that, she thought. More than he was saying.
“I don’t know,” she said again.
Out of nowhere, apparently, Obi-Wan asked, “How often do you face him?”
“Everyday, when he’s here,” said Lucy, startled. “He always sends for me and talks about turning to the Dark Side. I was scared at first, but it’s mostly just boring now.”
“Your opportunity will come,” Obi-Wan told her.
It could have meant any number of things. But with that, it all became clear. She went cold.
“I can’t do it, Ben,” she said.
“You cannot escape your destiny,” said Obi-Wan.
She was really tired of hearing that.
“I can’t kill my own father!” she insisted.
Obi-Wan shook his head. “Then the Emperor has already won.”
Vader said the same thing when he talked about turning to the Dark Side. She hadn’t abandoned what she believed when he did it, and she wouldn’t when Obi-Wan did, either.
She pressed her lips together, and said, “That’s not all he said. He told me that you left him to burn alive. Is that true?”
“He may have left out some details,” said Obi-Wan. “We fought a duel on Mustafar after he’d slaughtered dozens. I defeated him and he fell into the lava. Then—you have to understand, Lucy, that he was only a child when I took on his care. I thought of him as a younger brother at the time and afterwards, as I saw him growing into a fine Jedi. Even when he turned to evil, I couldn’t bring myself to kill him.”
“So you left him there,” she said.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again and met hers directly. “Yes. I have regretted it every day since.”
She guessed her father did, too.
“You did what you felt was right, just like you told me to do,” Lucy said at last. “I will, too.”
“Lucy—”
“She can’t maintain this much longer,” Chirrut said suddenly, turning towards them. “She needs her rest, and so do I.”
Obi-Wan paused, then bowed. “Of course. Farewell, Lucy. I hope that we’ll meet again.”
“So do I,” she said, managing to conjure up a smile from somewhere.
“Goodbye, Master Jedi,” said Chirrut. “And goodbye, little Starkiller.”
-
Lucy didn’t remember any other dreams from that night. Perhaps she didn’t have any. But the interchange with Obi-Wan and Chirrut remained bright and clear.
Your father was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force.
He is more machine now than man—twisted and evil.
She rubbed her fists against her eyes, avoiding Ellex’s red stare.
Anakin was a good friend.
“Morning,” Lucy said, her voice rough. “Is Lord Vader back yet?”
“No,” said Ellex. Predictably, she offered no further information.
Lucy sighed. She supposed she’d better get ready for another fun-filled day of doing absolutely nothing. Maybe this was supposed to make turning to the Dark Side more appealing—it was at least something to do.
In the wardrobe, she managed to dredge up another tunic and set of trousers, these ones deep red (and, she suspected, made of velvet). There’d be no escaping notice even if she did somehow managed to slip past Ellex’s scrutiny. Not that that would happen.
She had just carried them into the fresher when the flash of red in the mirror caught her attention. Lucy couldn’t have said why, but she stopped to examine her reflection, anyway. She’d certainly looked better; she was pale, with shadows under her eyes, and a good portion of her hair had been pulled out of her braid in the night. She untied her hair-ribbon and started to braid her hair again, then stopped.
She always wore her hair in braids of some kind, ever since the day on the Falcon when Obi-Wan said that Jedi apprentices had them. It was a little thing, but it had mattered to her. Everything Obi-Wan said about the Jedi had.
They’d lied. Ben had lied, and Yoda had lied, and however they might justify themselves, she knew the real reason was that they meant her to kill her own father. It would be one thing if they presented her with full knowledge of the choice and pushed her in one direction or another. This was altogether different. She wouldn’t have known.
Once again, Lucy thought of her mother. What would she have wanted? Had she known what Anakin was, or what he’d become? Had Padmé loved him and been loved by him, or was it something different? Would she have joined her voice to the others pushing her daughter to patricide?
Maybe she’d never know.
Feeling almost as if she watched herself from a distance, Lucy dressed and shook out her hair. Then she tied it back, strode into the bedroom, and said,
“Am I allowed to go anywhere else?”
“That depends on the location,” said Ellex.  
Lucy took a calming breath.
“The practice room?”
Ellex’s circuits gave a low hum. Then she said,
“Yes, that is permitted as of yesterday evening.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” demanded Lucy.
“You did not ask.”
Lucy reminded herself that Ellex was an upgraded super battle droid with several blasters on her and perfect willingness to use them. Gritting her teeth, she said,
“Fine. Let’s go.”
Ellex, with a total unconcern that would have put Vader to shame, unsealed the door and ordered her through. Two other, smaller droids stood on either side of the door, both armed with heavy blasters.
Okay, then.
“This way,” said Ellex, pointing.
“I know where it is,” Lucy replied.
Even so, she followed obediently enough, not willing to jeopardize her small amount of freedom. Remembering Ellex’s comments on her talkativeness, she stayed quiet half the time, her thoughts more than enough to occupy her. Despite the horror of her father’s identity, having one at all felt—well, strange. She’d always thought of herself as an orphan, and now it turned out that she’d never been one at all. When she imagined a glamorous pilot father as a child, he’d actually been up there.
Killing people, probably.
And what about the lightsaber he’d taken from her—his lightsaber? Ben said Anakin had wanted her to have it, which was obviously another lie, but … he’d said, too, that he tried to give it to her earlier, but Owen wouldn’t let him. Had he wanted her trained from childhood, like Anakin? What would have happened? Had Owen and Beru known what happened to his stepbrother? Was that why he’d forbidden Ben, or had he simply known Anakin as a dead hero, and feared the same for Lucy? How long had Anakin known about her, anyway? Had he thought of her as a valuable tool, or a possession, or what? And when she escaped and nearly died, what—
Her mind kept spinning faster and faster. Lucy forced herself out of the whirl and spoke without thinking.
“Doctor Izahay said that I could have died out there.”
“Do you require affirmation of that judgment?” said Ellex. “Yes, you were extremely foolish.”
Lucy took a deep breath. “She said that Lord Vader could have died, too. How come?”
Ellex clomped on, then said,
“That is not restricted information. Very well. He is a humanoid. The air is also toxic to him.”
“Right,” said Lucy, “but doesn’t his helmet have filters for that kind of thing?”
“No equipment is perfect,” said Ellex irritably. “It is not designed to protect him from everything, everywhere.”
“But didn’t he have a force field on?”
“No,” Ellex said. As they reached the practice room, she turned to Lucy, sensors flickering. “If you are quite done asking insignificant questions, we have arrived. Do you wish entry?”
“Yes,” said Lucy. She peered up at Ellex. “And—thank you.”
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clonefright99datapad · 6 years ago
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Within a dream: Static
Sorry for the wait! I got caught up in something else, enjoy!
It was mostly morbid curiosity in a way, it intrigued me and yet terrified me by how real and accurate these dreams were.These dreams, that I had, all of which driven by the same cursed individual. Stefano Valentini, a mere creation my mind had done but horrifyingly identical in character only meant one thing. He’d be there for awhile, haunting me, like the psycho he was.
The environment was completely destroyed, what had once been a town back in the days was now in shambles, buildings were barely holding together, cars were scattered around the empty streets and most importantly it was dead silent. There was not a soul in sight in this town.
We were about four individuals in the group, including myself. We were looking around trying to gather up supplies to what seemed to be an unknown apocalypse. We had to get inside a building as night was slowly creeping in. The building in question was inaccessible as a van had destroyed the main entrance but the rubbles did have a crawl space that we could go through.
Once we were all inside,we started searching the building for supplies and unwanted threats that could have been crawling inside. All my friends went into another area but I wanted to stay and search more this place so I told them I’d join them once I was done.
I entered this pitch black room, I couldn’t see much but I did noticed an old TV on the ground. It was turned on somehow and the sounds of the static echoed throughout the entire room,that was odd since it didn’t lit up anything inside the room. I stepped closer to it, staring at it as I felt like something was about to attack in or worse. Nothing happened, its static louder now that I was right in front of it.
I was still staring at it but somehow something had changed. It still somewhat had static but the screen was now showing image, it wasn’t the greatest quality, it was mostly like an old VHS or a really bad surveillance camera footage. The images showed what seemed to be the inside of a moving train, there were tools laying all around the place and what appeared to be a small table in the lower corner of the screen.
It abruptly stopped and something came into frame, as if it had been thrown by the force of the train when it suddenly braked. It was a  little girl, she had something wrapped all around her, it looked like rope and before I could even realise what was happening her leg hit the table and she suddenly split open, her decapitated body hitting the ground. I looked away, this looked like those awful tragic accidents videos that I couldn’t bear to watch.
Somehow I had changed location, it was dimly lit, the floor had red carpet on it and it was awfully quiet. I was in a movie theater, completely empty except for two individuals, watching a black and white movie. I didn’t pay attention to the the movie, the two individuals didn’t seem to notice me even when I stood in front of them in the alley. There was a boy and a girl, probably teenagers from how young they looked like. They seemed more busy kissing than watching the movie, then I saw her, standing next to them suddenly disturbing the couple. The teen boy seemed furious as he stood up and angrily walked towards the small child who seemed scared as she backed away. That’s when I realised, this little girl was the same from that awful surveillance footage earlier. I felt my heart shatter, I wanted to help this kid but I couldn’t, I was only watching a flashback of what happened to her, helpless and afraid.
I was back at the train, but I wasn’t watching from a screen. I was where it happened. I couldn’t see her body where it should have been, she wasn’t there. I was about to move when I felt the train suddenly braking and to my right  someone being thrown forward. My body froze, everything was happening in slow motion, that’s when I saw what was wrapped around her small frame. They were film reels, my heart skipped a beat, she was staring at me directly in the eyes. The terror she had, it’s like she knew what was about to happen to her, like she wanted me to save her. I couldn’t, I couldn’t even move as she was being sliced open and pulled apart by the gravity and all so slowly spread before hitting the ground.
I turned my head, I didn’t want to watch this again, I didn’t want to understand what happened to this unfortunate child. Both of my hands were covering my mouth as I tried to calm down. The train had begun to move again and I just wanted to wake up but something caught my attention. As I stared away, I could see at the corner of my left eye something moving, it was slightly blue and as I concentrated on the movement I noticed it was repeating. Going back and then restarting, over and over again. That kid’s death was in a never ending loop and that fear that I hadn’t felt in weeks came back full force. He wasn’t there though or at least he wasn’t showing himself.
``You’re learning…`` I woke up, thinking about these words, about the looping death which was too detailed to my tasted. This wasn’t some silly dreams which had no sense to it. No, the more I dreamed about him, the more they were dark and twisted...
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jeichanhaka · 7 years ago
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And Carried Me Away: Ch. 16
Author Note: Sorry about not updating lately, I’ll try to get back to writing more frequently to this fanfic.
Previous Chapter                                                        Next Chapter
Chapter 16:
"All right. Hopefully that will help find this Bryce Samuels." Cam muttered as she returned to the investigation area of the station, Tara not far behind. The two of them had just finished up a press release after a database search into the suspect, whose name Hotch got from James, yielded no results. "I can't believe Garcia couldn't find anything on him."
"Well, he was one of the children in Somerfield's institute. It's possible Somerfield used aliases for his 'patients' in any records he kept." Tara replied, shutting the door behind them. "Hotch did get a description from James, but it was from over twenty years ago when the two were thirteen."
Cam grumbled, her heterochromatic eyes livid. "I can't believe this. We have all of his files, but can't find out what we need."
Tara grimaced and nodded, her arms crossed. The moment Hotch had given the team a name to look into as a possible unsub, Garcia had did an extensive search into Bryce, including the files they'd taken from Somerfield. It didn't take long for the tech analyst to discover that on top of giving each subject of his an alias, Somerfield had also obscured or falsified their personal information. Ages and dates were all changed.
The only thing he kept were records of the experiments he did, which horrifyingly were done to many of those at his institute. Not just James. And most were experiments repeated on multiple victims. Multiple times.
"If..." Cam started to say, only to be interrupted by Tara's phone ringing. The latter quickly answered it after a glance at the display.
"Yes, Morgan? What..." Tara paused, eyes narrowing in thought as she listened. "Yes. All right. We'll meet you there."
"What is it?" Cam asked after the older woman hung up.
"Jersey police just found a body of an unidentified woman, enucleated and stabbed in the spine. She was killed and dumped recently."
"Is it Melissa Joyce?"
"If it is then the unsub could be escalating. He kept Olivia Sutters for weeks. He barely had Melissa a day." Tara replied, the two of them already heading out to meet up with the rest of the team.
"Yes. We're fine. Jemma and Alsie are picking out some ice cream." Spencer glanced towards his sister and niece, his cell phone pressed to his ear. He pulled a face, a tentative frown tugging his lips. "I know...we got a late start. There was...but things are fine now. What about the case? Has the unsub been found?"
-"Not yet." Rossi cocked an eyebrow at the shift he heard in the younger agent's voice, and the false start Spencer made. "Are you sure everything's all right? Did something happen? Did Alsie...?"-
Spencer grimaced, instinctively wanting to keep quiet about what had happened. It took a glance at Jemma and the concern in Rossi's voice as he repeated his question for Spencer to re-realize that the other man deserved to know. Jemma was Rossi's granddaughter and Alsie had almost become his daughter-in-law.
-"Reid..."-
"Sorry. Alsie shifted to an alter earlier and...well, it delayed us getting to the park. Jemma had a tantrum because of it." Spencer gave a demure smile as he kept his gaze on his niece. The full, wide-eyed, grin the toddler gave when Alsie handed her a small, soft serve vanilla ice cream cone covered in sprinkles made him smile more.
"Jem, not like..." Alsie chuckled as Jemma started eating the ice cream with her hands, scooping it up with her fingers and putting it in her mouth. Alsie shook her head quietly and picked up her sundae, before leading Jemma back towards the bench Spencer was standing beside.
Spencer shook his head as Alsie started to ask him if he was sure he didn't want one. "I don't do too good with dairy products."
"Ah. All right." Alsie mumbled, turning her attention to her sundae after helping Jemma onto the bench. The toddler continued devouring her ice cream, her fingers and chin becoming an increasingly sticky mess. Alsie smiled at her daughter and then started eating her sundae, scooping it with the spoon it came with.
-"It sounds like everyone's having fun." Rossi grinned as he spoke, the genuine laughter he heard from the other end alleviating his concerns.-
"Yeah." Spencer chortled, watching as Alsie broke from her resolve to let Jemma eat as she pleased and gave the girl her spoon.
"Here. Use this. Not your hands. Please." Alsie sighed and glanced toward the ice cream vender, wondering if she should get another spoon. As well as some napkins.
"Sorry, Rossi." Spencer apologized, his lips twitching as Jemma gave back the spoon to Alsie. "I got distracted."
-"No problem. Just take some photos of my adorable granddaughter so I can add them to the album I started." He paused, thinking about something. "We need to get you a phone with a newer camera."-
Spencer blinked and shook his head. "What's wrong with the phone I have now? I like it. It works just fine, it calls, texts, and takes pictures. I don't need a new one."
-"...kid." Rossi sighed. "The picture quality of your phone is just...not the greatest. Besides you can't really record video on it either. Jemma deserves the best quality of photo and video."-
Spencer made a face, twisting his lips. It wasn't that he disagreed with Rossi's comment about Jemma, but rather the idea of upgrading his phone. Most if not all of the phones with better cameras were smart phones with touch screens. He hated touch screens.
-"...it's all right, kid. I was joking." Rossi replied with a chuckle after realizing what Spencer's silence meant. "Alsie has a smart phone so you or her can use that." He paused a moment, listening to Spencer grumble about newer technology and how addictive it can be for people. He waited until the younger man was done grumbling. "All right. I get it. Anyway there's another reason I called, aside from checking up on Jemma."-
"...What is it?" Spencer asked, glancing at Alsie and Jemma briefly before turning away to focus on the call.
-"...Hotch found out something that the team needs to hear. He didn't elaborate, but said it was important." Rossi took in a breath, rubbing his chin as he recalled Hotch's call. The younger man had seemed perturbed by something he'd learned, and Rossi was sure it had to do with James. Hotch had just gotten done with an interview with James after all. He couldn't help wondering what it was Hotch had learned, what James may have told him.-
"Rossi, I..." Spencer started, but quickly stopped, his eyes widening after returning to his sister and niece. The wheezing coming from the latter terrifying him. He quickly flew to the bench, his eyes widening at hives marring his niece's skin. "Jemma!"
Alsie trembled, panicking. Her frightened and wide eyes searching Spencer's face before locking once more on her daughter. She was unable to speak, and simply panicked, her heart thumping wildly in her chest.
Spencer, recognizing the symptoms of severe allergic reaction, quickly hung up on Rossi. The very next moment calling for an ambulance.
New Jersey:
The sky overhead a deepening crimson as sunset inched nearer, police cars surrounded the area leading to the dumpsite. It was a wooded area, with biking and hiking trails leading along and from the road that curved through the area. The trees were many and a lush of green, part of a lovely, non-urban landscape.
It was not a place used to homicide, nor the disposal of corpses. That was evidenced by the reporters and onlookers trying to see what the commotion was about. To see why so many police were around in an area that was considered safe.
Cold eyes peered at the flashing lights, their owner standing quietly among the gaggle of onlookers. Dressed in worn jeans and a slate-gray hoodie, he studied the officers coming and going while blending in with the crowd.
"What's happened?" One of the onlookers asked another, trying to see some hint of what was beyond the police barricade.
"Don't know. Heard someone say there was a dead body. A woman."
"What? Seriously? Do you think she was killed?" The first asked, turning to her friend. Her eyes widened and lit with morbid interest. "Do you think it could be another of the copycat murders? Like it mentioned on the News?"
"Weren't the other ones found closer to Newark? Why would one be found here?"
The man with the cold eyes crept away, a twitch of his lip the only indication that he'd heard the two friend's conversation.
"'And now we roam, in sovereign wood, and now we hunt the doe...'" Bryce whispered as he sauntered off, his thin lips itching to form a sneer.
It was as he walked off, not yet outside of the crowd, that he emptied his hoodie's pocket. A parcel, unremarkable enough not to be noticed amid the draw towards the police lights, but of enough girth to eventually be seen. And felt.
Bryce smirked slightly, really just a twitch of his lips, as he continued on. His cold eyes, catching sight of a black SUV driving towards the site cordoned off with police tape, gleamed. He watched it disappear behind the gaggle of onlookers before resuming his walk.
-Flashback-
-"Yes, I understand. You were hoping to find her or the family, but you knew from the beginning that it was a long shot." The man spoke, handing over a quarter-inch stack of papers to him. "There isn't any proof that a switch happened, or that this Crawford family is connected. Mr. Reid...It's been years, any trail, if there's one to be found, has likely grown cold. The agency you hired before has a great reputation, if they didn't find a trail back then, it's unlikely any will be found now."
"I...that's..." William sighed and begrudgingly took the papers, his blurry gaze shifting to the top page. He blinked until his tired eyes were clear, the sliver of hope he had diminishing.
"I suggest you deal with the likelihood that your daughter wasn't switched and move on." The man waited, watching as his client nodded though with more weariness than just moments ago.
"Yes. Maybe you're right. I should...thank you for your time Mr. Cutler..."
x
William Reid glowered at his steering wheel, his increasingly livid gaze shifting to the sign on the front of the building across from him. He squeezed his steering wheel as he read the name of the law offices. C. J. Cutler. The lawyer who drew up Mary Schmidt's will.
William scowled and took a deep breath, his eyes flitting to the folder he'd lain open on the passenger seat. The folder he had kept during his search for Alsie, the folder containing all the reports filed by the detective agencies he hired.
His jaw taut and eyes narrowed, he picked up the papers and folder before exiting his car. Though it was getting late, his detour to visit James at Alsie's behest having taken up a chunk of the day, he refused to wait longer.
Midway in shutting his car door, his cell phone rang. His narrowed, angry eyes widened with concern seeing Alsie's number and name on the display.
"Hello? Elsie, what's...?" William paled as he listened to his daughter, her voice terrified and what she was saying terrifying. Though he honestly only heard 'Jemma' and 'hospital.' "Which hospital? Whi...don't worry. It'll be all right. I'm on my way." William reassured Alsie, returning to his car without another thought.
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