wildflowerwatson-blog - Tumblr blog

wildflowerwatson-blog · 11 years ago

Text

One is the loneliest number || Hailee + Delilah

Hailee

The sun was just starting to set as Hailee made her way to the small kitchen table in her tiny house. Though, these days it felt much bigger, much emptier. It was weird, this feeling of emptiness at the lack of her sister. Hailee'd spent most of her time here having the house to herself, but she'd gotten used to her sisters presence these last few weeks. She even wished Heidi would somehow appear and start screaming at her, as long as it brought her back. Glancing down at the neatly creased letter in her hands she felt tears prick at her eyes for the hundredth time this week. Ethan couldn't have known how much his letter would speak to her. "Stand up for yourself before you’ve been knocked down permanently." His last words to her had been a command. One she now realized she had every intention of proving true. She would prove everyone who called her weak wrong. She would make her sister love her again. Make her proud even. Folding Ethan's letter back up carefully she placed it in her pocket, where she always kept it close by, and looked at the paper underneath. "You will report to my house in A tomorrow at sundown. ~Leader X" Her heart clenched as she looked out her window. The sun was nearing the horizon now. She needed to leave now if she was to get there on time. Forcing herself up out of the chair she reminded herself that this was fine. She had no reason to fear Delilah right now right? She hadn't done anything wrong. But a pit in her stomach told her that Delilah didn't frequently invite people to her house. Silently she walked outside and greeted the guards who, despite Heidi's absence, were still posted outside her house. Unexpectedly, however, they began to follow her. Delilah must not have trusted her to come tonight. Odd. Hailee was the reliable twin.

Delilah

Delilah tapped her fingers against her desk, legs crossed underneath her, tucked neatly into the chair behind her desk, which was turned so that the back was facing the main door. Her head was canted slightly to the side, resting in her palm, as she gazed drearily out at the snow-sodden landscape. What a ridiculous weather pattern this place had, she scoffed lightly as she moved her free hand outward and observed her fingernails instead. It was a habit she'd acquired when she was much, much younger; a nervous one that had continued despite her turnaround in personality. She couldn't wait until this white poison had receded from the ground and been replaced with the delicious, luscious green. She was confined to this office, basically, until that happened. The cold didn't treat her well, no matter how many layers she donned. It had been this way since that blasted gene, since their fuck of a father had thought experimenting on his own children was a most excellent idea. Her serene expression, painted upon her exhausted face, transformed into a scowl as she heard stirring near the door, and there was a hesitation which snapped in the air, causing a ragged breath to be drawn in to her lungs as she impatiently waited, rolling her eyes toward the darkening ceiling for the person who had intruded to speak their business or get *out.* "Ms. Ventura?" said a rather timid, tenor-pitched voice. She withheld the sigh, forcing the air to be slowly expelled from her lungs instead. "The Watson girl has been brought to you." A slow blink, a sly smile. "Send her in." was the hoarse response that emerged from her parched throat, and the door shut quietly again as her personal bodyguard went to fetch the visitor. Which she had personally requested. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins, though she remained with her back to the door. Perhaps now, she would receive much-needed answers.

Hailee

The guard came back out to the entrance of Delilah's home and took Hailee by the arm, dragging rather than escorting her into what Hailee assumed must be Delilah's office. When she entered she was surprised. She wasn't sure what she was expecting but it wasn't this. Delilah's office looked...normal. A bookshelf on one wall and a desk in the center and a wide window in the back. She entered quietly, afraid if she made a sound she'd be reprimanded. Delilah wasn't looking at her though, her back to the doorway in which Hailee stood. She quietly cleared her throat. "You asked to see me ma'am." she managed to say after several moments of silence. Her voice came out more timid than she'd expected it to. Standing with her hands behind her back and her eyes on the ground she waited for a response.

Delilah

There was the quiet, timid voice that she had been waiting for. Oddly enough, Hailee reminded Delilah of herself when she was that age. Nineteen. Malleable. Eager to please. Uncertain as to whether or not she had offended. With a breath that caused her lungs to ache, she draped one leg elegantly over the side of the chair and turned herself around to face the girl, who was the spitting image of that spitfire bitch who caused so much *unnecessary* trouble on everyone else that a surge of hatred filled her, caused her grip to tighten on the arms of her chair. She kept her expression benign, emotionless, allowing a small smile to play on her lips. "Hailee." The warmth wasn't necessarily false, but it was forced. "I did, indeed." She stood from her chair, reaching for her hands to place flat upon the desktop - a gesture of impatience, but more so of one to keep herself upright. Now was not the time to feel faint. "Yes, I wanted to see you. I always do. One of my most loyal followers. So reliable." She canted her head to the opposite side. "Are you feeling all right lately? No illnesses, maladies? No one bothering you?"

Hailee

When Delilah turned around Hailee was surprised. She'd seen Delilah before of course, but the sight of her never ceased to put a cold block of ice in her stomach. Her eyes flicked from her emotionless face, to her contradictory fingers gripping armrest. The kindness in her voice felt false somehow and sent a chill down Hailee's spine. People didn't realize that after years of blending into the background Hailee'd gotten very good at reading people. She didn't make any sign to show she detected the hatred laced in her words, however. She remembered Ethan's letter, still snug in her pocket. She would be strong. So she put on a smile of her own and looked at Delilah "You've never given me a reason to not be reliable," she said a little louder than her first words had been. Despite knowing Delilah didn't really care about her, the words seemed to relax her anyway. She shook her head gently. "No ma'am. I've been just..just fine."

Delilah

Just fine. It was something that she herself hadn't been in ages. Her hands drifted upward to her face and touched her cheekbones, which were hollowed. How wretched she must look. Her vanity shouldn't allow this. She had once been beautiful. But everything, including that, had been taken from her, all because of her siblings and her family. All because of the traitorous actions of those closest to her. But they hadn't cared. And now, neither did she. "I would hope not." The statement was genuine. "I've known betrayal enough myself." The confession almost caused her to vomit; she couldn't imagine being intimate with someone, much less a girl who was a direct relation to that ravenous beast of a woman. "That's good to hear, though. Considering the most recent..." She paused, one eyebrow twitching upward. "...passing." She watched very closely to see the girl's reaction at the mentioning of Ethan, though implicit it was in nature.

Hailee

The placid look Hailee'd held the past few minutes started to break at the words that came hoarsely from Delilah's lips. It reminded her that their leader was once a person just like her, she wasn't always a figure of power, of adoration and vengeance. In that moment she almost wanted to comfort her. Almost. Then she remembered how she'd treated her sister. The things she witnessed done. And suddenly she knew she couldn't let feelings like that enter again. Those were dangerous things to feel when in the presence of such a power as Leader X. Ethan's name still had the effect she knew it would. It stung like a knife in her back. Ethan's death wasn't only tragic in itself, but meant the suffering of the one person Hailee loved most, and that hurt her more than words could ever. She struggled to keep her voice even but even she could hear the slight wavering. "Yes..yes it's caused a lot of commotion these last..last few days."

Delilah

The flexibility in the tone of the voice caused Delilah's ears and lips to twitch - though it was to fasten her face into a sneer, not a smirk. She resisted doing either expression, though. "Commotion." When she repeated the single word, her voice was soft, dangerous, as the purr of a panther before it struck out with a haphazard paw. She inhaled again, and her lungs threatened to burst; she had to press a hand to her sternum, she had to relieve the sensation. Her face, she knew, had to slowly be drawing more of a pallor to it. And the thought of her appearing ugly before someone was enough to send her over the edge. But as usual, she would let *no one* realise that she was the one driving her own self mad. "I noticed. Hence why I allowed a vigil to take place. A place where people could express themselves freely in their grief. Without worries of judgment." Her blink was slow as she began to round the desk, her eyes darting to each guard briefly that stood behind Hailee; their shoulders straightened. "Tell me..." Her voice was softer still. "How did your sister take it?"

Hailee

The room suddenly felt several degrees colder with the icy presence in Delilah's voice. All previous warmth seemed to drain from her lips and Hailee's skin all at once. She realized then what danger she was in. How, even though Delilah called her one of her most loyal followers, it meant nothing if she wasn't able to help. Hailee watched as if in a trance as Delilah held a hand to her chest. She just looked so...sickly. How was it then. that this pitiful looking woman was to be the demise of all who survived the end of the world? And yet when she spoke Hailee felt all her worst nightmares coming true. Her voice grew quieter as she asked about Heidi. A sore subject already. But Hailee was prepared for this. Lying was difficult, but here she had nothing to hide. "I wouldn't know" she replied, her voice even this time. "I haven't seen her since the day she left."

Delilah

She had become more than adept in reading the body language of others, and her eyes, as drained and exhausted as they were, still managed to pick up details and nuances that others wouldn't bother to notice. The slight shifting of the step. The flash of brilliance in the irises, a brilliance that had long since departed her and her gangling, ruined corpse. And if there was something which shot through her now, it was jealousy. Delilah was envious of the woman before her who had endured more hardships than ever before and yet still had that appearance of vitality about her. She knew that it was simple enough to remove it, to take it for herself; she had done it before. But she was tired of hearing people's screams echo down the corridors. She couldn't understand why people had to resist. They always had been against her, though. Since she was a child. She should be accustomed to it. But she wasn't. Her hand still pressed against her sternum, though shifting to be above her heart, which lobbed painfully she moved closer still to Hailee, until her breadth of deep brown waves brushed against the girl's cheek opposite of her. Her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke, both because the rattle of death was knocking upon the door and because she wanted her to be fully aware that any tricks or disguises would fall to the catacombs of failure.

"Haven't seen her? Not once? Not in passing, not in a single stroke? Nothing has caused you to panic related to her?" The voice was silken in the whisper. "I know just how... anxious her actions can make you. I know how it is to consistently worry over another. Are you sure she's done nothing? Are you... *sure* you haven't seen her?"

Hailee

The ice block that had planted itself in Hailee's stomach grew colder still, encompassing her entire being with each step closer Delilah took. She felt her heartbeat race, her breaths coming and going less and less. She knew well now the signs that she was on the verge of a panic attack, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. Not when the cause was standing touching her cheek, whispering words meant to strike fear into her very core. The room felt a thousand degrees hotter now but at the same time the ice in her stayed as frigid as before. Beads of sweat started to appear at her hairline. She tried to slow her breathing. Tried to hide her emotions from the skeletal woman who was inches from her. The woman who could still cause her to feel like this even in her current state. Not now. She told herself. Panic later. Don't mess this up. "But if you never fight for anything, do you really have a life to fight for? ~Ethan" Lifting her gaze to stare at a point across the room she made that her focus. steadied her breathing. "I haven't seen my sister in weeks. And if I had..I..I wouldn't talk to her. We're..we're not close anymore" Not such a lie. Because a lie laced with truth was easier to convince to even yourself wasn't it?

Delilah

"It's a terrible thing, being betrayed by your siblings, isn't it?" Delilah said abruptly, moving sideways so that she stood directly in front of the girl, who was a few inches shorter than her, enough of a difference for her eyes to become heavily lidded as she looked down upon her. "They say that they love you. They say that they'll be there for you. They remind you that you can rely on them - and for what? To stab you in the back like the rest of the people who supposedly adore you." She was no fool. She knew how many secretly despised her behind her back. Couldn't they understand that she was simply doing what she thought was best? But no. All that mattered was their opinion. Not hers. Never hers. "But you wouldn't try to speak with her?" A hand which had rested upon her own cheek now moved and draped its fingertips across Hailee's slanted cheekbone. She better understand how much of a blessing it was to be this healthy - though the hyperventilating didn't escape her acute hearing. Her eyes glinted in the dim lighting. "Are you sure you haven't seen her?" Her tone was gentle still, yet slightly more urgent.

Hailee

Hailee swallowed, her throat dry and screaming at the effort. She forced herself to meet the eyes of the woman in front of her. This close they didn't look as piercing and frightening as they had a moment earlier. Now they seemed washed out, faded from their original vigor by sadness and the betrayal she now spoke of. Her words didn't escape Hailee's ears, however, and they cut deep. She'd never realized but she'd felt this way before. Felt her sister's betrayal at leaving her to fend for herself. Felt the hatred that coursed through every word that left Heidi's mouth in regards to her. Felt every bad thought when all Hailee'd ever done was love her. But it wasn't her fault, she reminded herself. It was, in fact, the fault of the woman who's breath could be felt ragged on Hailee's face. She flinched away at the touch of her hand on her cheek and closed her eyes. Her spiny fingers were frigid. Lifeless. She didn't like this. Not one bit. She had a sudden urge to be curled up at her old house with her dad reading in the chair nearby and her mother making hot chocolate in the kitchen. How simple life was back then. Where did things go wrong? How did she move from the safest place in the world to the most dangerous? She bit her lip, her heart still at a pace faster than it should be. "I haven't seen her." she assured. She wasn't lying, and yet her voice sounded uncertain. She knew she'd break any moment if Delilah pushed much further.

Delilah

Something had been etched into the ground before them. A line. and it had been crossed so eagerly. When she winced away from her touch, a sharp stabbing sensation spread throughout her body, causing her to almost convulse in half, her hand dangling in the air before she wrenched it away. She leaned against her desk, feeling the poison surging through her veins, and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead. This wasn't only rejection; it was the genetics eating away at her. So, so slowly. A cold, creeping hand of death around her. "Perhaps you haven't," came the softened, yet pronounced words from Delilah's oesophagus. When her bodyguards pressed forward, she waved them violently away, hissing in displeasure. She needed help from *no man.* The heartrate in the chest of the girl was much too quick for her to be innocent. And though her expression was darkened, somehow still it was piteous. Because Hailee Watson was Delilah Venture at nineteen years old. "But you still know... something." The word was breathless. "And I must know what it is." She managed to stand upright, and a hand reached out toward Hailee. Her irises were pleading. "Please, understand. I must. know. I must dispose of traitorous blood. I wish for no one to feel as I have for these past wretched twenty-five years."

Hailee

Hailee watched the scene in front of her in shock. She hadn't expected Delilah to react in such a way. Her flinch was involuntary. Something she probably would have done to anyone who'd reached out to her so quickly. But Delilah didn't see that. Hailee could see the betrayal she'd spoken of just moments before in her eyes and body language. She was hurting, and Hailee had a feeling it was only partially because of her. She recovered quickly, however, turning her attention back at Hailee with a new urgency, and Hailee knew she'd made a grave mistake. She was no longer even viewed as an ally. She was now just a prisoner-of-war now. Just someone she needed information out of. Her words were so persuasive Hailee almost *wanted* to tell her everything. Save herself and give Delilah everything she wanted. But the problem was, she didn't know much. Nothing that would be of use to Delilah. Ever since her brainwashing, Heidi didn't tell Hailee anything at all. Looking down at the hand outstretched toward her, she knew her next words would be the end of her. "I'm sorry. But I don't know anything."

Delilah

The paranoia inside of her was growing. The sentence uttered from the girl was the heaviest of boulders dropped upon Delilah's head, and she felt intoxicated, as though someone had submerged her in a concoction of water and smoke. The world around her was swimming. It wasn't possible for someone to not know anything. There had to be a tendril of something. Anything. And even if it took the most desperate of measures to trigger it, then so be it. So be it. How often had she been subject to experiments and belittlement for the sake of progress? It was only fair that she gave back to an extent. Huffing out a short breath, she jerked her head towards the guards, who moved forward and grasped Hailee's arms, lifting her from the ground. "If you can't remember without a little bit of pressure," Delilah said, her words more of a snarl now, and she swiped at the moisture which escaped from the corners of her eyes, due to the overwhelming pain that filled her. Everything was climaxing at its worst. "Then it shall be my duty to make you remember."

Hailee

Fear gripped at Hailee at the same time the guards did. Panic like none she'd ever felt set in, causing her to struggle even though deep down in her rational she knew it would do her no good. She needed to get away. Needed to escape. But there was no way out. "No" she uttered. "No please!" Her attack had taken all of her now. Her heart felt like it was going to burst. Spots of light danced in her vision. She couldn't get enough air to her lungs. Kicking out at the guards only resulted in them gripping her arms tighter, cutting off what little circulation she had left. She struggled and struggled, hurting herself more and more, her panic in full control before she finally fell into darkness. How sweet darkness was. How blissful. She didn't remember why she'd been screaming. She couldn't remember anything really. Except there was a voice now. One she didn't like. She wished they would stop talking. They were ruining the silence. Her wish was granted soon as the voice left and the dark succumbed her once more.

Delilah

She shook her head, quite saddened by the turn of the events, as she stood for a moment, watching as her two bodyguards started half-dragging the girl down the corridor. She wanted to, perhaps, carry the girl herself, but her strength had been failing her as of late, and not even the genetics infused in her bloodstream could hope to enhance it back to even a normal state of being. She hadn't wanted it to end this way, but alas; when information was not easy to come by, it took more difficult measures to ensure that it was spread and delivered. After a moment's pause, she wrapped her arms around herself, bunching the fabric of her indigo, ripped jumper around her as she walked after them, still with her head regally inclined and her gaze forward. Having no answers ended today, she decided. She would get something out of that girl if it was the last thing she did. She had to know something. She had to. "Room 216," she announced to the guards coldly. They swerved abruptly, and the one on the left shouldered open the door. She followed them, and it clicked shut behind the four of them. She jerked her chin toward the metal table and they proceeded to strap her down. She wouldn't be the one to torture Hailee. No. She couldn't torture herself; she did that enough already without taking an instrument to a body so like her own, so liable to frailties and panics. She swallowed as the guards shackled her to the table, then turned away, pressing her eyes into her hands. She needed to *stop* imagining herself in her place! This was *ridiculous!* When she turned back to them, their eyes were cold, and she inhaled again. How it hurt. How it felt as though she were being stabbed and murdered by her own body. For she was. "Pleading won't get you anywhere," she whispered to the unconscious form, wanting her to listen, to hear her, to understand that the world was awful no matter who was left in it. "You can't plead. "It doesn't matter to them."

Hailee

It could have been minutes, could have been hours, or even days when Hailee finally awoke. The first thing she registered was the air. It was musty in here, as if from either disuse or improper cleaning. Probably the latter. She turned her head to the side and tried to take in her surroundings but..she couldn't see anything from the smooth surface on which she was laying. She shot up only to be jerked back down immediately. What was this? Restraints? How much damage could she possibly do to them really, she thought, then grimaced. They knew her sister. Her sister had laid on probably this very same table. And now they were going to do the same things to her. Look sister dear, she thought morbidly. We finally have something in common. How long, she wondered before they realized she was awake and started torturing her. She'd have to be strong. Don't let it break. Don't let anything out. This was just false hope she knew. Hailee wasn't strong. She wasn't resilient like her sister. She was weak. Pathetic. And she was going to die here.

Delilah

She prowled back and forth as a lioness against the furthest wall, gazing down upon the caught prey with an observing expression painted on her hollowed, haunted features. She had removed all emotion from the situation in this period of unconsciousness. She had removed herself entirely. She was so incredibly disconnected that it almost disturbed her, but in contradiction, it thrilled her. She always thrived when it came to tossing away the pathetic things that human emotions were. She always enjoyed that rush of adrenaline and that smirk which appeared upon her lips. And when the girl startled upward, the smirk spread lethargically into a wide, ghoulish smile. So it would begin here, and end subsequently. So it would be the imminent torture of a loyal subject. Ironic how she would implement dangerous procedures on someone who had displayed no problems. It was more to further prove a point that no one was safe from her. "Forward, boys," she cooed to the guards. "A little shock never hurt anyone."

Hailee

The voice that spoke through the darkness startled Hailee. How had she not noticed the gangly woman against the wall? She must be practiced in the art of being unseen. Hailee's pace picked up immediately. The dust in the air seemed to choke her with each step closer the guards took forward. Her throat was bone dry, her lips chapped. She tried to speak and nothing came out. "Please," she croaked on the second try. She couldn't see straight. Her brain was muddled. All she could process were the guards coming at her with torture devices in their hands. Meant to hurt her. Meant to make her talk. Tears flowed from her eyes and they hadn't even done anything to her yet. She struggled against the restraints but knew it was of no use. It only chaffed her skin and made it raw. She was in trouble and the one who'd always protected her was nowhere near helping her now. No one even knew she was here. Not even Adam. Everyone was milling around their everyday lives, none the wiser that Hailee was in a dark room about to feel pain like none other. Funny how things worked out like that. Funny how you can live life so painfully ignorant to what's around you. Hailee'd done it all her life. But not anymore.

Delilah

The first zap was always the most anguished to watch. For this, there was a surge of both contentment and disgust. She couldn't believe that she had to resort to such measures in order to gain information. Wouldn't it be so much better for everyone if they simply told her what she wanted to know? What was with this secrecy? She was tired of it. She had revealed her identity to them, and this is how she's repaid - by resorting to the methods which she had hoped to leave behind. When the girl pleaded, she felt no mercy, not this time. There was no room for that. Though she couldn't help the hallucination that appeared, the figure upon the table transforming, instead, into a younger version of her with hair splayed like a halo about the head and shoulders curling in as a mechanism of defence. When the buzz of electricity echoed throughout the room, Delilah winced. It had been placed upon the inner skin of Hailee's right wrist. The worst place to begin. For it promised even more pain to come. "Tell me." She had to begin. "If Heidi has been where she's supposed to be. Not. Near. Ethan."

Hailee

A bloodcurdling scream ripped through the room, thoroughly disguising the buzz that would haunt Hailee's dreams from now on. It didn't even surprise her that the godawful sound was coming from herself. The pain overwhelmed her, taking over every inch of her body. She was so weak. This little shock was nothing compared to what her sister had gone through. Nothing compared to what she'd be going through no doubt. And yet her vision was already blocked with tears. Her heart threatening to burst out of her chest. A sudden flood of anger at her parents for babying her for her entire life threatened to choke her. She gritted her teeth through the pain. Could she even form words? But unexpectedly, the pain cleared her mind. Pulled her from the grip fear had on her. When Heidi disappeared, she hadn't known she'd be leaving, but there was no doubt in her mind that she had run right to Ethan. And there was no way she'd be telling Delilah that she had. She turned her head in the general direction she knew the vile woman was standing. Another cry of pain left her lips and she swore she tasted blood but it was probably the electricity coursing through her veins. She wasn't even sure if the one word she uttered was audible by anyone but herself ."No."

Delilah

Delilah moved forward, pace of her heartbeat and step quickened as she pushed aside one of the bodyguards and leaned over the writhing form just in time to hear the single word uttered. She sighed in frustration and pushed herself off the work table, turning her back on the subject. Surely there had to be something that would make her be outward and open about what had happened! Because she knew, *she knew* that there was something in that mind of hers that was just waiting to come out, something near the back of her throat that needed to be admitted. Her hand twirled in the air, and with this gesture, the one holding the electric rod increased the output of the intensity of the electricity with a flip of a dial before pushing it onto the skin of the opposite wrist. It was a jolt, something handy for the restarting of the heart. "I'll ask you again. If she were to leave, where would she go? Would she be alone in her house ..? Or would she be running to him?"

Hailee

Hailee swore the time it took the guard to move the electric rod from one wrist to the other were the longest two seconds she'd ever endured. Time slowed down. She could hear her heartbeat, steady, albeit way to fast to be healthy, reminding her she was alive. She could feel the blood rushing through her veins, laced with pain and electricity silently fizzling out. It was in those two seconds that she made a final decision. One that would break her into pieces. She would defend her sister if it was the last thing she ever did, and it just might be. She'd seen the effects of her messing up and slipping information out once before. It resulted in Heidi being tortured into hating Hailee. She wouldn't make that mistake again. Too soon, yet an eternity later, two seconds had passed. The electric rod was being pressed into her opposite wrist, the weaker one, the non dominant hand. There was a sick twist of irony in the fact that this time as she screamed it was solely from the pain and no longer self pity. Because she had already decided how this night would turn out. And in this decision came a confidence Hailee had never known. Because she'd never been sure of anything her entire life. "H-Heidi....would." she gasped for breath, unable to fill her lungs and speak more than a few words. "b-be alone." Another pause. "Ethan wouldn't..wouldn't disobey." Her voice was too loud and jumped pitches with the jolts of electricity. Her only hope was that this would cover her lies. "Heidi would...respect what he wanted.." Limbs jerking uncontrollably, the tears were still falling freely. She couldn't do this. But she had to. She couldn't survive even this smallest of shocks. But she needed to be able to. This delicate little flower was being trampled into the dirt and there was no gardener around to push the muddy shoes away. She was truly on her own for the first time in her short life.

#Delilah #genzprompt

0 notes