Hello darkness my old friend....
Characters: Vin and Elaine. Open to people coming to find her.
Time: Evening of February 15th. Immediately after she, Thomas and Kitten find Thomas.
Location: Between the Blackstone and Millenium Park
Content: Finding evidence of Elaine's presence in Thomas' apartment, Vin sets off in hot pursuit.
Warning: Some disturbing content.
Format: Prose. NARRATIVE.
Vin launched back out into the driving rain, tin and pewter flared as she searched the streets below. Something about this whole situation was terribly wrong, the nightmares, the windows and now this.
Despite everything, Vin couldn’t make herself believe that Elaine had attacked Thomas. She had only met the woman once but her instincts told her that this wasn’t something she would do. The dark mirror image of herself loomed briefly in Vin’s mind before she shook it away. No time to dwell on nightmares now, she focused herself on scanning the city for any sign of the woman. She could only hope she wasn’t too late.
The downpour was coming down so hard that it wasn’t hard to believe that there was going to be serious flooding coming morning - already some of the drains were bubbling up with water, pools of water growing at street corners or in lower elevated streets. The rush of water streaming down the curb was nearly was loud as the rain and thunder itself - in a way, the city would have seemed beautiful in the middle of a winter thunderstorm but the unnaturalness of it all spoke of danger lurking in the dark, dancing shadows.
A lone figure was moving swiftly away from where the Blackstone was located, dressed in a long coat, wisps of damp blond hair visible even as she continued down the street, heading towards Millennium Park.
Any beauty that might have been found in that storm was lost on Vin during her desperate flight. She paid little attention to safety, the winds blowing her off course once or twice, only for her to recover quickly and continue toward the Blackstone.
Even through the dark and rain, her eyes caught sight of the figure moving easily and she gave one final Push. She flared her pewter again as she spun through the air, to land in front of Elaine with enough force to send up a spray of water around her..
“Elaine?” She called over the roar of the rain, standing directly in the woman’s path.
The girl's sudden arrival in the middle of her path caused her to stop, and she said nothing for a moment at Vin's own remarks, curious gray eyes peering out at her from underneath the shadows of the hood.
Finally, "What are you doing out here in this weather?"
“Looking for you.” Vin answered, moving toward the other woman cautiously. She glanced at her eyes, but shifted away after a second or two remembering how she and Harry had avoided eye contact.
A chill ran down her spine, something that had nothing to do with the rain as she stood across from Elaine. Her eyes darted around, studying shadows that suddenly seemed too dark. “What are you doing out here?”
It was probably just a trick of the lighting, or lack of it, that caused most of her face to remained enshrouded by darkness. Her lips twitched downward in a frown, as if reminded of something when Vin turned her question back to her.
"I had to clear my head. Too much nervous energy." Another pause, thoughtful in its length. "You should return to the hotel - you'll catch your death out here."
Vin returned the frown, it was a reasonable enough explanation. The storm certainly hadn’t stopped her, so it was easy to believe that Elaine really had gone out for a walk. Vin almost even accepted that for an instant, she just couldn’t shake the feeling that she should not be here. That she had blundered into something she had no place in.
But even with that feeling, she knew she couldn’t walk away now.
“We should go back together, something strange is going on.” She paused, looking carefully at Elaine’s expression as she spoke again. “Something attacked Thomas.”
"I'll be fine, Vin," came the quiet reply and she made as if to sidestep the girl until Thomas was mentioned. She stopped dead in her tracks, and turned to look at Vin, her eyes wide. "But I was just with-"
She trailed off and looked away, something akin to embarrassment on her face.
So it had been Elaine! Some strange mix of relief and apprehension warred within the girl. The hair had been Elaine’s, she had been the one in the apartment but... what did that mean? Was she there before the attack? After?
She watched as Elaine passed, looking at her from the corner of her eye, searching for anything in the other woman’s face. Any answer, any clue....
“We found him not too long ago.” She continued quietly, still watching for her reaction. “John thinks whatever it was attacked his mind. Did you see anything while you were there?”
Again, there was the play on light and shadow - she didn’t meet Vin’s eyes as she shook her head. When she spoke again, her tone was self-deprecating. “I was a little distracted when I was there, Vin.”
Distracted? What did that mean, distracted? Distracted by what exactly? What were Elaine and Thomas doing in his apartment that could have been so--
Oh.
Vin glanced away, feeling her face flush beneath the rain and her hood. That... certainly explained why she was there, as well as what the hair was doing there. Maybe John was right about it belonging to Thomas’ latest fling after all....
“So... you two were...?” She trailed off, still not looking up.
“I’d rather not talk about it,” came the short reply, the obviously awkward subject coloring her tone. “If you came here to accuse me of something, then you might as well just say it.”
Well, that answered that question. Vin kept her gaze averted, suddenly feeling more awkward and embarrassed at having mentioned it at all. Alright, so she knew why Elaine was there, that was one answer down. It still didn’t explain what had happened to Thomas though and despite everything, Vin just couldn’t shake the feeling that they were connected somehow. It was too much of a coincidence.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything. I was just worried, I’ll... let you get back to your walk.” She said quietly and started to leave, putting a few steps between them before pausing and looking back over her shoulder. “By the way, I did some more reading on those gold alloys we talked about. I was wondering if you could come take a look at them later.”
She nodded curtly at the dismissal, brushing past Vin as if trying to escape the conversation by actions only. The rain continued in its steady falls, blurring the buildings and the surrounding streets in a wash of silver-streaked gray and black. The streetlights overhead flickered in time with a clap of thunder overhead, and she turned minutely to gaze at Vin. "That would be fine. Meanwhile you should get back to the hotel." Her voice took on a curious note of amusement. "You have no idea what's out here."
And then she turned on her heel and vanished into the shadows of the storm, swallowed by the rain and the wind and the thunder.
Unseen and silent, dark magic curled around the metals in Vin's pockets, sinking deep into them and vanishing without a trace.
Vin froze in her tracks at Elaine’s agreement. Gold. She’d agreed to come look at gold alloys.
She and Elaine had only ever talked about aluminum alloys.
Spinning around, Vin snatched one of the metal vials from her pocket, swallowing it to replace the pewter, tin and steel she had spent getting here. Before she had even finished her turn she had snatched a handful of coins from her pocket and burned her new reserve of steel, reaching out to Push the coins at whatever was wearing Elaine’s face.
The coins raced forward and slammed into...nothing, their streaks lost in the rain as another source of energy hit Vin from behind, magic that was obscenely powerful and coiled with darkness. It pressed her down into the cold, drenched pavement, a force as strong and oppressive as gravity itself pinning her to the ground.
She reappeared then, glancing down at Vin, her face still hidden in the shadows of hood. But even in the darkness, there was a flash of green when lightning split the sky open...and then, nothing but the black shadows again.
"Child, I know very well what you were looking for," she whispered, kneeling down next to Vin and brushing cold fingers along her cheek, a touch even though gentle burned from the sheer amount of power held within the woman's slim form. "But, you reacted too strongly and now must pay the price. Consider it fair payment."
The magic had already been consumed...and now it would begin to burn from the inside out.
Vin blinked as the coins, vanished into the rain. That was impossible! Nobody moved that fast! Nobody could! She didn’t have any time to react before the counterattack slammed into her from behind sending her sprawling to the ground as some invisible force crushed her into the pavement, holding her still.
Her eyes snapped open wide as Elaine knelt down next to her, staring at the thing that no longer even bothered to hide and suddenly she understood. Horror sank into her. She had been a fool to come alone, to come at all. This thing she had come chasing was greater than anything she’d come across. Next to it, the Lord Ruler was nothing. The skinwalker was an insect.
She flinched from the touch on her cheek, the fingers burning even as they chilled her and she stared helplessly.
“Who are--” And then the pain started. Her question was choked off as her body convulsed suddenly, eyes widening even further.
Pain like she’d never known before ripped through her body. It bubbled up from the metals in her stomach like she’d swallowed molten lead and raced through every limb. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. She wasn’t even aware of when Elaine left, or when she found the breath for the first scream to tear from her throat, or even when the invisible force released her leaving her thrashing and writhing in agony in frigid rain that brought no relief.
Eternity passed in seconds before she clawed at her pocket, grabbing her phone and switching it to what she hoped was video, holding it up and waving it over her to capture images of the street she was on. Her strength ran out in seconds and the communicator clattered to the pavement and she thrashed onto her side, wrapping her arms around her middle, sobbing and struggling for each broken gasp of air....
Time: Evening of February 15th. Immediately after she, Thomas and Kitten find Thomas.
Location: Between the Blackstone and Millenium Park
Content: Finding evidence of Elaine's presence in Thomas' apartment, Vin sets off in hot pursuit.
Warning: Some disturbing content.
Format: Prose. NARRATIVE.
Vin launched back out into the driving rain, tin and pewter flared as she searched the streets below. Something about this whole situation was terribly wrong, the nightmares, the windows and now this.
Despite everything, Vin couldn’t make herself believe that Elaine had attacked Thomas. She had only met the woman once but her instincts told her that this wasn’t something she would do. The dark mirror image of herself loomed briefly in Vin’s mind before she shook it away. No time to dwell on nightmares now, she focused herself on scanning the city for any sign of the woman. She could only hope she wasn’t too late.
The downpour was coming down so hard that it wasn’t hard to believe that there was going to be serious flooding coming morning - already some of the drains were bubbling up with water, pools of water growing at street corners or in lower elevated streets. The rush of water streaming down the curb was nearly was loud as the rain and thunder itself - in a way, the city would have seemed beautiful in the middle of a winter thunderstorm but the unnaturalness of it all spoke of danger lurking in the dark, dancing shadows.
A lone figure was moving swiftly away from where the Blackstone was located, dressed in a long coat, wisps of damp blond hair visible even as she continued down the street, heading towards Millennium Park.
Any beauty that might have been found in that storm was lost on Vin during her desperate flight. She paid little attention to safety, the winds blowing her off course once or twice, only for her to recover quickly and continue toward the Blackstone.
Even through the dark and rain, her eyes caught sight of the figure moving easily and she gave one final Push. She flared her pewter again as she spun through the air, to land in front of Elaine with enough force to send up a spray of water around her..
“Elaine?” She called over the roar of the rain, standing directly in the woman’s path.
The girl's sudden arrival in the middle of her path caused her to stop, and she said nothing for a moment at Vin's own remarks, curious gray eyes peering out at her from underneath the shadows of the hood.
Finally, "What are you doing out here in this weather?"
“Looking for you.” Vin answered, moving toward the other woman cautiously. She glanced at her eyes, but shifted away after a second or two remembering how she and Harry had avoided eye contact.
A chill ran down her spine, something that had nothing to do with the rain as she stood across from Elaine. Her eyes darted around, studying shadows that suddenly seemed too dark. “What are you doing out here?”
It was probably just a trick of the lighting, or lack of it, that caused most of her face to remained enshrouded by darkness. Her lips twitched downward in a frown, as if reminded of something when Vin turned her question back to her.
"I had to clear my head. Too much nervous energy." Another pause, thoughtful in its length. "You should return to the hotel - you'll catch your death out here."
Vin returned the frown, it was a reasonable enough explanation. The storm certainly hadn’t stopped her, so it was easy to believe that Elaine really had gone out for a walk. Vin almost even accepted that for an instant, she just couldn’t shake the feeling that she should not be here. That she had blundered into something she had no place in.
But even with that feeling, she knew she couldn’t walk away now.
“We should go back together, something strange is going on.” She paused, looking carefully at Elaine’s expression as she spoke again. “Something attacked Thomas.”
"I'll be fine, Vin," came the quiet reply and she made as if to sidestep the girl until Thomas was mentioned. She stopped dead in her tracks, and turned to look at Vin, her eyes wide. "But I was just with-"
She trailed off and looked away, something akin to embarrassment on her face.
So it had been Elaine! Some strange mix of relief and apprehension warred within the girl. The hair had been Elaine’s, she had been the one in the apartment but... what did that mean? Was she there before the attack? After?
She watched as Elaine passed, looking at her from the corner of her eye, searching for anything in the other woman’s face. Any answer, any clue....
“We found him not too long ago.” She continued quietly, still watching for her reaction. “John thinks whatever it was attacked his mind. Did you see anything while you were there?”
Again, there was the play on light and shadow - she didn’t meet Vin’s eyes as she shook her head. When she spoke again, her tone was self-deprecating. “I was a little distracted when I was there, Vin.”
Distracted? What did that mean, distracted? Distracted by what exactly? What were Elaine and Thomas doing in his apartment that could have been so--
Oh.
Vin glanced away, feeling her face flush beneath the rain and her hood. That... certainly explained why she was there, as well as what the hair was doing there. Maybe John was right about it belonging to Thomas’ latest fling after all....
“So... you two were...?” She trailed off, still not looking up.
“I’d rather not talk about it,” came the short reply, the obviously awkward subject coloring her tone. “If you came here to accuse me of something, then you might as well just say it.”
Well, that answered that question. Vin kept her gaze averted, suddenly feeling more awkward and embarrassed at having mentioned it at all. Alright, so she knew why Elaine was there, that was one answer down. It still didn’t explain what had happened to Thomas though and despite everything, Vin just couldn’t shake the feeling that they were connected somehow. It was too much of a coincidence.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything. I was just worried, I’ll... let you get back to your walk.” She said quietly and started to leave, putting a few steps between them before pausing and looking back over her shoulder. “By the way, I did some more reading on those gold alloys we talked about. I was wondering if you could come take a look at them later.”
She nodded curtly at the dismissal, brushing past Vin as if trying to escape the conversation by actions only. The rain continued in its steady falls, blurring the buildings and the surrounding streets in a wash of silver-streaked gray and black. The streetlights overhead flickered in time with a clap of thunder overhead, and she turned minutely to gaze at Vin. "That would be fine. Meanwhile you should get back to the hotel." Her voice took on a curious note of amusement. "You have no idea what's out here."
And then she turned on her heel and vanished into the shadows of the storm, swallowed by the rain and the wind and the thunder.
Unseen and silent, dark magic curled around the metals in Vin's pockets, sinking deep into them and vanishing without a trace.
Vin froze in her tracks at Elaine’s agreement. Gold. She’d agreed to come look at gold alloys.
She and Elaine had only ever talked about aluminum alloys.
Spinning around, Vin snatched one of the metal vials from her pocket, swallowing it to replace the pewter, tin and steel she had spent getting here. Before she had even finished her turn she had snatched a handful of coins from her pocket and burned her new reserve of steel, reaching out to Push the coins at whatever was wearing Elaine’s face.
The coins raced forward and slammed into...nothing, their streaks lost in the rain as another source of energy hit Vin from behind, magic that was obscenely powerful and coiled with darkness. It pressed her down into the cold, drenched pavement, a force as strong and oppressive as gravity itself pinning her to the ground.
She reappeared then, glancing down at Vin, her face still hidden in the shadows of hood. But even in the darkness, there was a flash of green when lightning split the sky open...and then, nothing but the black shadows again.
"Child, I know very well what you were looking for," she whispered, kneeling down next to Vin and brushing cold fingers along her cheek, a touch even though gentle burned from the sheer amount of power held within the woman's slim form. "But, you reacted too strongly and now must pay the price. Consider it fair payment."
The magic had already been consumed...and now it would begin to burn from the inside out.
Vin blinked as the coins, vanished into the rain. That was impossible! Nobody moved that fast! Nobody could! She didn’t have any time to react before the counterattack slammed into her from behind sending her sprawling to the ground as some invisible force crushed her into the pavement, holding her still.
Her eyes snapped open wide as Elaine knelt down next to her, staring at the thing that no longer even bothered to hide and suddenly she understood. Horror sank into her. She had been a fool to come alone, to come at all. This thing she had come chasing was greater than anything she’d come across. Next to it, the Lord Ruler was nothing. The skinwalker was an insect.
She flinched from the touch on her cheek, the fingers burning even as they chilled her and she stared helplessly.
“Who are--” And then the pain started. Her question was choked off as her body convulsed suddenly, eyes widening even further.
Pain like she’d never known before ripped through her body. It bubbled up from the metals in her stomach like she’d swallowed molten lead and raced through every limb. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. She wasn’t even aware of when Elaine left, or when she found the breath for the first scream to tear from her throat, or even when the invisible force released her leaving her thrashing and writhing in agony in frigid rain that brought no relief.
Eternity passed in seconds before she clawed at her pocket, grabbing her phone and switching it to what she hoped was video, holding it up and waving it over her to capture images of the street she was on. Her strength ran out in seconds and the communicator clattered to the pavement and she thrashed onto her side, wrapping her arms around her middle, sobbing and struggling for each broken gasp of air....