in all my life all i wanted was the keeping of someone like you

[cleffiesreborn]

The video was posted to Youtube. It immediately got taken down for violating their Terms of Service, and the account was reported to the authorities. Most people thought it was a hoax. Some new movie or something. Others said it just felt too real. Either way, it went viral, even without Youtube's help. Then the news picked it up, and well... it

Comments

[starryeyed_cass]

Cassie's walking back to Kashtta when she spots a crowd gathered about the front of a store. Curious and not entirely sure what's going on, she calmly pushes through the people gathered to see what the commotion's about. It's an electronics store and they're all staring at what's been shown on the television screens on display in the window. She stops to look at the faces of the crowd before gazing at what's actually being shown. The video's on loop, being played over and over again.

And she watches. She watches.

"Oh my god..." she breathes, her mouth hung open in shock.

Cassie wants to look away, but she can't. She's glued to the spot staring at the blood, hearing the screams and the pleading and the voice of the man doing those... those things. Her face has drained of all colour and she feels nauseous. Her stomach's churning and churning and oh god, she's going to be sick. She puts her trembling hands to her mouth, tears streaming down her face

[sophicsulphur]

[OOC: ...oh, what the hell, I'm throwing Iris in here even though she's not even out of her intro post yet; I call Timey Wimey Stuff, and this is interesting. And I doubt whatever she encounters within the next 24 hours is going to change her reaction to this.]

She's found herself at the same storefront, a throng of gathered people blocking her passage. Some of them are weeping. Some of them are staring, the expressions on their faces horrified or numb. There's a palpable sense of panic and disgust that she doesn't have to reach out to feel: it's thickening the air like rain.

To Iris, a girl from a pre-technology world freshly fallen out of the Rift, the first hurdle to get over is how she is seeing this. Her first, immediate thought is that there are people behind the glass, trapped inside some kind of... crystal mechanism? Is that man holding them hostage there? Or is this a projection, a magical image superimposed on reality? Whatever's creating these appalling scenes is... it's energetic, in some way, strong lightning energy

[starryeyed_cass]

[OOC: But we likes Time Wimey! :D

[sophicsulphur]

In an instant, she's buried herself in the other woman's clothing, clinging to her like she's water and air. Her nails are probably digging into her shoulders, and she'd stop if she noticed, but she isn't noticing. All she can do is lean into the woman, close her eyes, and try to quell the rising bile in her throat.

It's too much like seeing him die, and it's wrong, and people shouldn't die like that, ever. It wasn't that death was always bad, but not like that, not that way. To go down screaming, mired in your own fear, begging for your life

[uponthewires]

Anne has finally been allowed to leave the house, and she almost regrets the fact she did. She wants to go to the Kashtta but that's too risky and it might be a while before she tries to go back.

There's a small coffeehouse near where she lives and she likes going to it. It's artsy and people sit there and they draw or they write or they listen to live music once the sun goes down.

The waitress drops the tray she was carrying. Plates and glasses fall to the ground and shatter to tiny pieces. Everyone's attention is caught. So don't worry, Chicago. Don't worry. Daddy'll fix it.

Anne stands up along with everyone else, willing her gaze to tear away from the television and she finds she can't. There's silence, static in the silence, while he--he.

The man on the screen drops to the floor, guts spilling on the camera. A woman sitting on a stool in the counter faints. A few others scream.

But mostly, there's silence while everyone asks themselves if it's real.

ultimate slow timed but necessary ;_;

[blazetodefine]

David lives near where Anne does. He often comes to the coffee shop too to write. In fact, he's been writing in a back corner that's hard to see. Normally, he likes being perceptive about everything that's around him. He likes paying attention to people, how they interact, what they say and don't say.

However, sometimes he needs to cut off distractions and write.

There's something about the atmosphere of this place that inspires creativity.

It's not until he hears the odd silence of the place that he stands, moves out of the corner that's impossible for most other people in the shop to see into.

David sees her. He sees Anne in the crowd, and he's beside her in a second, hand against her shoulder. David leans in close to her ear, because his words are only meant for her.

"Lets get out of here," he says. There's panic in this small coffee shop, and they need room. They need air to breathe. If he focuses on her, he can ignore the fear swooping up from his stomach to his chest and his head.

He can ignore how sick he feels, seeing

asldkf it's true ;____; /clings

[uponthewires]

Anne's eyes are glued to the screen, even if she'd like to look away. She's never been confronted so directly with anything that involves the CLF.

She'd heard of their campaigns and their bombings of places--it's how Jason died, and she doesn't and could never forget that. When the angel was crucified last year, it was all anybody could talk about at Looney.

Pictures were leaked on the web and those were spread around too, but Anne never looked at hem. There's panic at the reminder she can't look anywhere else, and her eyes remain on the screen.

She can't look away. That woman, that man, they--Anne actually jumps when she feels that hand on her shoulder, relaxing immediately when she recognizes David. She gives him a small nod, sick to her own stomach.

He says they should get out of there and she follows him outside.

Rubbing her face with a hand, she glances back at the coffee shop once she's outside.

"I don't--" she doesn't know how to finish that. "Can we go somewhere else? I don't...know where. Just." Not here.

fff I am not comfortable with how slowtimed ;_;

[blazetodefine]

The pit of his stomach is tight and knotted.

David looks at her once they're outside in the sunlight. It spills down on them, and he focuses on her hand, how it moves over her face. Something clenches inside of him.

He clears his throat, running fingers through his hair.

"Okay," he says and then nods. His thoughts are trying to race on and on, the video in a loop, but he shuts that down.

David has no idea where they'll go, but not here sounds like a really good plan.

"C'mon..." He wishes there was a place that there were no people in Chicago, because people have all seen it and they'll be freaking out and they can't escape it.

And then it hits him, of course. His house. There's no one there. His aunt and uncle are still off on their vacation. They're rarely in their house.

After a second, he reaches for her arm as they walk beside each other. Steadiness. It seems like that's necessary. Not only for her but for him. The fear is crawling under his skin. He can feel it.

"That's... not the way I wanted to end the summer."

[yourwonderings]

Jo's where she usually is when she isn't out finding a hunt. She's working on a shift at the bar. It's a pretty slow day, just the occasional patron or two. A few of them are playing pool, the rest are mostly lounging around the counter, watching a sports game on the screen above.

And then the screen goes blank, and shows something else altogether.

At first, the man across from Jo thinks it's a gory movie. He makes a crack about the language at such an hour. The amusement dispels quickly once the realization sets in, and they see it's no movie.

"Jesus," she breathes out, doing her best not to flinch at what unravels before her.

Her jaw locks, and she sets down the drink she was about to serve. Jo's stomach is in tight knots, and she scans the bar, wondering if anyone in it is part of this liberation force.

[stillaboyscout]

Vaughn doesn't know what to do. His first reaction is to get up and find the guy that killed those people, but he knows that he's not affiliated with any organization that would give him the resources to do so. He's stuck--just another ordinary citizen, except not really. He's one of them--he's one of the people the guy in the video was talking about, and he knows that.

But he can't just sit there and do nothing. He can't--every bone in his body is screaming for him to do something.

He glances at Jo, then follows her gaze around the bar. A thousand things are running through his head--is there someone here? Is there supposed to be a coordinated attack? How safe is this bar? How safe are the two of them in this bar?

He gets up and quickly walks over to the bar, by all appearances ordering another drink. "We should go back to the Kashtta," he says in a low voice. "Is there someone--someone local who can cover your shift?"

It's forward, he realizes, but it's not safe here.

[yourwonderings]

They all have their hands tied when it comes to these people, at least for the time being. Jo's not used to being confronted with that. There is little she hates more than feeling useless. She's reckless but she's not suicidal--she's not going to go off half-cocked, expecting to exact some retribution when she has no idea what she's dealing with

[stillaboyscout]

Vaughn notices her hand shaking, but he doesn't say anything. He's lucky he's not holding a drink, or he would probably have spilled it too. He's trying to block out the images from the tape, so he doesn't follow through on the urge to find the guy, but there are still flashes of it. He feels sick and angry all at once. He can't believe this is happening again

[literalfinesse]

Anya doesn't really scare easily. She's been around for thousands of years, inflicted plenty of terrible things on people as a demon, but she's -

The video, it's something different. It's not demons being demons, following their calling. It isn't even war, exactly. It's - humans. People here, after people like her.

And Anya may not be easily frightened, but when she is, her first instinct is always to run. Teleport out of the way, get in a car and go, find somewhere nice and sunny and quiet with a nice view of the beach, maybe. Except this time she can't, because she doesn't even exist enough here to have a car.

So mostly, right now, Anya is standing just inside the Tower, pacing around and trying very hard not to freak out anymore than she already is. The last thing she needs is to have a shift on top of everything else, because the only thing that scares her more than the CLF right now? That's right, it's turning into a bunny.

[thehighestwing]

Phoebe hasn't seen Anya since the woman first fell through the Rift. She hasn't seen her even though Xander let her know she is apparently his girlfriend from the future. Which doesn't seem to matter right now, because they're all freaking out about the same thing.

She remembers the last time she felt like this, and it was after that angel was crucified in the park. Somehow, this is worse because they all--they all got to see the violence while it was happening.

It's times like these Phoebe wants to be anywhere but here, and still, she's unable to leave the city.

"...Hi." Phoebe stumbles upon Anya and while she hesitates, she does go over to the other girl. "I know it's a stupid question, but...you--you okay?"

[literalfinesse]

Xander didn't see fit to tell Anya anything about Phoebe, or that he was dating anyone, so all Anya knows is that Phoebe is the nice girl who helped her out during her first day in Chicago.

The sound of her voice startles Anya a bit - she's usually more aware of her surroundings, but she's panicking. "Hi," she says when she sees Phoebe and then, Anya being Anya, "Yes, it is a stupid question."

She doesn't say it unkindly. It's just, of course she's not okay. People are getting killed for being like her, and while Anya's used to her old kind, demon-kind getting killed, while she knows humans die every day, this is. It's not the same.

"This is stupid," Anya amends then, "everyone just in here, waiting to die or -" she makes a vague hand gesture that's supposed to encompass and get brutally tortured, somehow. Then she says, quietly, "And there's nowhere to go."

[thehighestwing]

They aren't dating, Anya! They're friends that... do stuff. That's the best description Phoebe can use. She is not very good with the descriptions, clearly.

Wincing at Anya's response, she doesn't say anything else. It was stupid, and she knows it, but she feels there are different levels of not okay. She was trying to discern which one, and it comes out all wrong.

Because she's Phoebe. She's not smart and brave like other people that know what to do. She's a guardian and she can't even protect her own ward.

"You're safe here," she tells Anya earnestly. "The Kashtta is the safest place for Wanderers. We'd never let anyone get into the building and there's gonna be like, extra security now. Angels, we're stronger than the average human. Archangels even more so. It's not much, but...it's not about just waiting to die. There's more."

[princerat]

There are crowds bloating up in front of the electronics stores, in the pubs and restaurants, gathered in front of computers and cell phones out on the streets. Saul finds himself in the midst of one such mass of people in a bar n' grill-type establishment, surrounded by the gasps of the horrified and the murmurings of the skeptical. Their faces are lit only by the flickering of images. The pricey wall-mounted flatscreen had been purchased for the purposes of NFL and MLB, but instead there's something that would amount to straight-up torture porn playing on repeat. It had obviously been cycling continuously since before he got here. It seems so very real that he doesn't even consider that it might be a hoax. He'd wanted to know what was going on, so he'd followed the people. And here's his answer.

Saul doesn't exactly understand who this video is trying to warn. He's as yet unaware that there is a faction of people so very against those who have no choice but to be here. What he sees is a group of sick fucks killing ordinary human

[fellfrommyheart]

Dylan was having a good day. Like a really reeeeally super day! She was walking down the street carrying a glass ash tray. But she didn't swipe it from a bar or anything like that, oh no. It actually fell from the Rift and she managed to catch it, saving it from a broken, concrete death. It's pretty, the glass is clear but the way it's cut and shaped is particularly eyecatching. It looks like it might've fallen out of the eighties. But Dylan doesn't care, she likes her little present the Rift gave her, it's neat

[princerat]

There he'd been standing, lost in his own loathing, with no idea what to do with himself. Full of directionless anger. Then the world sent him an angel. She came tearing down the alleyway, punched the wall in a fit of rage and crumpled at his feet. It's so unexpected, jarring him out of his mental walls that for a moment he's not exactly sure if he's in reality anymore. He stands over her, looks past her to make sure she hadn't been chased here, then back down. Red hair, messed up black wings, seeping white from her self-injured hand, sobbing and seemingly ruined. He's never seen an angel before. It's not what he was expecting.

He crouches down, lowering himself to the trash-strewn asphalt in front of her. "Hey. Are you okay?" The last word comes choked out of him. Are you alright? Are you hurt? Are you okay? He's asked stupid questions like this so many times in the last couple of weeks. It makes him want to laugh like it makes him want to cry, and he does neither.

[fellfrommyheart]

Oh you got an angel alright, just one that's not the best of examples. Most angels aren't really what everyone expects in Chicago, but Dylan's far from that norm anyway. Her rage continues to bubble under, she has to find this man. And when she does, she's going to tear him to pieces. Literally.

It feels good to have her wings out, it makes her feel better emotionally more than anything. But she's still sobbing, seeing that poor girl.. it breaks her heart. She looks up at the sound of a voice and blinks owlishly at the boy. Well, he's probably not a boy, but he's probably a great deal younger than her, anyway, y'know? He's a Wanderer too. She seems to be meeting a lot of them here.

Sniffling, she shakes her head. "No," she utters. "I saw him kill her... I... I'm... uhh..." she bites down on her lip, looking sorrowful, "Did you see it? What that... what.. what he did?!" She clenches her fists, a flare if anger dangerously rising. "I'm going to kill him,"