Thursday, January 31, 2013

Advantageous Twist: Waiting For The Snake

Twist was on his phone, hoping he was pressing the right keys. He wasn't even sure if he had pressed Esra's name. There were a few E names on his phone, lots of which were only 4 letters. He thought. Anyway, that Penguin girl had piqued his interest and she looked like Helix Fantabulous. He really hated Helix. She was so annoying and self-centred and haughty and her name was stupid. He was happy to be away from the castle, but old habits die hard.

Esran look our for heklsi we just sawe a giel sho looks like her headub g towazrds the castle. be carelft sho you trust.

Esra stared at the text, his vision blurred by unshed tears. At first he thought to type back 'what the hell are you talking about, Twist', then he remembered seeing the broken glasses in the cells. He wouldn't be able to read any of his texts, so he sent a few question marks in separate texts and hoped Twist could see those. His eyesight was really awful. Soon enough, another hard to decipher text came through.

Heklix is unterustworthy. Ab girl lookeed likme her who wad gone to the caddlyte. BHe vasewl.

"...That is just horrible. It burns my eyes." He sat on his table in his office. The filing cabinet of prisoner belongings had been moved out of Hauter's room and into his. He didn't like it. It made his room ugly. Uglier than the body bits and the weapons and the blood and horrible things made it. It just didn't fit in and he hated that. He heaved a deep sigh. He still wasn't sure who Heklix was, but he wasn't thinking straight right now. He just wanted to go curl up in his bed and cry. He had been rather close to his sister, and his girlfriend was dead too...and one of his best friends, while the other was fleeing and blind. He had never felt so bloody miserable. He thought to taking his anger out on the prisoners, but he wouldn't dare lay a finger on Vex thanks to their agreement, and the brutality he had in mind would probably finish Ravel off. He needed permission to heal prisoners, after all, and right now he did not feel like asking. Right now he just felt alone. And if Darren Shadow walked through that door he would have to kill him. It would put him one step further into loneliness and have Abla Hazardous after his blood. Not that he would mind Hazardous killing him. He was feeling pretty depressed right now. He missed his sister and his girlfriend. He loved them. He didn't think he loved B-J until now, but he had. The first tears spilled over. He put his phone down and wiped the tears away from his eyes, but they kept flowing and just as he got his cheeks dry they would be covered in fresh tears. He didn't like this one bit and he didn't want to be alone. He had never really spoken to his other sister. One day he would talk to her, hopefully before she died. Maybe he would talk to her when he had stopped crying, but knowing his luck she'll have been gunned down earlier or something. His shoulders shook with silent sobs and in his mind he scolded himself for being so weak, so soft. Suddenly he wanted to leave, just as Twist had. Disappear under the radar. Just go. Get out of all the death and mayhem. But it wasn't an option. He would regret it later anyway. All he could do was wait and give and take orders, and sabotage the attempts to bring back the Faceless Ones from the inside. He had always hated the way his father had worshipped them. Also Mevolent. He hated him. Mevolent was insane. Esra may have been insane, but he did not get on well with other insane people. Apart from Jerry, but he was dead, so he didn't count. He let a sorrowful wail escape his throat at the thought of death. Almost everyone he was close to was gone now. Only his father remained. He hadn't cried like this since he was twelve...

-----

Cadence was also in tears. Her brother was free. He had been freed by some stranger just as he said he would be, and she had done horrible things for no reason and could never go back. She thought of herself as a war criminal now, which was a bit much. She lay on her bed, plaiting Lilia's curls as the adept babbled on and on about something. Cadence had stopped listening a while ago. She dropped her friend's hair and texted her brother, asking how he was, but she didn't wait for a reply. She told Lilia to leave and she let herself drift off to sleep. A few nightmares later, she was sleeping sat in her wardrobe. When she turned her phone on, there was no reply. She decided either Austin didn't have his phone, was hurt or hated her. Sighing, she got up and went for a walk. She felt she could never redeem herself and stood by an open window, looking at the drop below...

-----

The woman now calling herself Helix to stay hidden was down by the Western Wing cells. She had taken the keys off the original Helix and dumped her body in a pond. She walked down the hall of cells quickly and found the only occupied one. She was in pink running shoes now, no more heels. They would be impractical. She opened the door and stepped in, ignoring the reproachful look she got from Vex. Ravel seemed to be asleep. She approached him and got to one knee, looking at the damage. It looked nasty, but it would probably get worse if he was left here for more than a few hours, and some of those cuts were bound to get infected. She pretended to be examining his current condition as she tried to estimate what size clothes he wore. Vex relaxed a little as he realised she was no threat. Trying to gage shoe size was a bit harder, and she would probably avoid getting trousers. She had her plans. As she got up to leave, he sat up, wincing and groaning as he did so. She looked back at him, concerned. He didn't recognise her. He had never seen that much of her face. Part of her was glad for now, but the other part felt crushed.

-----

"Where are we?" The others looked back at Twist. Perseus had not yet heard Twist speak. He gave a kindly smile and gave him the name of the city. Twist asked for specifics and they were given. "Okay so. Leave me here, will you? I think I can get someone to pick me up." Reluctantly, Perseus nodded and left him there. Advantageous found Niamh Lovejoy in his contacts and called her, raising the phone to his ear.
"Oh finally. I was wondering when you would contact me again. The girls hardly noticed you were gone, did you know that? They spent so much time in front of the computers when there's a whole world of magic out there and we have a vampire locked in our basement. Erin's been a lot of help, by the way. As for you, I'm hoping you come home soon. I get so bored sometimes. You know, the girls complain I talk too much at dinner. Do I talk to much, Addie? Not that you talk much. You almost never talk at all. I never get lonely though, and I can't complain. You're a wonderful person just as you are. I just wish I could help, because I know something bad made you give the whole world the silent treatment. Oh, ugh, I hate chopping unions. I'm making unions for dinner. Well, not just unions by themselves. Are you hungry? I am. That's why I've started cooking so early. That and I'm told this particular recipe takes ages to make. Rachel's quite a good cook now. I think Emily's jealous." Niamh paused for breath and Twist took the chance to get a word in edgewise.
"Niamh, I need you to pick me up."
"Oh, he speaks! Yeah, okay, I think the car's filled up. Should be able to come get you from wherever. Are you at the castle? I'm not sure if I'm allowed to drive to the castle, but-"
"Athlone. I'm in Athlone." He took a moment to give her the specifics and closed the conversation with a sigh. Back home to the overly chatty wife, the overly chatty house guest, the moody daughter who he hardly ever saw due to the wonders of internet dating sites and the other daughter, who was overly chatty and he hardly ever saw her due to the wonders of video games and Twitter. Damn sight better than staying with Mevolent. Plus he could go see an optician when he got back to Wicklow.

-----

A hand rested on the small of Cadence's back. "I know you're not going to jump." warned the owner of the hand. His voice was soft and reassuring. "Just step off the ledge and let me help you." Shaking, Cadence did as she was told. The man smiled. "Hello there."
"Hello."
"Why would a pretty little thing like you want to go and jump?"
"I...I have my reasons."
"I'm Dearth. Dearth Damon-Dacey."
"All D's." She gave a little laugh and Dearth smiled in a slightly confused fashion. He had an Australian accent. "I'm Cadence Nightwish."
"You're English."
"You're an Aussie."
"Sorta. Adelaide, specifically."
"Why sort of?"
Dearth shrugged. "I...I can't remember. I'm sorry, I'm terrible with names. What did you say yours was again?"
"Cadence." She smiled patiently.
"Ah yes. Cadence. Cadence. Lovely name, that." He smiled and gestured for her to follow him. "My friends might like you. I've known them long enough to have their names drilled into my head. Well...most of them...well...Harrison, at least."
"Harrison...what?"
"Just Harrison. Always been just Harrison."
"Is he Australian too?"
"Who?"
"Harrison."
"Oh yes, him. Yup. Everyone else is Irish. I think."
Cadence tilted her head to the side. This man amused her.

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