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Post by recluse on Jan 24, 2007 4:40:07 GMT -5
There was something to her expression that made it clear that Gracie Smith was not entirely focused on the book that was currently open on her lap. She had a vague idea of the story, but as she idly rubbed her leg, curled up comfortably next to her on Lucas' bed, she just didn't seem able to make herself concentrate properly.
She felt... hot. Had there been a mirror nearby, she'd have noticed the redness in her cheeks; she was unusually flushed.
There was something under her fingertips that felt like a mosquito bite, and she scratched at it without thinking, her eyes still on the same page spread that she'd been looking at the whole time. Eventually, the scratching spread, until her entire calf was red and angry, but still Gracie didn't notice.
The nausea, she thought, was from a slight hangover. She hadn't had that much to drink the night before, but it was the easiest thing to put it down to. The dizziness, the slight headache - no doubt the same. But when she felt wetness under her fingers as she passed over the same bite again, and looked down to see her leg weeping a horrible looking pus, she started to feel that maybe it wasn't a hangover and a mosquito bite after all.
"What the fuck?" Looking down at her fingers in horror, Gracie didn't even notice as her bite began to bleed, red droplets welling up and running down her leg much more quickly than they had any right to.
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Post by impact on Jan 24, 2007 8:59:56 GMT -5
Lucas headed down the hall from the training grounds, a brooding grown on his face while he rubbed the back of his neck.
The kiss from Aurora had been... well, he'd reacted instinctually, and still felt a tingle running along the back of his neck. She was, as he'd thought a hundred times, a beautiful woman. But she just wasn't Gracie.
Going to his room, he opened the door and looked to see if she was inside. Seeing her bleeding, he closed the distance between them in two long strides.
"Jesus Gracie. What the hell happened?!" He slipped one hand under her knees and the other under her shoulders, standing with her and turning toward the door to find Angie.
She looked flushed and pale all at once, a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead. "Hang in there. We'll getcha there..." Thinking she must have cut herself, he didn't think much more of it as they backed through the door into the hallway.
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Post by recluse on Jan 27, 2007 4:51:28 GMT -5
"Huh?" Gracie looked down, bewildered, to see that there was more than just pus - there was a line of blood running down from the spot, dripping onto the floor to leave a trail behind them.
"What the fuck?!" She clapped her hand over it, but blood seeped out between her fingers, and she could see spots dancing in front of her eyes and her head was throbbing in time with her heartbeat, which was getting faster and faster.
"I... I think something bit me." Leaning against his shoulder, her brows knit in pain and confusion and... well, fear, Gracie's eyes squeezed shut.
She knew.
She had a spider mutation. She knew.
She knew that everything on this god damned island was poisonous. One of the plants had left her with a burning rash, just brushing past it. So everything that had fangs... Even Python... was pretty fucking poisonous.
Her heart felt as though it would burst right out of her chest, it was beating so fast.
"Lucas, Lucas... It hurts." Tears rolled down her cheeks, a trail of eye-makeup left behind where the salty water passed.
"I love you," she said, but it came out as no more than a whisper.
The blood oozing out from between her fingers slowed, her fingers growing sticky as it started to coagulate.
"Love..."
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Post by impact on Jan 29, 2007 19:42:17 GMT -5
Lucas went pale. This didn’t sound right at all. This was more serious than feeling sick. He knew nothing about medicine, but he’d seen a few kids OD, and there seemed to be something in a person’s subconscious that let them know when a situation was truly dire.
This was definitely one of those situations.
Stuttering a bit as he hurried down the hall, he spoke softly to her. “It’s okay baby. I love you too. You’re gonna be fine Gracie, just stay with me. ANGIE!!!” He bellowed suddenly, his bass voice carrying through the steel hallways. Kicking the side wall with the heel of his boot- which caused the plating to dent in a foot or so, the rock behind it groaning as it cracked deep within the cavern wall- Lucas yelled again, this time for the man behind the security cameras who had to see what was going on. “GILL! THE ALARM!!!”
Looking down at Gracie, who was quickly losing consciousness, the imposing man known as Lucas Fucking James let out a helpless whimper. He jerked Gracie in his arms, going back into a run down the hall. “DON’T you give up on me Gracie, come on hon, WAKE up! Ah fuck…” He looked panic stricken, stopping at a four-way divide and remembering the direction of Angie’s room with just enough time to pivot and continue hurrying down the hall.
“AANGIEE!!!”
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Post by Nightingale on Jan 31, 2007 4:55:49 GMT -5
“AANGIEE!!!”
At first, the young Australian thought that the low boom was just her throbbing head, but she soon realised that it was more than that.
Oh, shit.
Pyro had asked her to be ready for training accidents. And she'd been in her room nursing her aching head and... Shit!
Sprinting out of the room, socks skidding on the smooth-worn concrete beneath her feet, Angie found herself looking at an extremely pale Recluse in the arms of Lucas. She didn't hesitate, rushing over to place both hands on the woman's cheeks.
And she felt... nothing. It was so familiar, just like when she'd leaned over Dead Man, and her brow furrowed as her eyes raised up to look at Lucas with supreme sadness and regret and... was that guilt?
All of a sudden, in a rush, a spark seemed to ignite, and Angie got hit with the full extent of Recluses' injuries. Her body was... riddled with poison, her nerves destroyed, every part of her lit up with pain. Angie knew that there was no hope... In the sense that she simply didn't have enough energy to give, and if she stopped before she passed out, Recluse still wouldn't be healed enough to recover.
Her energy flowed over, but it seemed to slow and then stop as the spark disapated again. Drawing her hands back slowly, Angie looked up at Lucas again.
"I... I'm sorry."
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Post by impact on Feb 4, 2007 12:25:30 GMT -5
Lucas began to fall. His body didn't move, eyes staring down at Gracie's face. But he still felt himself falling. His ears and eyes, his mouth, even his skin seemed so far away. The space between himself and his body was a wall of black, so thick no one outside could hear him screaming.
His hands tightened on Gracie and he pulled her in towards him at an awkward angle, fingers gripping her now still flesh painfully hard. He pulled in a breath he barely felt, head pulsing, vision warbling around the edges. Or were those just tears. He was too deep within himself to care if anyone saw him cry.
"You have to help her," He croaked out. "ANGIE YOU HAVE TO FIX THIS," he demanded in a strained voice, hollow and almost mechanical. His blue eyes shot at her, and there was little but madness on his face.
"Wake her up, Angie." He pulled in another breath, and stood with Gracie again, keeping his arm around her torso but letting her feet drop, as if he was going to will her to stand. His now free hand settled her head on his shoulder, pushing her hair behind her ear in a gesture that was so obviously tender, anyone with an ounce of empathy could perfectly understand the bond the two roughshod, foul-mouthed mutants had found in each other.
He pressed his face into the hair at the top of Gracie's head. "Oh god Gracie please get up...." the muffled whisper was barely heard.
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Post by deadman on Feb 4, 2007 21:02:24 GMT -5
CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.
The solid steel cane always foretold the approach of the Dead Man, at least through the steel halls of this Genoshan fortress. This time was no different, though the cause of his approach was definitely a first. He'd felt someone die. It was a good feeling, as it always was... it always felt like an orgasmic surge coming from them. He could feel their psychic energy burst out of their skulls, leaving those precious imprints behind.
He reached out for the imprint... he'd had it long before he'd even walked up to Angie and Lucas. It was the girl.. Recluse. He almost laughed from the irony of her death. Bitten by a Spider.
He stopped a few feet from Lucas, who was clutching the dead in that oh-so typical way. The living clinging to the once-living, not quite ready to admit that they'd been perfected. The living rarely ever was, even upon it's own last breath.
He let out a small chuckle, finally unable to hold it in. Death just made him feel so... good!
“Worry not, Lucas.” Dead Man whispered hoarsely, and laid a 'soothing' hand on Lucas' bulky shoulder. “She is now perfected. I will animate her for you, and your love shall be eternal.”
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Post by Nightingale on Feb 7, 2007 4:29:20 GMT -5
[My inner zombie-loving dork says 'Do it! I wanna play a zombie!' But my inner Angie says...]
"Oh, ew! Dead Man, you can't..." Her expression was anguished, though the tears that had been threatening to spill over at Lucas' display had shrunk back when Dead Man had proposed his plan.
Still, her hand was shaking as she brought it up to cover her mouth. What the hell was she supposed to say? Do? She couldn't let Dead Man turn Recluse into one of his zombies... It was just wrong. And she hoped to god that Lucas would agree with that assessment.
"Lucas, I'm sorry, I can't... help her." That should have been obvious from Dead Man's words, but she still felt the need to do her best to say it gently and... Oh, god, who was she kidding? There was no way to do this that would help Lucas' pain.
She couldn't even help him with her powers.
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Post by Pyro on Feb 7, 2007 16:26:39 GMT -5
“She is now perfected. I will animate her for you, and your love shall be eternal.”
John arrived at precisely the moment he said this and at the same time that Angie shrank back from him in horror. He took in the scene before him with a startling alacrity, then he moved into the room.
Pietro was forgotten, his hangover was forgotten. For the moment, the only things that held his attention were the fact that apparently here was one of his number - deceased.
Added to that was the fact that it was one of his number for whom he still held a deep affection. But now was not the time for him to demonstrate grief. Judging from Angie's expression, he figured she must have already tried helping and failed. He groaned inwardly. Now he had to try to make this as painless as he possibly could for everyone.
Particularly Lucas.
John pushed aside the natural rivalry that had existed between the two and moved to stand beside him.
"What happened?"
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Post by pietro on Feb 11, 2007 19:44:23 GMT -5
Leaning against the wall, his fingers a blur as he rolled a cigarette between them, Pietro watched, and waited.
So, someone had died, someone was suggesting animating her body, and someone was apologising for not being able to help. One with control of the dead, then, and possibly a healer - or just someone who knew first aid. He wondered what the dead girl's powers had been, and the big man clutching her. He wondered what their relationship had been - Pietro knew that he'd be behaving much worse if he ever lost Wanda.
He watched to see what the big man would say to Pyro's question. So many currents in the Brotherhood, swirling around and mixing together; some stronger than others, overtaking them for a while, some fighting back and refusing to mix. He wondered what type John would be, wondered just how much control he had over 'his' people.
Pietro watched, and he waited, silently observing.
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