Chatter rose above the bustling bodies of human flesh. Shoving against one another to get to their destinations and yelling out rude obscenities, they showed no signs of politeness. No sign of regard for their fellow man. The airport was not a friendly place to be. Besides the loud noises and dangerous crowdedness, there was also the smell. Disgusting and irritating, the scent of sweat mingling with dirt and cigarette smoke permeated the area.
Beyond that, there wasn't much to the dirty, dingy, overly active air port located in New York City. The smells, sights and sounds were all gross and none of the people within were very interesting. Anyone could easily sink into the crowd and blend in without issue. That is, if you were to walk among them; if you were to brave the sickening blend of sweaty nastiness and press of disgusting bodies on your own.
In a darkened corner, away from the bustle of human flesh, unconcerned with blending in, sat a hunched over form stared out blankly from beneath a large leather jacket's hood. If not for the open, blankly staring gray eyes and the cigarette hanging limply from firm, slightly scarred lips, one would think that the figure was asleep. It certainly held still enough to warrant concern. Only the very slow flaring of the nostrils when the being inhaled assured those nearby of the fact that it was, in fact, still breathing. Not that anyone took much notice.
Few cared for strangers anymore.
One knee was drawn up, the other laid out curved in front of the foot of the first leg, the arm on the same side thrown up over the knee while the other laid over the person's waist, covered by the jacket's edge, combined with the slumped body and beat up, baggy, black leather jacket, easily spoke of laidback nonchalance. Those that had keener sight could easily pick up on the riding tension and anger hidden beneath. Tension, unspoken that vibrated beneath the surface. Dark, stormy gray, shadowed eyes stared out at those passing with a glazed over, haunted look that practically screamed lack of sleep.
Beneath the edge of the hood, stringy black, slightly greasy hair hung in short, icky strands around the human's face. The occasional plum of smoke exited the slightly open mouth, adding to the feel of relaxed, laid-backness that the figure seemed to possess and exude. Along with an underline of inviting violence.
A loud beep of noise sounded above the din of chattering and yelling, easily drowning it all out. The voice that followed called for the boarding of a plane that was leaving. Jerking to a state of alertness, the figure swung to her feet gracefully, and began to head in that direction. It was clearly female, if the curves hiding beneath the large jacket was anything to go by. Not that there were many. She was broad shouldered, and was not too heavily endowed in any shape or form. Not to mention unusually tall and muscled for a female.
Average. She was average. And that suited her just fine.
No luggage was with her besides the clothes on her body and the large military backpack hanging on to her by one strap. Everything about her looked worn and used, as if she had had it all for a long time. Others avoided her- whether subconsciously or consciously- they seemed to feel that she was either trouble, or dangerous.
Again, it suited her just fine. She hated people, after all.
Just before getting in line to board the plane, the woman pulled the cigarette from her lips and smushed it before throwing it away. It was slightly difficult, as the nicotine stick stuck to her flesh for a moment before it was pulled off. Scrunching her nose slightly in irritation, the brunette quickly disposed of the cancerous item and proceeded to board the plane after handing off her ticket with a relaxed, easy going disposition.
Her assigned seat was, thankfully, next to a window in the middle of the plane. She had only just settled her lanky, broad backed body into said seat when someone fell into the seat next to her. The woman sunk back into the padding, drawing her arms around herself and more than happy to simply wait the trip out in silence. The man now sitting next to her, however, didn't seem to agree. The moment he set eyes on her, he opened his mouth to speak and rattle off to her like he had planned the entire time.
Whatever he was about to say, however, sucked itself right back down his throat.
Dark, nearly black, hollow, sunken eyes glared out at him in a cold and threatening matter. The message was quite clear. 'Speak to me and I'll sock you in the throat. Security be damned.'
Silence- and justice- prevailed for the rest of the trip.
Fifteen hours later and they had touched down in some 'middle of nowhere' airport. The man sitting next to the strangely silent and borderline violent woman was one of the first to scurry off as quickly as possible. The woman herself, however, took her time. She waited until most of the other passengers had disembarked before languidly getting to her feet and striding lazily off the plane. Words couldn't describe her relief at finally being back on the ground.
Flying was, admittedly, a phobia of her's that she would never rightly admit to.
Once out of the vicinity of the plane, she made it her business to acquire cigarettes and have a smoke. Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult, and thirty minutes later she was sitting on a bench just outside of the airport with a cancer stick in hand, taking drags off of it. Legs apart, elbows resting on her knees, her right hand tucked away beneath her jacket, the woman hunched over in an exhausted, desolate manner. Her blank gaze followed the smoke trail of the cancer stick without really seeing it as she slowly smoked the disgusting tobacco product.
With all the patience of a Jedi master, the brunette sat, nearly brooding, and waited for what seemed like forever. Her shadowed, heavily bagged eyes gazed out at the dark and silent parking lot. Behind her, however, roared the ever animated, ever busy airport. It was easily ignored, drowned out like the white noise it was.
Before long, a large black truck pulled into the parking space diagonal to her hunkered form. She paid it no mind.
The driver door swung open, and a lanky military like man stepped out with all the confidence and power of a naturally born leader. Still, she did not look in his direction directly; instead choosing to watch him out of the corner of her eye as she took another drag off of the cigarette in her left hand. He waited a moment, as if giving her a chance to address him directly on her own terms. When she did not, he strode forth so that he was a mere three feet from her hunched over body. For a minute, neither of them spoke.
"Aelia Rex, right?" His voice was warm and friendly. In response, Aelia grunted and turned her head and eyes to him fully, taking in his military shaved head, casual attire and relaxed yet ready stance. She blew out a cloud of smoke lazily and crushed the cigarette bud against the bench, throwing it in the trash can to the side of the bench.
"And you might be who exactly?" For a female voice, Aelia's was rather deep and raspy in nature. It wasn't awful, per se, but it certainly wasn't what one who expect her to sound like. Her voice was rough, like thunder rumbling in the distance, and just as low as well.
It was as if she didn't speak often, and wasn't used to doing so.
"William Lennox. I'm your Aunt Geneva's neighbor. She asked me to pick you up." He cleared his throat, as if unsure of how to proceed, "Just call me Will."
"Call me Lia." The woman grunted, and slowly got to her feet. Her entire body cracked, snapped and popped as it unfolded from the position it had rested in for the past half hour or so. The sounds seemed to disturb Will, who watched her with an uncertain expression.
"Thank you for coming out to get me." It was a simple thank you, and yet it somehow carried a lot more weight than he expected.
Something told him that she didn't thank people often, or apologize for that matter.
"Nice truck." Aelia nodded her head towards the giant, black, hulking vehicle that Will had arrived in. He grinned a little, as if amused by an inside joke that she couldn't hope to even begin to get or understand.
"Thanks. Its got a few, uh… problems, though. A bit of an attitude, really." She snorted in response, but said no more on the matter. Instead, he gestured for her to climb up into the truck as he headed for the driver's seat. Together, they slipped into the vehicle. Lia watched, disinterested and borderline lifelessly as he started up the truck.
It responded beautifully, the engine roaring to life and rumbling richly beneath them.
Will reached over, dragged the seat belt to him, and clicked it into place at his side. He waited a moment, patiently. Then, when it was obvious that Aelia was not following suit, he sent her a stern look. Rolling her eyes, the twenty to thirty some odd year old woman reached over and proceeded to buckle herself in. Seemingly pleased, Lennox shifted the truck into 'reverse' and started backing out of the parking lot.
Turning her head away from the driver at her side, Aelia leaned her head on the doorframe and gazed out at the passing world. Her body ached and her head throbbed from lack of nicotine- despite having just smoked- and the long houred flight plus lack of sleep. She couldn't even remember the last time she had eaten. Had it really been so long ago that she had been at her own rather shitty apartment, curled up in an armchair and playing Minecraft on the Xbox 360, zoned out?
It seemed so long ago.
Aelia still couldn't believe she was here, let alone the circumstance of why she was here. She grimaced at the passing streetlights as they whizzed past. Her uncle, one of her last, few remaining relatives, had died under strange circumstances. Aelia, having been raised by her aunt and uncle, felt she should at least be present during the funeral and be there to support her now widowed aunt. The woman was reportedly babbling fearfully about some strange alien crap that Aelia honestly didn't believe for a second.
Still, her aunt was probably of fragile mind for the moment, and would need whatever support she could give her. Despite this, Aelia was truthfully not looking forward to the next few days. The media had been swarming the poor woman who had raised her, like sharks drawn to blood, and they weren't likely to leave them alone. The thought brought a scowl to Lia's face as she squeezed her hidden right hand with her left. It was throbbing at the moment, and rather painful, thanks to the change in air pressure and temperature.
Arthritis was a bitch.
"So, how are you holding up?" Will cleared his throat before speaking, as if unused to the silence that now permeated the air. Aelia sighed through her nose, already missing the quiet, and straightened up in her seat to fully begin the conversation that the man clearly wanted to fill the void with. "I'm fine." The grunt had him nodding awkwardly. Too tired to keep sitting up properly for long, Aelia quickly sunk back into the seat.
"You were raised by your aunt and uncle, right? It must be hard…" He trailed off,
"Not really." The sigh that left her was raspy and tired, she was just so fed up with idiotic statements like that, "People die. It's the way the world turns, that's all." she shrugged her shoulders, tone cynical. It drew her a confused, questioning look from Lennox. However, Aelia was already quite done with the conversation, and, not wanting to give him any openings to continue, left it at that and ignored him.
The rest of the drive passed silently, and rather awkwardly on Will's part.
When they pulled into her Aunt Geneva's driveway and shut the truck down, Aelia Rex was the first one out of the vehicle. Swinging down from the door, she dropped, crouched, to the ground. Her knees absorbed the impact as they bent, and she waited a split second to allow for recovery time before drawing herself to her full height of just under six feet.
It was dark and strangely silent around the house.
Unusual, Aelia noted, for the TV was usually on as background noise inside the home. Now, however, it was off, which was, in and of itself, a miracle of sorts. It was pitch black inside, and the motion sensor light outside was the only thing on at the moment. Stuffing her left hand into her pocket, her right arm tucked over her stomach and under her jacket still, Aelia moved up the driveway and to the front door. She could hear Will moving up after her some three feet behind; and keeping a steady distance.
Lifting her left hand from her pocket, she made a fist and made three short, loud knocks on the heavy, green door. Two seconds later a light flickered on within the home and a shadow moved over the pool of light now falling out of the window. A moment more and the door swung open, revealing a haggard looking, gray haired woman. Wrinkles were spread at the corners of her eyes in crow's feet and at the sides of her mouth, obvious signs of smiling and laughing throughout her life. Once she laid eyes on Aelia, however, she was quick to wrap her up in a hug.
"Lia my darling! Oh it's so good to see you, dear! How have you been? Come in, come in!" Releasing the woman who was halfway hugging her back with one arm, Aunt Geneva quickly ushered her into the house,
"Thank you so much, Mr. Lennox. You're welcome to come by anytime, you hear? Come by soon, alright?" Aelia sighed heavily through her nose as she listened to the warm words of her caretaker. Without hesitation, she strode into the living room and settled down on the couch, slumping over as exhaustion set in.
It had been a long flight, a long drive, and an even longer night.
She could feel it weighing down on her.
After a few minutes she heard her aunt shut the door and make her way over to the living room. As she moved, there was the sound of a truck starting and taking off out of the driveway, signifying Lennox's leave.
Then there was silence as Aunt Geneva stood behind her. She leaned over and hugged her niece close after a mere moment, arms trembling against her with grief. In response, Aelia raised her left hand and placed it gently on one of the arms, the other remaining tucked in the inside of her jacket as always, protected from the outside world.
They stayed that way for some time, simply basking in the comfort traversing between them. It wasn't long, though, before her aunt was forced to let go and stand up straight. "The shower is open to you, honey, and there are clean clothes in your old room if you need them. Make yourself at home." Aunt Geneva's voice quaked as she spoke, revealing her sadness and pain at her husband's passing. Aelia nodded quietly, not trusting her voice for the moment. Seeming to understand, the old woman moved off towards her own room, leaving Aelia to her own devices until morning came.
Sighing heavily again, this time out of her mouth, the woman swung to her feet and headed to what had once been her room. It left her feeling somewhat nostalgic, something she hadn't felt in a long, long time. Too tired to shower or change at the moment, despite the grease and nastiness that was clinging to her, she chose instead to collapse into the bed and fall asleep.
Tomorrow, Aelia thought, tomorrow would be better.
But, as always, it was a lie.
(AN: Shhhh, just let me do this. Just let me enjoy life, okay? Okay. Just let Bo take care of you, bby. S'gonna be so good, you'll see.
I know, I know. 'Hear Me isn't finished, wtf are you doing you cunt?!' eh, shhhh.
Hear Me is def gonna get the most of my attention, but this story has like, 5 chapters completed and has been sitting in the depths of my files for like, 2 years and I've been DYING to share it with you all. Your lucky I waited until Pierce My Silence was finished and Hear Me was updated.
On another note, Aelia is based on my grandfather and his disability, I was sitting with him one day a long time ago and he was telling me about what happened and how his hand changed his very lifestyle.
Needless to say, I was inspired. So; throw up your feet, grab a cup of coffee or tea or whateva you like to drink and lets settle in for some Ironhide action, okay? :D
Pssssst; leave me a review, okay? c: I love that shit.)