Perihelion
AN: This is an experimental fic of sorts, I wanted to switch the bad guys and good guys around. That's right, the Daughters are now Followers, and the Followers are…well, you'll see. It's been a while in planning, and I've decided to take a break from NC (cough, again) and write this instead. It seems more fun : )
Thanks to Rayne for offering me her ideas : )
Pairings: Are for right now undecided. I want to stay clear from conventional ones though (Vanessa x Michael, Serena x Stanton, Catty x Chris, Jimena x Collin, etc.) since the characters are going to have somewhat different roles and relationships to each other. Feel free to suggest any you want to see though : )
Prologue: Muggers in Pigtails
Between getting held at gunpoint, having his wallet lifted, his glasses broken cleanly in half, and possibly even wetting himself, Karyl decided that he didn't quite care much for getting mugged. Especially by a little girl.
That's right- Karyl Lattimore- a tall, 16 year old young man- had just been mugged and emotionally harassed by a thirteen year old. Of course, when he retold the story, the little girl with the gang tattoos would be changed into a three hundred pound man with brass knuckles and a rather violent disposition, but the fact still remained. He had been mugged. By a girl. A little girl.
Picking himself up off of the dirty street- the vicious midget demon had bolted as soon as she grabbed his pathetically thin wallet- he sighed and tried helplessly to pop his lens back into the wire rim frame so he could see. Of course, his frames were cleanly bent in half- the girl had freakishly strong forefingers- but this way he could at least see out of one eye, enough to navigate back home anyways.
His night had been going so well, too. He had managed to clock out early, buy groceries, start his nightly word jumble, and he was just about to head down to The Moonbeam café to grab a caffeine-free, fat-free, sugar-free latte, or as others knew it, really hot milk, to make his riveting night complete when he had been sideswiped by the terror in pigtails.
Yes, yes. She had pigtails.
And now Karyl had no cash, no bus pass, no eyesight, and he had forgotten his jacket at home. Groaning inwardly, he always brought his jacket, he stood up- wobbling a bit, and pressed his hand against the building's brick wall to use it for guidance. His mouth dropped in absolute horror when he realized that some cretin had put usedchewing gum on the wall. Thoroughly disgusted, Karyl tried to pull his hand away, and a clump of indiscriminate pink goo came with it. He wanted to wipe it off on his khaki pants, but he had just ironed, washed, and carefully dried them, so he settled for smacking his hand against the wall, grimacing the whole way through.
Apparently satisfied at having finally disposed of the unsanitary substance, he squinted and tried to find a different way to make his way though. The moonless night did little to help his already impaired eyesight, and the world was a bunch of indeterminate blurs of color. Sighing, Karyl made a few shaky steps forward, a hand braced against the wall as he stumbled like a drunkard. An involuntary shiver crawled down his spine simultaneously as a light breeze blew by him and he tensed, turning around quickly.
He couldn't see the end of the alleyway, only the light reflected off of some trashcans and the blurry colors. The sound of something like a giggle echoed in the air and Karyl groaned.
"I don't have anything else! Just take my wallet and go!" He stifled the urge to yell 'don't hurt me' at the end of it, praying that the little girl with pigtails would be satisfied.
Something light, but clingy- like spider webs when you walk through them- ghosted over his forearm and Karyl choked down a scream and whirled around. His eyes squinted in a vain attempt at seeing the area. Nothing.
There it was again. The sound of the giggle drifted over the air and Karyl started to move more quickly towards the end of the alleyway, "Look, I know you're stronger than me but this isn't funny anymore!" He yelled, becoming a bit angered as well as piss scared when he heard a trash canister clutter against the asphalt, having obviously been knocked over.
"Stop it! Leave me alone!" He screamed, stumbling down the darkened passage, hands smoothing over the brick of the wall desperately.
"Karyl," cooed the same voice.
The boy startled, before reminding himself that the girl had stolen his wallet, and therefore his IDs, "Really clever," he grunted in irritation, "Where are your parents?" He mumbled to himself as he fought down the sensation of fear building in his chest.
"Karyl, I want you." The voice was a bit more insistent and Karyl found himself staggering a bit when he heard it whispered in his ear.
"Gah!" He cried, falling down on his butt and tugging on his lobe in disbelief when he looked up and saw that he was alone in the alley.
"Karyl…"
"Get away from me!" He yelped, scuttling back on his bum using the heels of his feet.
"Karyl."
"Stop!" He screamed, crossing his arms over his face and trying a pathetic attempt at a fetal position.
"Karyl!"
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" He hollered with an amount of gusto not usual for his character.
A hand clamped down on his forearm, and pried it away from his face, and Karyl instinctively flung a punch that was easily classified as laughable. The person who grabbed his arm took a step back, however.
"Karyl, what the hell is the matter with you?" Came a cross, and very familiar voice.
Karyl looked up and met the blue stare of his younger sister, "Kelly?" He croaked.
The beautiful looking girl bent an arm at her waist and stared at her older sibling with a mixture of annoyance, skepticism, and concern. Her boyfriend's letterman's jacket hung off her thin shoulders, "Why the hell did you punch me? What happened to your glasses? And please tell me that stain on your pants is water."
Karyl whimpered, "I…did you see her?" He questioned, fumbling around, trying to grab his sister's shoulder. Kelly huffed before helping him up.
"See who?"
"The girl-" He quickly corrected himself, "The hardcore bitch that just mugged me?"
Kelly sent him a level look as the two siblings began to walk out towards the main road, "What are you talking about?"
"Some hardcore gang member with guns-" there had been no guns, "-attacked me without warning-" she had actually been quite loud, "-and took everything off me!"
Kelly stared at him, "Are you alright?"
"No I'm not all right, I'm kind of freaking the fuck out!" He said with a bit of a shrill to his tone. Kelly sighed, knowing her older brother's overreacting tendencies and his unfortunately effeminate disposition.
"Karyl, there was no one there, calm down and let's go home."
Karyl ran a hand through his hair, "Now I'm going to have to cancel my credit cards, and fill out paperwork, and she probably stole my identity and is using my credit cards that aren't cancelled yet to buy plane trips to Mexico-"
"Karyl."
"-and buying crack and…and pot and I'm sure they can trace credit card transactions for crack in Mexico and it's going to all be under my name because she stole my identity-"
"Karyl!"
"And I don't want to go to jail because I've got that scholarship and jail is scary and they probably never clean the toilets and-"
"Karyl, you moron calm the hell down!" Kelly said, stomping her foot on his.
He shrilled, again, but his little fit subsided. He gave a long suffering sigh, "I'm not having a fun night."
"It's not a big deal, we'll go file a police report and cancel your credit cards, okay?" Kelly soothed, rubbing her big brother's shoulder for comfort.
Karyl sighed unhappily and allowed himself to be strolled away, even still, he had the sensation that he was being followed.
And in the darkness, a pair of yellow eyes glistened as crimson painted lips smirked.