Two weeks after it had all happened, She didn't have the nerve to look at her reflection. At first she went about the house calmly taking all the mirrors down but then it got to the point where she began to smash every mirror-like surface in the house. People said she'd gone crazy but it wasn't like they cared if she retained her sanity or not. In fact most of them had their guns ready and waiting and if ever someone should say her mind had been completely lost, they'd be there, itching to discard her like a rabid dog.
And then they went through and destroyed everything. And all the fools and their guns were no match for them and they perished. Yet she lived. Crazy and on the brink of death but alive. But perhaps she wasn't so insane anymore. She, after all, had helped the seven remaining survivors bury the 100 some dead. She had been the one to gather them up and herd them off to another site, much like a mother hen. She was proud of the fact that after they had built the town she managed to keep her level head. True she was never the same but at least she wasn't referred to as the 'crazy lady' ever again.
But now, now it was beginning to wane slightly. It had always been teeteering on the fine line but somehow she'd always kept it in check. But now...now everything was changing again.
Leo was dead. After the man in the top hat had said what he needed to say he had shoved his razor-edged cane right through Leo's chest. She'd tried telling herself that he didn't have to do that, he was just being cruel and viscious, like he had always been, but inside her she knew he had to. He had to prove to her what could happen if she disobeyed.
"But I don't work for you anymore-"
"I don't remember ever receiving your two weeks notice. Now stop complaining and be a good girl. Do as your told. You wouldn't want to see anymore of your precious flock being slaughtered would you?" He had been so casual, so uncaring. The figures surrounding him were masked, cloaked. She couldn't see their faces as they lifted Leo's dead body and carried him away. All she could do was stare. There was nothing else she could have done..At least that's what she tried convincing herself. Even as she cooked the eggs over the stove, she tried convincing herself it had all been some sort of delirious illusion. But Molly knew better. Meryl wasn't the only one being haunted but her ghost was just that.
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He was being haunted by her dreams. They were her memories so shouldn't she have a right to know he was watching them every night?
Vash left Millie and Meryl alone in the room, knowing the two friends probably had a lot of talking to do. He, himself, had left to go get perhaps more sleep. The thought of his previous dreams sent him into lapses of confusion. Why was he seeing these things as he slept? Where did the happiness Meryl and her sister have suddenly dissolve? What else was Meryl hiding? These were all questions he wanted answers to. He wanted these answers because he thought they were the key, the key to saving Meryl from the nightmares and possibly even herself. Vash had no clue how to save her though. How could you save someone if you couldn't save yourself?
True, the advice he had dealt to her last night was advice on how to cope with it. How to deal with who she was but coping wasn't rescuing. A hostage could learn to cope with his or her ordeal and still be in a great amount of danger. Vash yawned as he came to the door of his and Wolfwood's room. He opened it, too tired to really acknowledge a dressing Wolfwood and plunged face down on his bed.
"Rough night?" Now would be the time his friend would want to make conversation. Vash decided not to fight it, rolled over, and sat up.
"Kind of-" Vash stopped talking. He recognized the look on Wolfwood's face. The priest's navy eyes were distracted, narrowed and staring out the window into the blue abyss. His hands hung limply onto his white collar, while one elbow rested calmly on his Cross Punisher. Finally, Wolfwood turned to look at Vash. He looked him straight in the eye and calmly continued.
"Someone stopped by the house this morning. And they weren't exactly friendly." Vash furrowed his brow in confusion, watching Wolfwood for any sort of clue as to what the hell he was talking about.
"I've been standing here with the window open and I heard voices outside on the porch. I think we should leave. Today." He was dead serious. Vash knew enough to trust Wolfwood on matters like these. But as much as he wanted to follow Wolfwood's advice and just leave now, He wasn't sure about a lot of things.
"Okay. Do you think Meryl is well enough to travel?" Wolfwood looked away. The small insurance girl still was injured, in more ways than one. Would she _want_ to leave town with them? And if she didn't that meant for sure that Millie would stay with her. Wolfwood cursed inwardly. The whole point of leaving was to get them out of here and to safety. He met Vash's expectant gaze and shook his head.
"Then I guess we'll just have to stay here. Don't worry, things'll turn out okay. Why don't you go downstairs and eat something. Let me get some sleep." And with that Vash lay back down and turned over. He grabbed the afghan from Wolfwood's own bed and threw it over his tall frame. It was then that Wolfwood could tell their discussion had ended. He smirked and tangled one hand in his black hair.
"Women.."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
//You have questions.// He looked up. He was standing somewhere. Everything was so dark. And then, like a TV screen slowly coming to life, his surroundings began to light up. Endless horizon stretched out before him and behind him, flat and yet moving, like sand. But it wasn't sand. Because there was nothing there but blue.
//Yes.// He answered the voice not really knowing why. But he had heard this voice before, he knew this voice. And as if upon his recognition, She appeared before him, shyly hiding her face behind a curtain of midnight hair.
//I have the answers.// Her eyes were sad, like in all of the photographs he had seen of her. Except one. The one Molly kept in the nightstand drawer. She was smiling, her eyes dancing. Meryl's had been too. Shimmering with the happiness and excitement of the moment. But now there were not traces of it. Just the dull sorrowful tint.
//Why me? Why not her?// She looked away.
//She won't listen to me anymore. She's shut me out.//
//What do you mean?// Vash took a step closer to her. He expected the small girl before him to vanish in an instant, just disengrate into nothingness and float away. And then he'd never get the answers she was willing to give him. This was a dream but he didn't care. He needed all the help he could get in this department.
//I can't get through to her. She won't let me in. But you..// She paused and turned back to stare him directly in his eyes. This sort of contact usually never unnerved him, even if he was looking into the crazed eyes of a mad man. Somehow, though, the girl before him had this eerie power inside her blue depths. And it made him take one step back at the intensity now contained there.
//You can help me..you can help us. I can no longer protect her from who she is and what she has become. But you can. And only you can. You must promise me that you will teach her how to dance.//
//I don't understand.// Vash realized with a painful awareness that the girl before him was fading. She was becoming transparent, the horizon line becoming visible through her. He didn't want to have it end this way. He didn't want her to leave him with unanswered riddles. Hadn't she said she had all the answers?
//You will..soon.//
//No wait! Rosemary wait! I need the answers! I need to save her but I don't know how! Help me!// She was gone and he was alone in the beautiful wasteland she had brought him too. He still didn't understand what she told him but he understood why she came to him now and showed him..
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Meryl had been feeling guilty ever since her talk with Vash. She had been intending on talking to Millie sometime during the day anyway and so it made her feel a little better when Millie knocked on the door. She really didn't have any doubt that her taller companion would give her a second chance. That's just the way Millie Thompson was.
"Meryl..I'm sorry. I had no right to impose-"
"No Millie. You weren't imposing at all. You were concerned and I should have seen that." Meryl smiled at the shocked look on Millie's face and then smiled even more at the grin that took it's place.
"So you're not mad at me?"
"I was never mad at you. Not really. I guess I was more angry at myself than anyone else."
"I am truly sorry Meryl. You're much too nice a person to have gone through that ordeal." Millie placed a hand on her best friend's far shoulder and pulled her small frame to her larger one. Resting her chin in the black tresses, Millie smiled sadly. Meryl wasn't resisting the one-armed hug, something she usually did. Meryl shied away from physical contact and now Millie understood why, or at least had a small clue. She didn't care if she ever found out the rest of the story. Millie would be willing to live without if she could only be allowed to help heal the woman who had become her first and only female friend.
Resting on the bed made Millie remember the first time she and Meryl had really connected. Millie had never been very popular with the other women at the Insurance Company. Her small town ways and cheery, naive personality made her a perfect target for their cruelty and she instantly became the butt of their jokes. One day, One of them made a particularily nasty comment which sent Millie crying into the locker room. Meryl had been just getting ready to leave when she heard the tall girl's sobs. She had comforted her on the hard, cold locker room floor, staying with her there well after she shoud have left. It was sometime then and there that Millie and Meryl began a wonderful friendship. And it was only fair that Millie be there for Meryl when she was hurting. Not to mention she didn't mind at all.
Meryl shifted and moved away from the hug, disrupting Millie's bout of nostalgia. She smiled up at Millie's beaming face, glad to have her around. At times, when she watched Millie, she could sometimes see her. More often than not she only saw Millie but there were certain times when she'd do something remarkably similiar to her and Meryl would have to shake herself out of her reaction to it. And Millie didn't have to act like her for Meryl to consider her a sister. Millie was Millie and that was comfort enough.
"Well I think I should probably get dressed. I'm eager to get out of this room."
"Oh that reminds me. I asked Molly about borrowing clothes since she hasn't had time to clean and repairs yours so she lent me some of hers. It's nothing special, just one of her old shirts and a pair of pants. she said."
"That's surprising. I'd thought for sure that she'd give us a dress. Molly wears nothing but. Is it here?"
"Yeah. I put it on the chair with your clothes. I wasn't sure when you'd want to leave." Millie stood and walked to the chair, leaning over and grabbing a plain white shirt and a pair of tan pants. They looked two sizes too big but Meryl wasn't complaining. Her legs were cold from the cool atmosphere of the room and she was dying for any sort of cover for them.
"Thanks Millie. Where would I be without you guys? Meryl hobbled over to where Millie stood and grabbed the clothes from her. She made her way over to the joined bathroom, smiling at the thought of being in real clothes.
"After you change, Molly's made breakfast downstairs. Eggs and toast! It smells delicious." Meryl chuckled inwardly at Millie's observation and sniffed the air for herself. It did smell good especially to her rumbling stomach. But even the food wasn't enough to encourage her. She didn't especially want to see Molly at the moment but she figured it wouldn't be long until Vash and Wolfwood wanted to up and get out of here. In the meantime she'd bear her cross in silence..just like she had.
I am SOOOO sorry for such the short chapter but I've been getting this little bouts of writer's block and this finally came out of a long, depressing day. I promise the next one will be longer because now that i've furthered the story I know where I'm headed and that always makes putting the chapters out a lot easier. Sorry once again and you don't have to review cuz I know this chapter was an sucky one...But they will get better! Ciao!
And then they went through and destroyed everything. And all the fools and their guns were no match for them and they perished. Yet she lived. Crazy and on the brink of death but alive. But perhaps she wasn't so insane anymore. She, after all, had helped the seven remaining survivors bury the 100 some dead. She had been the one to gather them up and herd them off to another site, much like a mother hen. She was proud of the fact that after they had built the town she managed to keep her level head. True she was never the same but at least she wasn't referred to as the 'crazy lady' ever again.
But now, now it was beginning to wane slightly. It had always been teeteering on the fine line but somehow she'd always kept it in check. But now...now everything was changing again.
Leo was dead. After the man in the top hat had said what he needed to say he had shoved his razor-edged cane right through Leo's chest. She'd tried telling herself that he didn't have to do that, he was just being cruel and viscious, like he had always been, but inside her she knew he had to. He had to prove to her what could happen if she disobeyed.
"But I don't work for you anymore-"
"I don't remember ever receiving your two weeks notice. Now stop complaining and be a good girl. Do as your told. You wouldn't want to see anymore of your precious flock being slaughtered would you?" He had been so casual, so uncaring. The figures surrounding him were masked, cloaked. She couldn't see their faces as they lifted Leo's dead body and carried him away. All she could do was stare. There was nothing else she could have done..At least that's what she tried convincing herself. Even as she cooked the eggs over the stove, she tried convincing herself it had all been some sort of delirious illusion. But Molly knew better. Meryl wasn't the only one being haunted but her ghost was just that.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He was being haunted by her dreams. They were her memories so shouldn't she have a right to know he was watching them every night?
Vash left Millie and Meryl alone in the room, knowing the two friends probably had a lot of talking to do. He, himself, had left to go get perhaps more sleep. The thought of his previous dreams sent him into lapses of confusion. Why was he seeing these things as he slept? Where did the happiness Meryl and her sister have suddenly dissolve? What else was Meryl hiding? These were all questions he wanted answers to. He wanted these answers because he thought they were the key, the key to saving Meryl from the nightmares and possibly even herself. Vash had no clue how to save her though. How could you save someone if you couldn't save yourself?
True, the advice he had dealt to her last night was advice on how to cope with it. How to deal with who she was but coping wasn't rescuing. A hostage could learn to cope with his or her ordeal and still be in a great amount of danger. Vash yawned as he came to the door of his and Wolfwood's room. He opened it, too tired to really acknowledge a dressing Wolfwood and plunged face down on his bed.
"Rough night?" Now would be the time his friend would want to make conversation. Vash decided not to fight it, rolled over, and sat up.
"Kind of-" Vash stopped talking. He recognized the look on Wolfwood's face. The priest's navy eyes were distracted, narrowed and staring out the window into the blue abyss. His hands hung limply onto his white collar, while one elbow rested calmly on his Cross Punisher. Finally, Wolfwood turned to look at Vash. He looked him straight in the eye and calmly continued.
"Someone stopped by the house this morning. And they weren't exactly friendly." Vash furrowed his brow in confusion, watching Wolfwood for any sort of clue as to what the hell he was talking about.
"I've been standing here with the window open and I heard voices outside on the porch. I think we should leave. Today." He was dead serious. Vash knew enough to trust Wolfwood on matters like these. But as much as he wanted to follow Wolfwood's advice and just leave now, He wasn't sure about a lot of things.
"Okay. Do you think Meryl is well enough to travel?" Wolfwood looked away. The small insurance girl still was injured, in more ways than one. Would she _want_ to leave town with them? And if she didn't that meant for sure that Millie would stay with her. Wolfwood cursed inwardly. The whole point of leaving was to get them out of here and to safety. He met Vash's expectant gaze and shook his head.
"Then I guess we'll just have to stay here. Don't worry, things'll turn out okay. Why don't you go downstairs and eat something. Let me get some sleep." And with that Vash lay back down and turned over. He grabbed the afghan from Wolfwood's own bed and threw it over his tall frame. It was then that Wolfwood could tell their discussion had ended. He smirked and tangled one hand in his black hair.
"Women.."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
//You have questions.// He looked up. He was standing somewhere. Everything was so dark. And then, like a TV screen slowly coming to life, his surroundings began to light up. Endless horizon stretched out before him and behind him, flat and yet moving, like sand. But it wasn't sand. Because there was nothing there but blue.
//Yes.// He answered the voice not really knowing why. But he had heard this voice before, he knew this voice. And as if upon his recognition, She appeared before him, shyly hiding her face behind a curtain of midnight hair.
//I have the answers.// Her eyes were sad, like in all of the photographs he had seen of her. Except one. The one Molly kept in the nightstand drawer. She was smiling, her eyes dancing. Meryl's had been too. Shimmering with the happiness and excitement of the moment. But now there were not traces of it. Just the dull sorrowful tint.
//Why me? Why not her?// She looked away.
//She won't listen to me anymore. She's shut me out.//
//What do you mean?// Vash took a step closer to her. He expected the small girl before him to vanish in an instant, just disengrate into nothingness and float away. And then he'd never get the answers she was willing to give him. This was a dream but he didn't care. He needed all the help he could get in this department.
//I can't get through to her. She won't let me in. But you..// She paused and turned back to stare him directly in his eyes. This sort of contact usually never unnerved him, even if he was looking into the crazed eyes of a mad man. Somehow, though, the girl before him had this eerie power inside her blue depths. And it made him take one step back at the intensity now contained there.
//You can help me..you can help us. I can no longer protect her from who she is and what she has become. But you can. And only you can. You must promise me that you will teach her how to dance.//
//I don't understand.// Vash realized with a painful awareness that the girl before him was fading. She was becoming transparent, the horizon line becoming visible through her. He didn't want to have it end this way. He didn't want her to leave him with unanswered riddles. Hadn't she said she had all the answers?
//You will..soon.//
//No wait! Rosemary wait! I need the answers! I need to save her but I don't know how! Help me!// She was gone and he was alone in the beautiful wasteland she had brought him too. He still didn't understand what she told him but he understood why she came to him now and showed him..
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meryl had been feeling guilty ever since her talk with Vash. She had been intending on talking to Millie sometime during the day anyway and so it made her feel a little better when Millie knocked on the door. She really didn't have any doubt that her taller companion would give her a second chance. That's just the way Millie Thompson was.
"Meryl..I'm sorry. I had no right to impose-"
"No Millie. You weren't imposing at all. You were concerned and I should have seen that." Meryl smiled at the shocked look on Millie's face and then smiled even more at the grin that took it's place.
"So you're not mad at me?"
"I was never mad at you. Not really. I guess I was more angry at myself than anyone else."
"I am truly sorry Meryl. You're much too nice a person to have gone through that ordeal." Millie placed a hand on her best friend's far shoulder and pulled her small frame to her larger one. Resting her chin in the black tresses, Millie smiled sadly. Meryl wasn't resisting the one-armed hug, something she usually did. Meryl shied away from physical contact and now Millie understood why, or at least had a small clue. She didn't care if she ever found out the rest of the story. Millie would be willing to live without if she could only be allowed to help heal the woman who had become her first and only female friend.
Resting on the bed made Millie remember the first time she and Meryl had really connected. Millie had never been very popular with the other women at the Insurance Company. Her small town ways and cheery, naive personality made her a perfect target for their cruelty and she instantly became the butt of their jokes. One day, One of them made a particularily nasty comment which sent Millie crying into the locker room. Meryl had been just getting ready to leave when she heard the tall girl's sobs. She had comforted her on the hard, cold locker room floor, staying with her there well after she shoud have left. It was sometime then and there that Millie and Meryl began a wonderful friendship. And it was only fair that Millie be there for Meryl when she was hurting. Not to mention she didn't mind at all.
Meryl shifted and moved away from the hug, disrupting Millie's bout of nostalgia. She smiled up at Millie's beaming face, glad to have her around. At times, when she watched Millie, she could sometimes see her. More often than not she only saw Millie but there were certain times when she'd do something remarkably similiar to her and Meryl would have to shake herself out of her reaction to it. And Millie didn't have to act like her for Meryl to consider her a sister. Millie was Millie and that was comfort enough.
"Well I think I should probably get dressed. I'm eager to get out of this room."
"Oh that reminds me. I asked Molly about borrowing clothes since she hasn't had time to clean and repairs yours so she lent me some of hers. It's nothing special, just one of her old shirts and a pair of pants. she said."
"That's surprising. I'd thought for sure that she'd give us a dress. Molly wears nothing but. Is it here?"
"Yeah. I put it on the chair with your clothes. I wasn't sure when you'd want to leave." Millie stood and walked to the chair, leaning over and grabbing a plain white shirt and a pair of tan pants. They looked two sizes too big but Meryl wasn't complaining. Her legs were cold from the cool atmosphere of the room and she was dying for any sort of cover for them.
"Thanks Millie. Where would I be without you guys? Meryl hobbled over to where Millie stood and grabbed the clothes from her. She made her way over to the joined bathroom, smiling at the thought of being in real clothes.
"After you change, Molly's made breakfast downstairs. Eggs and toast! It smells delicious." Meryl chuckled inwardly at Millie's observation and sniffed the air for herself. It did smell good especially to her rumbling stomach. But even the food wasn't enough to encourage her. She didn't especially want to see Molly at the moment but she figured it wouldn't be long until Vash and Wolfwood wanted to up and get out of here. In the meantime she'd bear her cross in silence..just like she had.
I am SOOOO sorry for such the short chapter but I've been getting this little bouts of writer's block and this finally came out of a long, depressing day. I promise the next one will be longer because now that i've furthered the story I know where I'm headed and that always makes putting the chapters out a lot easier. Sorry once again and you don't have to review cuz I know this chapter was an sucky one...But they will get better! Ciao!