- Chapter Fifty-Nine-
Do You Feel The Cage Too?
World an uncertain thing, a silver-tipped fox led a newborn giraffe through the primordial gloom that came just before the dawn.
Fair as a fairy on a fern and light as an elf in snow some pretty poetics, neither comparison was apt to her crude plodding. Kinder, another way to put it was that while each step barely connected with the hardwood floor, her timid footfalls were not as dainty as they could have been. Being in a state between inebriated and hungover, any hope for grace and dignity had all but vanished into thin air.
Path a familiar one, the guiding wolf and his ring-eyed sheep were the very definition of inseparable. Oh so trusting of the rascal despite being a place where it was apt to say that she hated everything, the heifer-adjacent creature remained closer than close. Stumbling just the once across a tilting stage that reacted inordinately to the new science of gravity, the gray one pressed lightly against her back. Never far from the small curvature of spine, the other paw was against the wall, acting as a kind of bastard sonar.
"Easy there." A whisper stronger than what escaped his lips, there was the gentlest caresses of pressure in his touch.
Glare saying enough, the spotted cattle didn't need a lecture. Not now. Grumbling low over the state of their modern forest and the fact that the one tree in it had been wasted, it was enough that her hooves alone crashed with a mighty din louder than the thunder.
Noise absolute murder, the shy one changed tactics and buried her head into her host's shoulder. The journey was his doing, so in her mind the least he could do was keep it safe.
Specks of jet in the sockets of alabaster marble, Sam's eyes seemed sparkle when his gaze shifted to their new position. He didn't say a single word, not one.
Tremulous at the best of times, every step was a new danger; perilous to all, the descent of each hoof was not unlike a stone cast off into some pond. Fingers quick to wrap around the sly one's arm before they had even reached the man-made hill, it made some logical sense that she would falter. And falter she did - twice in fact - each time her support there to catch her before she fell.
Obviously it would have been too much to ask for him to always be there, but after the terror of the hunt, it was a relief to be able to lean on another for a change.
Sam... Leaning deeper into it, the one thing she could say that she didn't hate was this.
Eyelids growing ever more cumbersome to keep open, every tick of the clock, every pebble that poured into the pool, every heartbeat was one too many. Treading cautiously down the cut lumber steps one moment, the next her foot felt the unmistakable jolt of hitting empty air. It wouldn't have been the first time she had overestimated where her feet ought to go, and it wasn't even the first time there had been a stomach-lurching consequence. What made this time so different was the belated yelp caught in the back of her throat and the five fangs that caught the foolish cub by the scruff of the neck.
Wise enough to foresee the likely event of a nasty spill in her immediate future, the scavenger held fast to her waist. Reeling his catch in by the excess fabric, Sam had to drop his hold of the thin metal banister to wrap around her front. They hadn't even made it half-way down, and... she was so warm. Train of thought derailing outside of the station, in the dark it wasn't so questionable to get a sense of one's bearings.
Hands lingering overlong on her belly, he could feel it rumbling with a ravenous emptiness. Made sense, given that she had emptied the contents not five feet away.
Personal experience the best teacher, Sam knew that food would help absorb some of the alcohol in her system, and water would combat any symptoms of dehydration she might have felt. Also, in the interest of waking her up some, a cold shower might have been their best bet. Except as to that end, Drake couldn't really think of anything that she had to stay awake for. And the rub about keeping her fed was that the mere thought of putting anything back in her stomach might make her sick all over again.
A vicious cycle all around, sleep probably was the best answer for her.
"Mmm?" Half asleep where she stood, the mumble sounded more annoyed than anything else.
Joints tensing beneath the humidity, it was with the thought that he should fill her up again that Sam finally insisted they move again. Toastier than he had expected, her fingers skimmed over the top of his own, the tips starting to settle between the gaps. The warmth must have been due to hiding snug beneath the sleeves of her borrowed shirt. My shirt.
An honest (and admittedly not the worst) mistake.
Squeezing ever so slightly, he kept his arms around the long neck. Down the stairs, around the island of welcome, and winding between a motley shelter of huddled figures that were as illegible as they were judgmental, through it all his grip never faltered. What might have been the last of them, the humans they passed were little more than deathly witnesses that scarcely paid much heed to the journey. For them, theirs was just another foray into the wild.
Sam... Locking her fingers through his, the one thing she could say that she didn't hate was this. Hmm, that sounded... familiar? But that didn't make it any less true.
Gratitude a sweet flavor just on the tip of her tongue, the semi-conscious lamb figured that she owed it to Sam to thank him for being there to catch her. This time, and every time before that. Like my very own princely hero. Somehow, whenever he was around, she managed to remain upright for a change. Mostly.
Yeah, she probably should have thanked him, but her mind was already elsewhere.
I'm begging you, take me anywhere other than here. Pleading and pathetic, the words of past Daniella echoed coolly in her head, reverberating off the chilly walls that were slip-sliding ever closer. Trapped, suffocating for air as everything collapsed in on itself... Spinning on an axis that couldn't be fixed to any one place, the room was almost certainly shrinking, each whirling pirouette bringing her nearer to being shut in a tomb. Her tomb, deep in the heart of the Adler family crypt. I have to get away...
Please, take me anywhere but here. Almost anywhere else would do.
Delivered from one bleak hellscape to another, the pair tarried beneath the awning for only a moment. Wind gnawed through bone with glacial determination, and the frigid rain lashed out with a bloody vengeance. It had been no more welcoming inside, yet at least out in the open there was something to look forward to. At least there was for the suckling babe. For him, there was just the next stop.
Heavenly dome a decidedly lighter shade of blue, the young woman could feel her spirits lifting in spite of her best efforts to cling to teenage angst. Ebony and pearl, the silver clouds carried her on wings she'd previously believed clipped. Not looking back once, the inheritor of the world pulled away from her wolf and wandered out into the storm.
Just a taste in the midst of rebellion, it was freeing. No one to ask for permission, no mother to passive-aggressively deny, no butler in waiting.
Keats may have been replaced on the payroll, however Daniella wasn't like to forget the buttoned-up penguin-man that had helped see her into all the proper attire. Always kind to the master's daughter, Dells had one particular memory of the faithful Adler family servant digging out a matching umbrella. At her father's insistence no doubt. By the time he had come back, the weather had cleared up and had taken all of the best puddles with it.
Like a true pirate, the girl still wanted to play anyways. Sure, there was every chance that she would catch a cold, but for the first time it was up to her to splash around if she really wanted to.
Breaking away from her anchor and into the sloppy beginnings of a sprint, the heiress needed to feel the water on her skin.
Free from all thought and worldly woe, she hadn't gotten more than five steps before slowing to a stop. Confused about where she was and what she was doing, the young woman paused at the edge of the sidewalk to gather her bearings. Spying what she took to be the Drake's car idling just outside of the hotel, she looked around in mildly alarmed bemusement to see Sam standing just outside of the door.
"What are we doing here?" Nearly drowned out by the rumble-tumble in the sky, she seemed surprised to see that it was raining.
In response, the grizzled brunette could only arch a thick auburn brow.
Vision fuzzy - in the way that it was when you strain yourself to stay up extra late for a reason that's only important to you - the heiress craned her neck for a better look. She might have been mistaken, but his face was quite loud (and rude) as it asked if she was kidding. Or maybe that grumpy-gills expression was just the way his face usually looked...? Usually, but not always...
Haunted not quite the right word for it, the heiress was besieged by a sudden audio-visual spark that she couldn't fully fathom.
Mouth opening and closing uselessly, the drunken ingénue felt a funny little tickle in the back of her throat. Almost like baby powder and plastic? Weird. Although maybe it wasn't so strange as just standing in an open area, exposed to the elements. Marshaling her strength to move for shelter, the minute she began to return to Drake her foot slid on nothing and everything, and she was tumbling through the void. A valley of lambs and printed wool on spools... Or were those trees brushing the skyline?
Too heavy to fight, her eyes closed.
Next thing she knew, water was everywhere, gushing into her mouth and flooding all around her body. Clearly not enough of a mess as it was, dingy gray-brown sludge water was running up her neck and pooling up one nostril. Pavement dusted with sand on a dry day, her entire side was caked with the loose muck, and she was fairly certain that she had bitten her tongue. At least she hoped that that was what the coppery taste in her mouth was.
Roaming unchecked over the roof of her mouth, Dells licked her lips before circling the pinkish muscle side-to-side. Spitting out the dirty contaminants, she rubbed her jaw with the back of her palm. "Eww."
Island stones rolling at the oversimplification, the historian tried to ignore the burning stares piercing through his back as he attempted to assist the heiress into a more dignified position. Of course she would have found the most comical way possible to land on her ass. Or, more accurately, her side.
"Maybe next time that'll teach you to down a whole distillery before dinner."
Distillery? Wondering what in the world that was supposed to mean, she blinked up at the man with lost doe eyes. Although they were hardly what anyone could consider to be innocent, full of leering agitation and on the constant verge of crossing.
Sam... What are you on about? Lifting her fingertips up to his collar, Daniella felt like a part of her was missing.
Rain would have been a convenient excuse for it - it wasn't as if there wasn't precedent for such a collapse - but this sounded an awful lot like an accusation. There was one time this week she might have had a beer with her lunch, however the young woman didn't recall drinking anything since last night.
Last night...
Back on the cozy porch of his younger brother's place, when they'd been treated to those banana sandwiches. Not bad, but they might have gone over better chips. Urgh, with a gurgle that could probably be heard all the way in Tibet, her stomach rolled over at just the memory of food.
Cassie had been been sitting with her back to the tide, playing the sun to sleep. Mostly the heiress had been watching the wind chimes and the water, however that had been really pretty, the song that she was strumming. If she wanted to, the girl might've had a future in it. Music. Or anything else for that matter.
Damn her, Cassie Drake had something that she never would - unconditional love and the full support of her parents.
Hole weighing heavier than it had before, the heiress blinked unevenly at the elder gentleman escorting her through thick and thin. Nail digging against the seam, she hesitated, questioning in the back of her mind if there had been anything suspect. She might not have had half the home life that Cassie did, but...
Hazy as if they were being broadcast through a foggy veil, there were a series of moments... Jumbled and horribly criss-crossed, the colored emotions had come at some point after the green light at the end of the pier... A crimson flash of anger, a tempered low of purest azure. Then there was nothing, merely the pure abyss.
"Sure ya wanna do this, baby girl?" Whispered into her hair, lips brushed her scalp.
Faint as a secret dream that vanished upon waking, there was something in the back of her head, something important calling out, yearning to be remembered. The feeling of Sam's lips had been too real to be anything less than a memory, however she had zero recollection of when that might have happened. Or what else could have occurred. Struggling against the grain, for the life of her Daniella couldn't figure out what it was.
"I hate what you did," absolutely out of breath by that point, the fraction of her that was still hanging on clamored for more, "and I hate what you make me feel."
What was she feeling, wrapped in his arms and shielded from the worst of the rain?
Barf coming back up for a special encore event, Dells was spared having to answer that question, at least for the time being. Spewing out in a much more demure fountain than what 'The Exorcist' had popularized, a decent amount dribbled down from her chin and covered the veteran's capable shoulder in chunks. Conceding that he maybe might have been right to call her out, the heiress wiped her chin on the back of her hand.
A tinsy bit parched before the ordeal, she remembered reading somewhere that water would help. Just maybe not from the street...
"S... Sam... I..." Short-term memory shot by a particularly large yawn wielding a shotgun, in that moment nothing sounded better than sleep.
Married to the notion of rich slumber, Daniella wondered that maybe instead of going wherever it was they were supposed to be going, they should just book it back to their room? Back to a nice, warm bed. Back to a safe place, where I can rest my head against his chest again. Heavenly as that sounded, maybe it should have waited until after she got cleaned up... There had been an awful lot of icky back there; it might have still even been in her hair.
"I... I..." Instead of apologize for her outburst, the girl trailed off with a soft snore.
Great. Just peachy.
Keeping his back to the rabid jackals in the audience, Samuel took a deliberate pause while readjusting the young woman in his arms. Besmirched by the lowly scum of the earth, half of the girl's head was filmed over by the after-wash of the city streets. Clothes already spotted with damp circlets, at least he could say that his weren't rocking a trendy stripe up one side. Body historically susceptible to tremors, every inch that his fingertips scoured were akin to a frozen crust of thin ice.
In a state of recovery still, at the very least the heiress required a change and a good long rest. These last several hours hadn't been entirely kind, and it went without saying that matters should have been handled differently. This, right now, should have been handled differently.
Had this been Nathan... He still probably would have found a way to fuck it up.
Liberated from the role of parental-like figure longer than the young snip had been alive, his little brother was proof that he was far from perfect at the whole guardian thing. The orphanage, Columbia, Italy, Scotland, Madagascar; no matter where they were or what they had been doing, that little punk had almost always done the right thing, even if Sam had disagreed with what that meant. Nathan had been a good kid from the start, so he'd gotten lucky.
For what it mattered, Dells wasn't as awful as she could have been, given who her folks were. Bai Wen and Rafe Adler, a junkie-turned-muscle-turned-CEO and a spoiled psychopath - was there ever a worse pair less suited to procreate? Yeah, there was that old European proverb that said "those who live in glass houses should not throw stones", so who was he to say who should and shouldn't have a child? Just another hypocrite.
Genuinely out for the count this time, she didn't move so much as a muscle when he tucked a wet tuft of hair back behind her ears. For practical reasons, of course.
If I had told her to stop, would she have listened? The proverbial million dollar question, Daniella was in a dark place; ordinarily, he had no doubt that she would have heeded his request, but this was on him. Nathan and Elena had made it clear that they held Sam accountable for the heiress, so out of respect for them alone the girl would have obeyed. Before her miraculous return from death, Bai had all but left her daughter to the thief, and it went without saying that her word was law. Everyone that mattered in the girl's life had given him control over her well-being at one point or another, everyone. Even...
Running his fingers through his own now-dampened locks, Sam let out a disgruntled sigh. Why should he have to feel so damn responsible for Dells? At the end of the day, she should have been little more to him than a contract, a means to a quick buck. He would have asked himself when he had started caring so much, if he didn't already know the exact moment he could pin it to: that very first night, when she had just showed up outside of his room. Wet, frightened, and too much like his little brother to even think about turning her away.
Who would have thought that him picking egg out of her cleavage that first morning would have led them here?
"Goddammit, Dells!" Growling out her name and not caring if she woke up or not, it would have been easier if he could just blame her.
Making presumptions right out of the gate, the aged adventurer hadn't wanted to see the girl as her own person, because it was easier to swallow when she was just the mirror image of someone else. Practically a perfect clone of Rafe, it served the ex-con's purpose to see Dells as her parents, as a client, as his own little brother even.
A younger Sam was a more selfish Sam, thinking only of himself and his little brother. An older Sam - one that had witnessed the metamorphosis his little brother had gone through, that had lived through (Nadine and) Chloe's determination to do the right thing - was more introspective. He might not have been kinder, per say, but he would at least think how his behavior had an effect on the wider world.
On her. In that unicorn of a world that could never exist, the heiress might have been content with a father that had never died. If not happy, she might have at least been safer underneath Daddy's thumb. In that mythical place between the infinite cotton candy fields and lilac skies, Daniella might have never needed to meet Sam in the first place.
Oh.
Dells... Too many things caught behind his dark gaze, in the split-second it took to examine the girl, the orphan raised by nuns and neglect had managed to find a way to take credit for all of the bad that she had suffered. Angel and Ashley, Rafael, Jay, and most of all, her parents. Granted some of it it been out of everyone's hands, and some of it had been her own fault, but there was somebody else left to blame...
Catholic teachings creeping back to the forefront, a mortal sin was defined as a "gravely sinful act". Though something he now shrugged off, basically what that meant was a major foul was deliberately committed, knowing full well that what you were doing was wrong. Admittedly some of the harder hitters made sense as they were just morally reprehensible actions, but he couldn't agree with a lot of what was so harshly frowned upon - married or not, if Sam wanted someone, he was gonna going try to make it happen.
Exactly like he had with Rafe and Bai. Absolutely a modern twist on Sid and Nancy, the coupling were combustible hotheads, hostile and murderous, neither suited for that kind of life. For family. Definitely not for one another. Although, where did it say that their separation needed to end in Rafe's death? In a death that was needless as it was voluntary...
Just the mere thought of those particular events brought another line to her bare frown. Not his rugged rebel's smirk, Sleeping Beauty's permanently troubled porcelain mask.
Rafe was always going to be more focused on his work than anything else, yet Sam had never really pushed the man to spend time with his daughter. Growing up like he had... Well, it was just another thing that hindsight glossed over. Instead of focus on the legacy he had, the multimillionaire chased an obsession that very few could truly understand. But Samuel did. Prestige and glory on the line, that icy bastard had learned of Avery and the possibility that there was a very real cache of loot just waiting to be had, all because a scared kid from the streets was so hot to prove himself.
Had Sam only listened to his little brother's misgivings and never trusted Rafe to get them into Burn's cell in Panama, none of this would be happening now. Beating to death the horse that was 'what if', Daniella might never have fallen in with undeserving pustules if her father was still in her life.
For lack of a better word, after assuming the worst thing she had ever done was petty theft or skipping a single curfew by a small window, the ex-con was impressed with the heiress. Awarding a six point five for imagination and solid eight for execution, he was strangely proud of the girl for showing some initiative. Envisioning a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed schoolgirl, the heiress had already been having an affair with at least one of her educators long before she had ever heard the name 'Drake'.
Originally taking the goateed man to be a stalker when he saw his picture among the surveillance the Orange Tiger had gathered, the grizzled gentleman felt just the smallest pang of something when he connected the dots. Photographs showing a rather good-looking snake oil salesman with a gullible girl that would swallow the pitch with a smile, the name she let slip that afternoon had meant nothing at the time, but now that there was space to think a little more clearly... Well, it was another instance of one plus one equals two. From how it sounded, it seemed to be a bit of a sore spot for her, yet there was no certainty that things were definitively over between the pair.
Which was... Dismissive about the topic, the heart-breaker wanted to say that it was fine. They weren't going steady or any high school bullshit like that, and the status quo dictated that the minute the next shiny new toy came around, he himself would probably have forgotten all about Daniella Adler. Barely worried that she would pick some other yutz over the real prize, she was free to go blow whomever her little heart desired.
Just so long as she makes the right choice.
Prior to this latest hiccup, it had been vaguely hinted at that Daddy dearest didn't exactly have the cleanest or kindest of exits. Tequila-fueled fire burning through her veins and warming her cheeks in the dark, the young woman's main coping mechanism had been to turn to the bottle. Surviving through hell and back, so far as Sam was concerned she had more than proven that she was old enough to start making her own mistakes.
And if anyone knew a thing or two about mistakes, it was Sam.
Recently, the brunette had added a few more tallies for the books. Seriously, what had he been thinking, letting her carry on like that? Whatever this massive hangover shaped into, Dells never would have felt the need to drink herself into a stupor if he had just thought to share the burden. Or better yet, if only he had been more honest with her, she might not have felt the need to drink in the first place. She was a small enough thing, and liquor was proven to go through women faster than men, so it was probably a small miracle that she wasn't in an actual coma.
"I hate what you did," neither able to breathe by that point, despite the tempo breaking to become erratic, there was something behind her eyes, a raw desperation to stay with him through to the end, "and I hate what you make me feel."
What did he make her feel, precisely?
Giving a sample of what to expect in the future, there had been no plan beyond the moment. Pressing her fingers into the mark to make sure it would stand out later, it couldn't have been any more obvious that she craved the same. Moaning out his name just for him, with that single syllable she was begging to be his, yielding to something that she might not have fully understood the repercussions of.
Desire dripping like honey from her tongue, Dells said everything that needed to be said, "I need you."
Kissing him deeper and more recklessly than she had before, it had been the cute young thing that brought his hand up along her leg, dragging it gradually to her knee. As a decent, upstanding guy, he'd been inclined to ask if she was sure. Her answer had been to hike up the heavy pinkish fabric of her skirt, guiding his every touch along the way. Devious as any devil to sit a man's shoulder, her lips quirked coyly and she whispered one final assurance. "I need this."
Naughty little girl. So eager to please, to taste every last flavor on the shelf before committing to a course. Dells had seemed quite pleased by the selection in the store, but the question remained if she would be a return customer. It seemed plausible, given how well the heiress had taken to this afternoon's cherry whiskey sorbet.
More sentimental than he let show, the brunette could also see a fairly legitimate reason that the girl might never return to the shop. Daniella needed him, and if he were to be completely honest with himself, Sam wasn't convinced he could help her. Not the way she needed him to. Obviously he knew enough to get the girl through her hangover, but beyond that?
By the Church's count, Samuel Drake had committed a number of sins that would see his immortal soul damned to hell for an eternity. Sacrilege and simony just a part of the job, apart from the profane use of the Lord's name in vain, blasphemy, and heresy, there was also his chronic failure to attend Mass, although that all boiled down to apostasy. Bleeding outside of faith, there were other crimes as well, including but not limited to: encouragement of another's vices or grave sins, cheating, envy, lying, extreme anger, hatred, scandal, perjury, and endangerment of human life or safety.
Getting back around to the point by the longest possible route, while one wasn't automatically doomed to become their parent(s), if Sam was the best example Daniella had, the girl was as good as screwed.
[Meanwhile, In A Mini-Theater To The Left, To The Left]
Inside the trusty vehicle, all eyes were fixed on the pair hogging center stage. Easily the nosiest of the group, Cassie and her dark-haired mentor made no attempt whatsoever to hide their open oggling. More discreet by nature, the now-caffeinated former mercenary had the decency to pretend that she was still on the phone. In truth Wyatt had gone offline a long while ago, but a small part of her couldn't help but hope that he might call back.
Window to the outside world as plain as they came, while he was without with the rest, Nathan had a more personal stake than the others. On the fence about what his brother would do going forward, Nate grinned that goofy grin of his when he saw Sam leading the heiress out of the hotel. Catching on, Chloe smiled a small smile at her ex before turning her attention back to the players. Daniella, Dells, Ella, Ellie, whatever her name was today, this boded well.
Then came the look of unbridled joy as she spun around in the middle of the otherwise empty parking lot. For just a moment there was a wide beam on the heiress' face that fully met her eyes, almost as if some gigantic weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Tilting her head to the side and observing with honeyed hazel eyes, Nadine could hardly blame the caged bird for wanting to enjoy this first taste of freedom. Even Cassie noted that there was a certain kind of bliss in the young girl's eyes.
Heaven help her if Sam ever got around to showing her his bike. Still, Nathan was happy so long as his big brother was.
Quick as an itchy trigger-finger on the battlefield, something broke down and there was a sudden shift that found the young woman just standing there blankly in the midst of a downpour. Dazed and confused by the look of her, Daniella's first reaction had been to turn to Sam. From the looks of it, there had been some short dialogue said by the lead actress, however as they were lacking proper audio to the show, each of the passengers had concocted their own version of events.
Ever the practical one of the group, Nadine's version was probably the closest to the truth. It helped that she looked at the known facts and had built the scene up from previously known behavior. "What are we doing here?", her version of the heiress inquired.
Situation with their unexpected guest one that she was still on the fence about (although if Ella thought she was going to take her uncle away, she had another thing coming), Cassie foresaw the would-be thief calling an end to things. "Please," sounded like just the thing Ella would start with, "just let me go. I can make all of this go away, but I have to go it alone. Just do us all a favor and forget about me." Though the monologue was bordering on the heroic, the ending was grim at best.
"Hey, I was doing just fine before I met you, I wake up in the morning and I wonder why everything's the same as it was. I'm not loving you, the way I wanted to. I'm in love with you, but the vibe is wrong. Miracles don't happen here. The world will try to tear us apart, but I just can't fight this feeling anymore." Maybe a tad ripped from the lyrics, but Chloe shipped it.
Balanced some place between his daughter and the woman that had once thrown him out of a much larger window than the one they were huddled around now, Nathan's take at least seemed realistic. "You rescued me from my mother, but I can't... I just can't."
So help her if she broke Sam's heart.
Promptly attempting to book it for cover, the heiress completely ate shit, crashing hard on her side. Almost as quick, the leading man was right there, tending swiftly to the klutz before she drowned in ankle-deep water. Crazy as it was, that kind of thing could happen. Chloe swore that she knew a guy that had narrowly avoided said fate, however as Chloe was the source of this information, it was best taken with a grain of salt.
Curtains swaying back and forth as the clouds drifted along the murky horizon, Nate spared only a moment to tell everyone to wait a minute before opening his car door. Content enough with being dry, Cassie sighed at the command and the two in the backseat could have laughed - them, go out there? Ha!
Smart enough to bring his keys with him - not that anyone in the car would dream of locking Nate out in the rain for a laugh - the silvered pup ripped out of the SUV and jogged the short distance to his kin. Close enough to be heard just slamming the door, the younger Drake brother came in at a curve, inadvertently witnessing an entirely different angle from the rest of the crowd.
In that brief instant, one of the single most startling shades of blue to be seen in the wild had to question what it was he just saw. It looked like Sam had just had his hand up by Daniella's face, the pull away what caught the younger brother's eye. But that couldn't have been right, because what possible reason could he have had for such a gesture? Sure, she was probably covered in filth, but when had a little dirt been a bad thing?
Acting as if everything was fine and dandy, Nate casually gestured to the two routes that laid before his big brother. "You two coming or going?" Whichever the case was, Daniella was reportedly heavy enough that his brother could use the assist.
Author's Note:
This. Chapter.
Would you believe it was almost an entirely different beast, written as a three-parter? Honestly I'm still hoping to incorporate that idea into this story at some point, as I really liked it. Alas, it was not to be at that juncture - thanks entirely to Dells getting shnockered. So if anyone was wondering why it took so long between chapters, it's because I wrote the outline for two full chapters and the beginning gist of the third before having to admit that Dells being in her current condition wouldn't work with what I had planed. Back to the drawing board, somehow the intro had evolved and ran away into what it is now. Then, I had to question where it was going to go from there. Thankfully the answer finally came to me, but by that time I was also grappling with Sam's half of the chapter. What you see here is a largely edited, re-arranged, somewhat shortened version. Much as I liked certain bits that I wrote, it just wasn't sounding like Sam. This, I think, comes a lot closer. To be fair, I haven't really interacted with the character much recently (unless you count watching Retro Replay), so I had to brush up and watch some videos on Youtube (oh noes, the torture! *total sarcasm* ;) ). Hopefully all the work was worth it!
I think it was. This is much closer to Sam as a character, and it doesn't feel completely like a recap chapter, which was perhaps my biggest struggle. It feels like there's actually a small bit of forward progression. Or maybe that's just me? Again, reading a story and writing it are entirely different experiences.
Also, all that giraffe/animal stuff was written back when I was going to have this chapter have some soft-boiled 'The Last of Us' easter eggs. Including the chapter title, which changed from 'Facets of Us' to 'Sam and Ellie' to what it is now. No references, this title just feels right, more personal, like it has a certain kind of weight. Ironic, given I'd only ever seen that game as a playthrough on Youtube. It's on my to play/buy list.
Also also, I don't want to paint pictures over what you might already done, but personally when Dells falls, I see Lee slipping in that pool of blood in Clementine's house, all the way back in the very first episode.
Just in case anyone was wondering, the songs used in Chloe's story are: "Closer", by The Chainsmokers (feat. Halsey), "End of the World", by Skeeter Davis, "Love Lockdown", by Kanye West (although I'm partial to the Glass Animals cover), "Miracles", by Stone Sour, "Never Tear Us Apart", by INXS (pick your cover, there are more than enough), and last but not least, "Can't Fight This Feeling", by REO Speedwagon. To be honest, besides the last two, they were the first few songs I heard, but they do kinda fit, in a way.