For disclaimer go back to chapter 1
back again n_n I had to trade my no-doze for yes-doze, and sleep is verrrry good X3
Did her attitude suprise you? I kinda had fun writing through a mean P.O.V. Well, once again, no lovey dovey stuff in this chapter, but I can promise some tears and a few explosions XD
004: You're evil _ *is tied to a chair*
Yfale: I hate you! *grabs a baseball bat*
Leafy: O_O Squeeeee! *runs away*
_ Is she gone? @_@;; I'd better finish this before I'm the one that dies. *sees Yfael coming* Ahhhh! Gotta go! *zips off to go find a rock to hide under*
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Several hours had passed, the only thing cutting through the heavy silence was the radio, soft jazz music flowed through the speakers, providining a comforting atmosphere through the forboding silence. She watched him through the corner of her eye, his thumbs gently tapping on the steering wheel in time to the music, determined to enjoy himself regardless of the circumstances. It had been several miles since they had last passed an exit and he frowned, it was nearly eight o'clock, neither of them had had any dinner yet, and he needed to find a place to sleep, if he drove through the night he'd fall asleep behind the wheel, a yawn confirming that to himself. Her eyes widened as they pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of a small, fairly clean motel. "Don't worry, I'm getting us seperate rooms." He said coldly, noting her expression. Her eyes narrowed as she turned at glared at him, dammed if she would break her vow to him from earlier.
He walked into the office, leaving her in the car to wait, "I'd like two rooms just for the night." He said walking over to a man behind the counter, the man looked over at him half heartedly, "Can't do that son, got a convention goin' on, I'm almost fullup. But I can offer you a single room with double beds." He said with a shrug, then grinned, showing off half rotted teeth. Albert steeled himself, "Hold on for a moment, I'll be right back." He said backing out of the door.
"You're not going to believe me when I tell you this, but they only have one available room that they can put two beds into." He said with a sigh, steeling himself for the verbal abuse he expected to explode from her at any moment. She sighed, gritting her teeth so hard she thought they were going to crack, "Its...not...your...fault." She said, her words forced, trying not to yell at him just yet. "Is there anywhere else we can go?" She asked, looking at him, her eyes cold and steely, but suprisingly not accusing. He regretfully shook his head, "The nearest town is an hour away." He said looking over in the direction of it. An irritated sigh escaped her. "Fine, we sleep here tonight then, but I warn you now, if you do anything, I'm blasting you the rest of the way home." She said, the threat clear in her eyes. A suprised glance from him to her let her know he was paying attention as he nodded. "Ok, I'll go pay and I'll be back." He said leaving again and dissappearing into the building.
A little while later they found themselves searching for dinner, the only things available were a small variety of fast food chains. They both snorted at the thought and looked at each other accusingly as though the other had timed the snort on purpose. Albert finally gave up and pulled into the parking lot of the cleaner building, parking the car and going inside, finding the place completely devoid of customers. Yfael came over to his side as he stood at the counter eyeing the menue, speculation clearly readable on his features. A tiny girl ran up from the back, drying her hands on her pants. "Hi, can I help you?" She asked brightly, a grin on her face. He sighed and ordered a sandwich that looked decent and looked down at Yfael, motioning for her to order as well. She ordered a different sandwich purposely, since the one he had gotten was the one she wanted. As he paid she reached for her cup, taking it over to the fountain and filling it to the top, placing a lid over it and sliding into a booth near the counter. "Is she your girlfriend?" The cashier asked, trying to make friendly conversation. He heard an angry snort and sputter behind him and forced back a chuckle, "No, I'm just taking her home." He said with a bemused grin. "Oh, I was just about to comment on what a cute couple you made." She said with a shrug as she placed their food on the tray. The soda she had made the mistake of sipping while the girl talked quickly found its way int her lungs and out her nose, the carbonated liquid burning the delicate tissues of her nasal cavity as she struggled for breath, her lungs deciding that they didn't appreciate the dousing.
He filled his cup, watching her cough and snort up a storm, seeing that, he reached for more napkins and sat down across from her in the booth, handing the pile to her. She eyed him almost gratefully and blew her nose, expeling most of the burning liquid, leaving her free to clear her lungs. After a fit of coughing, she could breathe easily and set into her sandwich, suprised that it was rather good, for where they were. "You ok now?" he asked, feeling safe enough to speak since she had calmed down, "Yeah." She said and looked out across the small restraunt, noticing the barren neatness of it, her cold gaze softening when her eyes landed on an outdoor playset, the kind she had loved when she was little. He followed her gaze curiously, seeing the playset as well and understanding instantly. "Ready to go?" He asked crumbling the wrapper from his sandwich, startling her out of her memory, "Wha? Oh, yes." She said as she remembered who she was with and walked out to the car, waiting for him there as he threw away their trash.
"Time to get some sleep." He said to himself as he pulled the key to their room out of his pocket and stuck it into the door, turning the knob at the same time. "This has to be a mistake." He said, his jaw dropping, instead of two single beds, there was one double bed in the room. "You've got to be kidding!" She said peering under his arm, then turned and started walking toward the office, Albert following on her heels. "There has to be a mistake, we paid for a room with two single beds, not one double bed." She said, plainly irritated, but being nicer to that idiot than she was to Albert. "Nope, sorry missy, I got one double bed here." He said tapping on his clip board. "And its too late to change it, the staff's already gone." He drawled, attitude and accent beginning to irritate her. "Fine." She said and stormed out of the office, Albert gave the man a cold glare, "I'm not going to be held responsible for any damage that comes to that room." He said shaking his head firmly and walking out after her, running to catch up. "We're both adults, we can find a solution." He said optimistically, as he looked around the room, seeing only the bed, a night stand, and the bathroom sink. "We can share the bed. but I warn you, if I wake up and see a single part of your body past the dividing line, I will kill you while you're sleeping." She said glaring at him, frustration at this situation making her abnormally irate. "I agree, now good night." He said removing his coat, gloves and shoes, sliding into bed beside her, adjusting his pillow and closing his eyes.
She sat on the edge of the bed, side awake, though she was sure that Albert was already fast asleep. On an inspection of the nightstand she found a pad of hotel paper and a pen, but nothing else, she made herself comfortable and began to list things that she had needed to do once she got home.
1. Polish the insturments
2. Call work
3. Buy another door lock
4. Finish concherto
5. Find a way to repay Albert
She wrote the last one as an afterthought, he had fought the idea of taking her home, but he had been nothing but nice to her, though she had been anything but nice in return. "What's wrong with me?" She whispered aloud, rubbing a hand across her forehead. "You're not asleep." Albert said, a hint of laughter in his voice, "Now turn off that light and get some rest, that's an order." A wide grin split his face in half, already imagining the expression of rage on her face. She punched him in the sjoulder, not anywhere near as had as she would have liked, but it would do well enough for the time being. "Humph." She snorted and turned of the light, tossing the noetpad on the nightstand, forgetting to rip off the top sheet in her anger. Sleep soon overtook her, bringing with it the nightmares of her days in the lab, and dreams of being back onstage again.
Sometime in the middle of the night Albert became aware of a strange weight and warmth on if chest, looking down he saw her snuggled against his, her head restig on his shoulder. "You're a cuddler." He whispered, then patted her head gently and fell back asleep, feeling oddly warm inside from the encounter with her unguarded self.
Sunlight peirced the cheap curtains, falling across their faces in a clear edged band of light, her eyes opened, feeling like they were burning out of her skull from the light, she rolled over, burrying her nose in Albert's shirt, taking a deep sigh, feeling as though all were right with the world as her eyes closed. 'Wait a minute.' Her conscioness kicked in and her eyes snapped open, realizing where she was and who she was with, she quickly scooted across the bed, finding it curious that there was so much bed left to scoot on. She stood and went to the foot of the bed, finding the answer to that, he was perched on the very edge of the bed, no doubt by her and her bed hogging tendancies.
"I'll let him sleep, but a shower sounds great." She whispered to herself and walked across the room to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind herself. He awoke a short time later, hearing the sound of running water and looking up to see that she was no longer in the bed beside him. The notepad was still sitting on the night stand, out in the open, so he peered over at it, curious as to what she had been writing last night. He was reading number five when the water shut off, the pad was quickly pushed back into place as he laced his fingers behind his head, laying back down, trying to look at though he hadn't yet moved from bed. The door opened quietly and she emerged, once again wearing nothing but a towel, she looked over toward the bed and saw him, still laying there, but with his eyes wide open. "Morning." He called cheerfully, seeing her out of the corner of his eye. She grimaced and tightened her grip on the towel, then walked over to the nightstand, retrieving the top sheet from the pad, and marching back into the bathroom. He chuckled at her, then began to wonder what she had meant when she wrote 'Find a way to repay Albert.'
She emerged again a short time later, dressed and mostly dry, hacking away at knots in her hair with a cheap plastic comb that she had found in the courtesy basket. He was fairly amused to see that she was by far angrier with her hair than she had ever been at him. A frustrated growl escaped her as she gave up and dropped the comb on the bed. "Would you like help?" He offered, able to see and deal with the knot better than she could, she shot him a a supicious glare, then her shoulders fell as she looked away and picked up the comb. "Please." She said in a barely audible tone handing the comb to him as she scooted back on the bed, within easy reaching distance. He sat up and worked at the knot patiently, freeing it easily within a few minutes, then set into another snarl, freeing it as well, then running the comb through her hair, making sure there were no more tangles for her to deal with. He reached around her, setting the comb back into her hands, seeing her eyes blissfully closed until she felt the touch of the comb on her hand, a jolt of suprise shot through her as she quickly recovered from the euphoria that hair brushing brought. She looked back to see him standing in front of the sink using water to pat his hair back down into place, a sigh escaped her as she reached down and slipped her feet back into her shoes, then grabbed her coat, slipping it back on, throwing her hair over her shoulder to free it.
"Ready to go?" He asked turning around and seeing her sitting on the bed looking bored. Her head shot up, not liking how he keep startling her in the moments when she let her guard down, she gave him a still nod in reply and moved to walk out the door and not even getting a foot outside of it before throwing it closed again and huddling on the bed looking like she'd been electrocuted. An eyebrow shot up his forehead as he wondered what she had jumped at, she looked over at him, her eyes still round with suprise, "Cold, really, really, cold." She whimpered, her hatred for the cold overcoming her defensiveness toward him. He swallowed the laughter that was threatening to explode from him, instead looking down and putting on his shoes, then slipping into his coat and pulling on his gloves. "The heater in my car works very well." He said hiding his grin from her as he pulled his keys out of his pocket and walked over to the door. "Come on." He said warmly as he opened the door and walked outside, she scooted after him, hiding her hands and face in her coat, the only discernable feature her eyes. He opened the door for her and she hopped in quickly as he closed it and went around to his door, opening it and getting in, "This will just take a minute, I have to wait for the engine to warm up." He said turning the car on, flicking on the heater and redirecting the air vents to the floor so he'd know when warm air started coming out.
They made a quick stop at the office, returning the key to their room and then headed back to the interstate, only a few other drivers besides themselves on the road. Her head and arms returned after a little while, though occasional bouts of quivering remained, she stared out the window in fascination, looking at the fences along the interstate lined with some kind of odd looking shiny grey plastic. "What's all that stuff on the fences?" She asked looking over at him, wondering if she was hallucenating it. He looked over and started laughing, "Icicles, why?" He asked with a grin, her eyes rounded, and she looked out the window again, "I've never seen icicles before, I came here from a place where forty five above zero was considered 'do no leave your house' cold." She said, her eyes glazing over at the memory of home.
She remained quiet for a few more hours, just staring straight ahead, blinking occasionally. "Can I ask what's bothering you?" He said breaking the stillness. She blinked and turned away, "Its nothing." She hissed, looking out the window. His hopes that she might finally be treating him like a friend instead of an enemy fell with a resounding thud in his gut, he sighed and turned back to the road, leaving her alone with her thoughts. A blindingly painful memory played itself out behind her eyes, ten years ago, while she still lived with her parents, an argument about where she would go to college at and what she would do for the rest of her life had started again. "You're not going to make it even if you get into a music program, music is nothing!" Her father raged, round face turning a bright shade of red, grey mustache and eyebrows standing out clearly. "Your father is right, there is no future in music, go become a teacher or something safe." Her mother spoke up, the little woman pleading with her. "No! How many times have I got to tell you? I want to become a professional musician, I'm the best in my whole school, I'm the best in the youth orchestra, I can make it!" She yelled back at them, her throat closing in on her at the fact that they weren't listening to her at all. "I don't care! You're going to go to Brown University and become doctor!" He father roared, then turned his back to her. "No I'm not! This is my life, not yours, and I'm going to live it how I want to!" She screamed at him and ran from the room, jumping into her car and driving away before they could stop her.
She had driven to a park across town and sat on the swingset, crying her eyes out until she was drained both physically and emotionally. Long hours passed and still she sat, the sky above fading from bright blue to the heavy ink of night. She finally stood, her legs carrying her back to her car, and from there, home. Her house was oddly dark, no lights were on all throught the house, the telephone was already ringing insanely and she rushed to answer it, "Hello?" She said, curious to know who it was, "This is the Claifornia Highway Patroll mam, are you a relite of a mister Daniel Ikarien and Olivia Ikarien?" The softed voiced officer drawled, "Yes, what happened to them? are they okay?" She asked, panic creeping into her heart. "They were involved in a car accident about two hours ago, they both died on impact, I'm sorry." He said, practiced tone sounding empty and hollow. A numbness coursed through her veins, knowing in her heart that the officer wasn't lying. Funeral services were scheduled a week later, relatives she didn't even know she had came crawling out from the woodwork, eager to get their hands on any peice of the property. "Everything they have in their will is signed over to you." Her father's lawyer said to her, perched behind his desk, "You may do whatever you like with the property, but your father and mother's bank accounts need to be transferred to your name before the week is out, would you like to get that taken care of now?" He asked reaching for a pile of documents, she noded mutely and signed where he instructed, the motion becoming automatic until they last sheet of paper had been signed, "Congratulations, consider yourself the youngest millionaire in the country." He said giving her a hug, the man had been more like a family friend than a hired protector of their investments.
Two weeks later the house had been sold and most of the furniture auctioned off, Yfael rented a large truck and loaded it with everything she had wanted to keep with her, then she called her relatives and let them have at the rest of the house until it remained as an empty shell, devoid of anything she knew from her childhood growing up in it. She drove across the country and both earned and bought her way into the Jiuliard School of music, putting her sorrows behind her and living on music alone. While there, she had met a young man, a dancer, that she had fallen for hard, he paid her some attention, only because she was pretty, but he eventually broke her heart like all the other men in her life. Another accident pulled her out of her depressing slump, giving her a kick in the butt that told her to wake up, there's more to live than heart break. After that she quickly became the star of the music section, graduating with top honors and job offers across the country. "I did things my way." She had said then, not realizing that she had said it now as well. "What was that?" Albert asked looking over at her oddly. She shook her head, ridding herself of the memory, a small tear escaping her eye, "Nothing." She mumbled, brushing the tear away, but he wasn't fooled, he could see the pain in her eyes as clearly as he could see his hand infront of his face.
"Ready for lunch?" Albert asked glancing back over at her, she nodded slowly, still staring out the window, he started looking for an exit ramp and pulled off a little while later, pulling into a restaurant. It had warmed up temperature wise and she walked along quietly, the air playing in her hair as she stared at the trees, all the colors of the foliage capturing her attention. He looked over and saw her stand there, hair streaming around her, cheeks flushed from the cold, standing out from the colorful trees, leaving quite an impression upon the eyes. "Come on." He said gently, breaking the picture, but keeping the memory of it. She looked over at him, closing her eyes and taking a deep sigh of the fresh air, then followed him into the homey little restaurant.
After an oddly quiet lunch, they were back on the road again, nearly home. "Where exactly do you live?" He asked as they crossed the Virginia state line, "A few miles outside of Krueger, almost in the mountains." She said distantly, eyes still not leaving the window. "Huh, that's closer than I had thought, you live near me." The relief clear in his voice at not having to drive further than he thought. She nodded, not paying any attention, feeling saddened that the ride was nearly over, but also a sense of relief that she no longer had to worry about keeping her defences up.
The scene outside the window began to grow more and more familiar as they approached the city, then drove through it. Buildings and stores flashing by, each of them going about the same as always, this gentle city a place that she thought she would never see again. He continued to drive, watching his apartment through his rear view mirror, knowing that he was home and feeling good about it. The city quickly gave way to trees, lining up by the road, looking like giant wooden sentinels, as they stood their unmoving. "There is a road to the right over here, you need to turn on it." She said tonelessly, having mixed emotions about going home. He found the turn and made it, waiting for the next set of directions. The trees ended abruptly, leaving only the burned and charred corpses of trees half standing, arm reaching pleadingly to the sky. Her mouth fell open, "Oh no..." She gasped, unable to see the roof of her house when she should have been able to see it clearly by then. "Keep going." She demanded, the frightened look in her eyes telling him all he needed to know. The car quickly climbed the rest of the charcoal laden trail, coming upon the burned remains of what had once been a house. She jumped out of the car even before it had reached a full stop, leaving her door wide open. He put the car in park and ran in after her, worrying about what might be waiting in the shadows for her.
He found her standing over the burned remains of what had once been a violin case, only the metal hardware and the violin's strings remained. She fell to her knees in the ashes, her back to him, not realizing that he was still there. His heart felt as though someone was trying to peirce it with a spoon when he heard her sobs and saw her shoulders quaking uncontrollably. He walked over quietly and set a hand on her shoulder, kneeling beside her, she pushed him away, "Your job is done here, you can leave." She said coldly, her throat closing in on itself. "It wasn't a job, it was a favor to a friend in need, and I'm still going to help that friend if she'd accept it." He said softly, knowing how much it hurt to return home and find it gone, he slid an arm around her shoulders and she leaned in to him, crying into his shirt, letting long bottled tears flow into the ash covered ground...
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I think I'll stop there for this chapter, that way I still have more ammo to play with next chapeter, and I did promise two explosions, they were emotional explosions, but explosions none the less. Anyone who can guess why, what it was in reference to and what movie the chapter title is from gets a special giftie from me n_~ one entry per person and all three questions must be right X3
Yfael:You're calling me an onion? I KILL YOU NOW! *trades baseball for bazooka*
Leafy: O_O;;; gotta go!! *starts running for the nearest bomb shelter*
Still kidnapped and chair bound 004: e_e;;;
back again n_n I had to trade my no-doze for yes-doze, and sleep is verrrry good X3
Did her attitude suprise you? I kinda had fun writing through a mean P.O.V. Well, once again, no lovey dovey stuff in this chapter, but I can promise some tears and a few explosions XD
004: You're evil _ *is tied to a chair*
Yfale: I hate you! *grabs a baseball bat*
Leafy: O_O Squeeeee! *runs away*
_ Is she gone? @_@;; I'd better finish this before I'm the one that dies. *sees Yfael coming* Ahhhh! Gotta go! *zips off to go find a rock to hide under*
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Several hours had passed, the only thing cutting through the heavy silence was the radio, soft jazz music flowed through the speakers, providining a comforting atmosphere through the forboding silence. She watched him through the corner of her eye, his thumbs gently tapping on the steering wheel in time to the music, determined to enjoy himself regardless of the circumstances. It had been several miles since they had last passed an exit and he frowned, it was nearly eight o'clock, neither of them had had any dinner yet, and he needed to find a place to sleep, if he drove through the night he'd fall asleep behind the wheel, a yawn confirming that to himself. Her eyes widened as they pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of a small, fairly clean motel. "Don't worry, I'm getting us seperate rooms." He said coldly, noting her expression. Her eyes narrowed as she turned at glared at him, dammed if she would break her vow to him from earlier.
He walked into the office, leaving her in the car to wait, "I'd like two rooms just for the night." He said walking over to a man behind the counter, the man looked over at him half heartedly, "Can't do that son, got a convention goin' on, I'm almost fullup. But I can offer you a single room with double beds." He said with a shrug, then grinned, showing off half rotted teeth. Albert steeled himself, "Hold on for a moment, I'll be right back." He said backing out of the door.
"You're not going to believe me when I tell you this, but they only have one available room that they can put two beds into." He said with a sigh, steeling himself for the verbal abuse he expected to explode from her at any moment. She sighed, gritting her teeth so hard she thought they were going to crack, "Its...not...your...fault." She said, her words forced, trying not to yell at him just yet. "Is there anywhere else we can go?" She asked, looking at him, her eyes cold and steely, but suprisingly not accusing. He regretfully shook his head, "The nearest town is an hour away." He said looking over in the direction of it. An irritated sigh escaped her. "Fine, we sleep here tonight then, but I warn you now, if you do anything, I'm blasting you the rest of the way home." She said, the threat clear in her eyes. A suprised glance from him to her let her know he was paying attention as he nodded. "Ok, I'll go pay and I'll be back." He said leaving again and dissappearing into the building.
A little while later they found themselves searching for dinner, the only things available were a small variety of fast food chains. They both snorted at the thought and looked at each other accusingly as though the other had timed the snort on purpose. Albert finally gave up and pulled into the parking lot of the cleaner building, parking the car and going inside, finding the place completely devoid of customers. Yfael came over to his side as he stood at the counter eyeing the menue, speculation clearly readable on his features. A tiny girl ran up from the back, drying her hands on her pants. "Hi, can I help you?" She asked brightly, a grin on her face. He sighed and ordered a sandwich that looked decent and looked down at Yfael, motioning for her to order as well. She ordered a different sandwich purposely, since the one he had gotten was the one she wanted. As he paid she reached for her cup, taking it over to the fountain and filling it to the top, placing a lid over it and sliding into a booth near the counter. "Is she your girlfriend?" The cashier asked, trying to make friendly conversation. He heard an angry snort and sputter behind him and forced back a chuckle, "No, I'm just taking her home." He said with a bemused grin. "Oh, I was just about to comment on what a cute couple you made." She said with a shrug as she placed their food on the tray. The soda she had made the mistake of sipping while the girl talked quickly found its way int her lungs and out her nose, the carbonated liquid burning the delicate tissues of her nasal cavity as she struggled for breath, her lungs deciding that they didn't appreciate the dousing.
He filled his cup, watching her cough and snort up a storm, seeing that, he reached for more napkins and sat down across from her in the booth, handing the pile to her. She eyed him almost gratefully and blew her nose, expeling most of the burning liquid, leaving her free to clear her lungs. After a fit of coughing, she could breathe easily and set into her sandwich, suprised that it was rather good, for where they were. "You ok now?" he asked, feeling safe enough to speak since she had calmed down, "Yeah." She said and looked out across the small restraunt, noticing the barren neatness of it, her cold gaze softening when her eyes landed on an outdoor playset, the kind she had loved when she was little. He followed her gaze curiously, seeing the playset as well and understanding instantly. "Ready to go?" He asked crumbling the wrapper from his sandwich, startling her out of her memory, "Wha? Oh, yes." She said as she remembered who she was with and walked out to the car, waiting for him there as he threw away their trash.
"Time to get some sleep." He said to himself as he pulled the key to their room out of his pocket and stuck it into the door, turning the knob at the same time. "This has to be a mistake." He said, his jaw dropping, instead of two single beds, there was one double bed in the room. "You've got to be kidding!" She said peering under his arm, then turned and started walking toward the office, Albert following on her heels. "There has to be a mistake, we paid for a room with two single beds, not one double bed." She said, plainly irritated, but being nicer to that idiot than she was to Albert. "Nope, sorry missy, I got one double bed here." He said tapping on his clip board. "And its too late to change it, the staff's already gone." He drawled, attitude and accent beginning to irritate her. "Fine." She said and stormed out of the office, Albert gave the man a cold glare, "I'm not going to be held responsible for any damage that comes to that room." He said shaking his head firmly and walking out after her, running to catch up. "We're both adults, we can find a solution." He said optimistically, as he looked around the room, seeing only the bed, a night stand, and the bathroom sink. "We can share the bed. but I warn you, if I wake up and see a single part of your body past the dividing line, I will kill you while you're sleeping." She said glaring at him, frustration at this situation making her abnormally irate. "I agree, now good night." He said removing his coat, gloves and shoes, sliding into bed beside her, adjusting his pillow and closing his eyes.
She sat on the edge of the bed, side awake, though she was sure that Albert was already fast asleep. On an inspection of the nightstand she found a pad of hotel paper and a pen, but nothing else, she made herself comfortable and began to list things that she had needed to do once she got home.
1. Polish the insturments
2. Call work
3. Buy another door lock
4. Finish concherto
5. Find a way to repay Albert
She wrote the last one as an afterthought, he had fought the idea of taking her home, but he had been nothing but nice to her, though she had been anything but nice in return. "What's wrong with me?" She whispered aloud, rubbing a hand across her forehead. "You're not asleep." Albert said, a hint of laughter in his voice, "Now turn off that light and get some rest, that's an order." A wide grin split his face in half, already imagining the expression of rage on her face. She punched him in the sjoulder, not anywhere near as had as she would have liked, but it would do well enough for the time being. "Humph." She snorted and turned of the light, tossing the noetpad on the nightstand, forgetting to rip off the top sheet in her anger. Sleep soon overtook her, bringing with it the nightmares of her days in the lab, and dreams of being back onstage again.
Sometime in the middle of the night Albert became aware of a strange weight and warmth on if chest, looking down he saw her snuggled against his, her head restig on his shoulder. "You're a cuddler." He whispered, then patted her head gently and fell back asleep, feeling oddly warm inside from the encounter with her unguarded self.
Sunlight peirced the cheap curtains, falling across their faces in a clear edged band of light, her eyes opened, feeling like they were burning out of her skull from the light, she rolled over, burrying her nose in Albert's shirt, taking a deep sigh, feeling as though all were right with the world as her eyes closed. 'Wait a minute.' Her conscioness kicked in and her eyes snapped open, realizing where she was and who she was with, she quickly scooted across the bed, finding it curious that there was so much bed left to scoot on. She stood and went to the foot of the bed, finding the answer to that, he was perched on the very edge of the bed, no doubt by her and her bed hogging tendancies.
"I'll let him sleep, but a shower sounds great." She whispered to herself and walked across the room to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind herself. He awoke a short time later, hearing the sound of running water and looking up to see that she was no longer in the bed beside him. The notepad was still sitting on the night stand, out in the open, so he peered over at it, curious as to what she had been writing last night. He was reading number five when the water shut off, the pad was quickly pushed back into place as he laced his fingers behind his head, laying back down, trying to look at though he hadn't yet moved from bed. The door opened quietly and she emerged, once again wearing nothing but a towel, she looked over toward the bed and saw him, still laying there, but with his eyes wide open. "Morning." He called cheerfully, seeing her out of the corner of his eye. She grimaced and tightened her grip on the towel, then walked over to the nightstand, retrieving the top sheet from the pad, and marching back into the bathroom. He chuckled at her, then began to wonder what she had meant when she wrote 'Find a way to repay Albert.'
She emerged again a short time later, dressed and mostly dry, hacking away at knots in her hair with a cheap plastic comb that she had found in the courtesy basket. He was fairly amused to see that she was by far angrier with her hair than she had ever been at him. A frustrated growl escaped her as she gave up and dropped the comb on the bed. "Would you like help?" He offered, able to see and deal with the knot better than she could, she shot him a a supicious glare, then her shoulders fell as she looked away and picked up the comb. "Please." She said in a barely audible tone handing the comb to him as she scooted back on the bed, within easy reaching distance. He sat up and worked at the knot patiently, freeing it easily within a few minutes, then set into another snarl, freeing it as well, then running the comb through her hair, making sure there were no more tangles for her to deal with. He reached around her, setting the comb back into her hands, seeing her eyes blissfully closed until she felt the touch of the comb on her hand, a jolt of suprise shot through her as she quickly recovered from the euphoria that hair brushing brought. She looked back to see him standing in front of the sink using water to pat his hair back down into place, a sigh escaped her as she reached down and slipped her feet back into her shoes, then grabbed her coat, slipping it back on, throwing her hair over her shoulder to free it.
"Ready to go?" He asked turning around and seeing her sitting on the bed looking bored. Her head shot up, not liking how he keep startling her in the moments when she let her guard down, she gave him a still nod in reply and moved to walk out the door and not even getting a foot outside of it before throwing it closed again and huddling on the bed looking like she'd been electrocuted. An eyebrow shot up his forehead as he wondered what she had jumped at, she looked over at him, her eyes still round with suprise, "Cold, really, really, cold." She whimpered, her hatred for the cold overcoming her defensiveness toward him. He swallowed the laughter that was threatening to explode from him, instead looking down and putting on his shoes, then slipping into his coat and pulling on his gloves. "The heater in my car works very well." He said hiding his grin from her as he pulled his keys out of his pocket and walked over to the door. "Come on." He said warmly as he opened the door and walked outside, she scooted after him, hiding her hands and face in her coat, the only discernable feature her eyes. He opened the door for her and she hopped in quickly as he closed it and went around to his door, opening it and getting in, "This will just take a minute, I have to wait for the engine to warm up." He said turning the car on, flicking on the heater and redirecting the air vents to the floor so he'd know when warm air started coming out.
They made a quick stop at the office, returning the key to their room and then headed back to the interstate, only a few other drivers besides themselves on the road. Her head and arms returned after a little while, though occasional bouts of quivering remained, she stared out the window in fascination, looking at the fences along the interstate lined with some kind of odd looking shiny grey plastic. "What's all that stuff on the fences?" She asked looking over at him, wondering if she was hallucenating it. He looked over and started laughing, "Icicles, why?" He asked with a grin, her eyes rounded, and she looked out the window again, "I've never seen icicles before, I came here from a place where forty five above zero was considered 'do no leave your house' cold." She said, her eyes glazing over at the memory of home.
She remained quiet for a few more hours, just staring straight ahead, blinking occasionally. "Can I ask what's bothering you?" He said breaking the stillness. She blinked and turned away, "Its nothing." She hissed, looking out the window. His hopes that she might finally be treating him like a friend instead of an enemy fell with a resounding thud in his gut, he sighed and turned back to the road, leaving her alone with her thoughts. A blindingly painful memory played itself out behind her eyes, ten years ago, while she still lived with her parents, an argument about where she would go to college at and what she would do for the rest of her life had started again. "You're not going to make it even if you get into a music program, music is nothing!" Her father raged, round face turning a bright shade of red, grey mustache and eyebrows standing out clearly. "Your father is right, there is no future in music, go become a teacher or something safe." Her mother spoke up, the little woman pleading with her. "No! How many times have I got to tell you? I want to become a professional musician, I'm the best in my whole school, I'm the best in the youth orchestra, I can make it!" She yelled back at them, her throat closing in on her at the fact that they weren't listening to her at all. "I don't care! You're going to go to Brown University and become doctor!" He father roared, then turned his back to her. "No I'm not! This is my life, not yours, and I'm going to live it how I want to!" She screamed at him and ran from the room, jumping into her car and driving away before they could stop her.
She had driven to a park across town and sat on the swingset, crying her eyes out until she was drained both physically and emotionally. Long hours passed and still she sat, the sky above fading from bright blue to the heavy ink of night. She finally stood, her legs carrying her back to her car, and from there, home. Her house was oddly dark, no lights were on all throught the house, the telephone was already ringing insanely and she rushed to answer it, "Hello?" She said, curious to know who it was, "This is the Claifornia Highway Patroll mam, are you a relite of a mister Daniel Ikarien and Olivia Ikarien?" The softed voiced officer drawled, "Yes, what happened to them? are they okay?" She asked, panic creeping into her heart. "They were involved in a car accident about two hours ago, they both died on impact, I'm sorry." He said, practiced tone sounding empty and hollow. A numbness coursed through her veins, knowing in her heart that the officer wasn't lying. Funeral services were scheduled a week later, relatives she didn't even know she had came crawling out from the woodwork, eager to get their hands on any peice of the property. "Everything they have in their will is signed over to you." Her father's lawyer said to her, perched behind his desk, "You may do whatever you like with the property, but your father and mother's bank accounts need to be transferred to your name before the week is out, would you like to get that taken care of now?" He asked reaching for a pile of documents, she noded mutely and signed where he instructed, the motion becoming automatic until they last sheet of paper had been signed, "Congratulations, consider yourself the youngest millionaire in the country." He said giving her a hug, the man had been more like a family friend than a hired protector of their investments.
Two weeks later the house had been sold and most of the furniture auctioned off, Yfael rented a large truck and loaded it with everything she had wanted to keep with her, then she called her relatives and let them have at the rest of the house until it remained as an empty shell, devoid of anything she knew from her childhood growing up in it. She drove across the country and both earned and bought her way into the Jiuliard School of music, putting her sorrows behind her and living on music alone. While there, she had met a young man, a dancer, that she had fallen for hard, he paid her some attention, only because she was pretty, but he eventually broke her heart like all the other men in her life. Another accident pulled her out of her depressing slump, giving her a kick in the butt that told her to wake up, there's more to live than heart break. After that she quickly became the star of the music section, graduating with top honors and job offers across the country. "I did things my way." She had said then, not realizing that she had said it now as well. "What was that?" Albert asked looking over at her oddly. She shook her head, ridding herself of the memory, a small tear escaping her eye, "Nothing." She mumbled, brushing the tear away, but he wasn't fooled, he could see the pain in her eyes as clearly as he could see his hand infront of his face.
"Ready for lunch?" Albert asked glancing back over at her, she nodded slowly, still staring out the window, he started looking for an exit ramp and pulled off a little while later, pulling into a restaurant. It had warmed up temperature wise and she walked along quietly, the air playing in her hair as she stared at the trees, all the colors of the foliage capturing her attention. He looked over and saw her stand there, hair streaming around her, cheeks flushed from the cold, standing out from the colorful trees, leaving quite an impression upon the eyes. "Come on." He said gently, breaking the picture, but keeping the memory of it. She looked over at him, closing her eyes and taking a deep sigh of the fresh air, then followed him into the homey little restaurant.
After an oddly quiet lunch, they were back on the road again, nearly home. "Where exactly do you live?" He asked as they crossed the Virginia state line, "A few miles outside of Krueger, almost in the mountains." She said distantly, eyes still not leaving the window. "Huh, that's closer than I had thought, you live near me." The relief clear in his voice at not having to drive further than he thought. She nodded, not paying any attention, feeling saddened that the ride was nearly over, but also a sense of relief that she no longer had to worry about keeping her defences up.
The scene outside the window began to grow more and more familiar as they approached the city, then drove through it. Buildings and stores flashing by, each of them going about the same as always, this gentle city a place that she thought she would never see again. He continued to drive, watching his apartment through his rear view mirror, knowing that he was home and feeling good about it. The city quickly gave way to trees, lining up by the road, looking like giant wooden sentinels, as they stood their unmoving. "There is a road to the right over here, you need to turn on it." She said tonelessly, having mixed emotions about going home. He found the turn and made it, waiting for the next set of directions. The trees ended abruptly, leaving only the burned and charred corpses of trees half standing, arm reaching pleadingly to the sky. Her mouth fell open, "Oh no..." She gasped, unable to see the roof of her house when she should have been able to see it clearly by then. "Keep going." She demanded, the frightened look in her eyes telling him all he needed to know. The car quickly climbed the rest of the charcoal laden trail, coming upon the burned remains of what had once been a house. She jumped out of the car even before it had reached a full stop, leaving her door wide open. He put the car in park and ran in after her, worrying about what might be waiting in the shadows for her.
He found her standing over the burned remains of what had once been a violin case, only the metal hardware and the violin's strings remained. She fell to her knees in the ashes, her back to him, not realizing that he was still there. His heart felt as though someone was trying to peirce it with a spoon when he heard her sobs and saw her shoulders quaking uncontrollably. He walked over quietly and set a hand on her shoulder, kneeling beside her, she pushed him away, "Your job is done here, you can leave." She said coldly, her throat closing in on itself. "It wasn't a job, it was a favor to a friend in need, and I'm still going to help that friend if she'd accept it." He said softly, knowing how much it hurt to return home and find it gone, he slid an arm around her shoulders and she leaned in to him, crying into his shirt, letting long bottled tears flow into the ash covered ground...
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I think I'll stop there for this chapter, that way I still have more ammo to play with next chapeter, and I did promise two explosions, they were emotional explosions, but explosions none the less. Anyone who can guess why, what it was in reference to and what movie the chapter title is from gets a special giftie from me n_~ one entry per person and all three questions must be right X3
Yfael:You're calling me an onion? I KILL YOU NOW! *trades baseball for bazooka*
Leafy: O_O;;; gotta go!! *starts running for the nearest bomb shelter*
Still kidnapped and chair bound 004: e_e;;;
