Chapter VIII: Somewhere
By EclipseKlutz
"What do you mean 'falses and lies'?" Hunter demanded, staring Tori in the eye. He didn't understand… she couldn't regain her memory that quick, could she? He'd been hoping he'd manage to enter Canada by the time that unwelcome event occurred.
She narrowed her eyes in response and yanked her arm away. "I mean what I mean," she hissed as she walked past him once more, "Now let's leave."
He silently followed her, and was still contemplating her sudden mood swing when he set life to the engine… and still an hour later when they had covered a good deal of distance in silence, without even some caterwauling singer on the radio to drown out the mistrust and quiet that stayed about.
~~*~~
{Nothing had seemed right for so long now. But they had only just figured out the reason why:
Her.
If she hadn't done what she did, everything would've been in the right order and he wouldn't be standing outside the morgue doors about to classify yet another body of someone he knew.
It was Shane this time, and Blake knew he should've foreseen this as there'd been so many signs to the Red Ranger's suicide; the downcast looks, the morbid thoughts, the bitching more than usual, the… the everything!
Taking a deep breath, he reluctantly threw open the doors and stepped inside. From here, now, there was nowhere else for him to go. And no one else for him to turn to for guidance, friendship, and security.
Now he was alone, and he knew the reason why… so why not fix it?}
~~*~~
"Wh-where are we?" Shane mumbled as he sat up, looking around at his and the other's surroundings.
"Somewhere." Kit's hollow voice echoed back in response. "But you're always somewhere so that doesn't help much, now does it?"
"Stop with the riddles, Kit," Dust ordered from where he was perched—hovering in midair. Shane gawked at him, trying to figure out how he did it when his thoughts were cut off by Kit's malicious giggle.
"But it's fun to toy with a mortal's mind… there's so many corridors, and if you prick and prod just a little even the nicest person can become the worst- or vice versa."
"Am I the only one who interpreted that as she's trying to make us crazy?" Dustin inquired as he slowly and shakily climbed to his feet.
"I can almost see you shrugging," Dust commented dryly to Kit as the ghost neglected to answer Dustin's question.
"But you wouldn't see, now would you?" her tone was now harsh, as though she'd been offended, "You're just plain blind. But when nothing's real, there's nothing to see… unless you see what you believe."
"What the hell is she talking about?" Shane inquired, looking perplexed at her latest rant.
"Careful Kit, this is why they stuck you in the mental ward," Dust said, ignoring Shane now as well.
"They didn't stick me anywhere. It was all you! Put me in there and allow them to stick needles into my skin, mess with my mind… and no one cared for the pretty little faeries that floated through the sky," Kit huffed, the atmosphere rippled somewhere near Dust and right next to Dustin- throwing the present-day version of the two off balance. "But there's no ward to return to… Shane's dead… Ward's gone… and Blake's state is highly entertaining… of course, you know the fate of all the others."
"What do you mean Shane's dead?" Dust demanded in response, loosing grip of the cool and collected tone he'd been using earlier.
"Committed suicide a few days back," Kit's voice replied casually, taunting him in a way. "He was so distressed over your disappearance, Dust… Oh yeah, and if you really want to stay updated with the news, they found the bodies."
"What's going on? When did I commit suicide?" Shane inquired, more confused then he had been earlier.
Once again ignoring Shane, Dust closed his eyes as though he was counting to ten in an attempt to regain control over his temper, "They found them, then? Do we have proof?"
"There's no proof for the guilty party," Kit stated, her voice coming off breezy as though they were discussing pleasant weather over tea, "But if the innocent doesn't have proof either… you know he's dead. They won't be changing that."
Dust opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off by Dustin: "Kit, what's going on? Please tell us—you're acting like you're some sort of criminal!"
There was a long silence, only broken every now and then by faint noises from various places—noises that sounded vaguely like sobs. Finally the air before Dustin shimmered, revealing the transluctant spirit of Kit standing there, all dolled up in black.
"Better yet, I'll show you," she whispered, stretching out her hand.
Unsure of what else to do, Dustin gently grabbed it.
~~*~~
Tori sighed, trying to figure out what the heck had come over her to make her act that way towards Hunter, who was apparently her friend. Leaning her head back against the by-now sticky red seat of his car, she stated, "Thanks, by the way, for helping me out."
Hunter nodded awkwardly in response, "No problem… now, um, would you mind…?"
"Music?" Tori asked, cocking an eyebrow at the shortage of his vocabulary. "Sure."
Leaning forwards she pressed the on-button, and the usual noise filled the space in the car:
"Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies
So I don't know what's real and what's not
Always confusing the thoughts in my head
So I can't trust myself anymore
I'm dying again…"
This was what dimmed out the silence between them for the next half hour before Hunter pulled over near a group of stores and a mall.
"You need clothes, car needs gas, and I need food," he explained in answer to the inquisitive glance she sent him.
Tori nodded in understanding, "You don't suppose I can get food too, do you?"
Hunter rolled his eyes in a miserable attempt to hide his amusement at this before replying with a hint of sarcasm, "Depends on how expensive the cloths are."
"I don't need any," Tori responded quickly. At the awkward look he gave her though she quickly covered, "Any more cloths. Jeans, a burnt t-shirt, and the hospital wristband-bracelet-thing are enough for me. That and the underwear and bra, and I may need a few pads--"
Hunter quickly covered his ears and turned away, "Okay, Tori, thank you for sharing. Cloths and food it is then."
Tori grinned smugly and followed him towards a nearby fast food restaurant with a smiling hamburger and hyperactive fries as it's advertisement and logo.
The inside was just as cheerful as the plastic food standing outside the front door; a playground was constructed in the back, where giggling children played. Two mothers sat nearby, and seemed to be discussing the current state of their business, while in the opposite corner sat a group of teenagers who appeared to have just finished a food fight and were now laughing over an article in the newspaper.
"How can anyone be this happy?" Tori whispered as three toddlers dashed past them shouting "tag" over and over without actually tagging the child in question.
Hunter shrugged and set his money down on the gray service counter, "We're in a rural area, guess they don't have much to worry about here—yes, ma'am, you can help. We'd like two hamburgers… all the topics… one without mustard… two chocolate shakes, never mind, one orange juice—I mean orange sundae. Tori, they don't even have those here! Yeah, two orange shakes. Ack, see what you made me do? No, two hamburgers, one without mustard one with; and two chocolate shakes, thank you."
"That all, sir?" The lady behind the counter who'd been listening to his confusion with a thoroughly entertained expression inquired.
"No," Tori intercepted, "He needs his brain too."
"Oh, so you're a 'sir' now? Yes, that'll be all, thank
you."
"This is none of my business, but are you two dating?" the lady inquired as she set the two hamburgers on a red tray and set it before them.
Hunter and Tori exchanged glances, filled in with an awkward silence before Hunter finally managed to answer, "No."
The lady turned away for a moment to go through the supplies needed for the shake and turned back to them with a slight frown, "I'm sorry, but there's only enough ice cream left for one shake. Would you like an orange juice as well?"
"Nah, I'll take the milk," Hunter told her. "Now why'd you ask if we were dating?"
The lady grinned and set the drinks down beside the boxes, "You really should try it. Have a nice day, next!"
And with that they were dismissed before either could make a comment on her absurd suggestion.
"That was… odd," Tori commented as they seated themselves at a booth positioned directly in front of a window overlooking the busy street nearby.
"Yeah," Hunter agreed as he picked his carton of milk and his sandwich off the tray. "But I suppose things are bound to happen to your mind if you work in a place like this for too long."
"You're probably right," Tori responded, taking a sip of her shake. Glancing over at him and feeling a bit guilty he gave up his own shake she inquired, "You want some?"
Hunter shook his head, "Nope, I'm fine."
"You sure?" Tori pressed.
"No," Hunter replied after a moment's hesitation.
She gave him a small smile and handed him the shake just as a red bouncy ball landed on the wood surface of their table. Or at least it looked like a bouncy ball until Tori picked it up our of curiosity and held it to the light shed from the window, then it appeared to be a round, scarlet gem of some kind.
"Recognize this?" She inquired of Hunter as she looked around for the ball's owner.
Taking a large sip of the shake and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand after, Hunter glanced at it and shook his head, "Nope; a kid probably picked it up from a touring magician."
"I did," a squeaky voice piped up.
The two turned to see a mousy boy standing there. His raven-black hair was scraggly, and partially covered his ears, which stuck out from the side of his head, his coffee brown eyes were wide, giving him a permanently paranoid expression, and his skin was naturally on the tan side.
"Really?" Tori inquired, handing him the ball back and snatching the shake with her other hand before Hunter had a chance to slurp down the rest, "What was your favorite act?"
The kid's eyes flashed red, and his squeaky voice seemed a good deal deeper as he responded coldly, "The part where I kill you."
~~*~~
A/N: Just uploading this now so I actually post something. Hope you like, and I'd like to get at least 83 reviews please? So, REVIEW already, and suggestions/ideas are a very good thing!