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…Must…Read…Reviews…To…Live… --------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER NINE: FRUITLESS DESIGNS (cont2) "Sure, I remember seein' a couple weirdos like that. Just yesterday as a matter of fact," the young man replied helpfully. "Hey, Missy, c'mere and tell these people 'bout those weirdos!" Hal and his co-worker Suze exchanged happy glances and turned to question the oncoming lady as well. "Could you describe them, please?" Suze asked her. "Oh, yeah. They were real tall, and seemed kind of skinny, and it was weird how light their hair was! There was a woman and a man, and they seemed awful young for traveling like that. But they weren't too friendly. Larry at the hotel said they were curt as could be when they checked in. And they only stayed in their room for a couple hours before heading back out of town. Oh, and they bought some traveling stuff before they left." Several young children circled about Missy as she spoke, and a small crowd began to gather. Everyone seemed to have an interest in this tale. "It's downright vulgar if you ask me!" a middle aged woman added nosily. "Couple of kids hang around just long enough to get their jollies and split. Didn't even try to make it look like they were there to sleep." Hal jotted notes as they spoke, but grew more and more confused by the things they were saying. "What makes you think they were a couple…er…in that way? Didn't they look like siblings?" "Well, now, they looked alike, but holding hands like that and all…I don't know…" Mothers began to pull their children aside, covering their ears. Suze thanked them, but was hoping for more helpful details. "Did anyone see where they came from, or where they were going? And did they seem in good health?" A few people guessed directions, but one young man stepped forward with truly specific details. "The girl's arm was all tied to her like it was broken. Yep, it seemed broken. And she was covered with scars, unlike the guy. But the guy wasn't mean to her or anything, so I doubt it was his fault." Hal nodded as he wrote notes. Suze assumed a more suspicious expression. "And you know that how?" The man shrugged. "Well, the others didn't see that, did you all? See? Because they were wearing thick cloaks…" A woman stepped beside the young man and slapped him. "George, you pervert!" Her face turned red, causing the man to try to slink off. "Peeping again? You should be ashamed of yourself!" "But they were shady characters! I had to check them for weapons!" Suze asked what he'd found in this aspect. "Well, no, they didn't seem to have guns or nothing. But they looked all serious, and there was a weird kind of shining on the man's hand, almost like glare on a knife. But maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. Must've been, cause I also thought I saw pointy ears on the girl. The weirdest thing had to be that they were so blonde and pretty-lookin'. Not like folks you usually see," the man continued, before being slapped very hard on the face again. "Honey, honestly, it wasn't like…" "Ma'am, don't be so hard on him," Suze suggested. "He's been a lot of help." The woman glared back. "Maybe to you, but it doesn't do us no good to have him peepin' in on people while they're bathin'." Walking back to their tomas, Hal shook his head, chuckling. "Now THIS is some crazy shit. I knew Vash the Stampede was insane, and I guess it makes sense that his kids would be nuts, too, but…Wow. Brothers and sisters just shouldn't be familiar like that." Suze rolled her eyes as she pulled on her riding jacket. "No need to dwell on that sort of thing, Hal. Don't be a perv like that guy back there. Concentrate on the important things, alright? "This is starting to remind me of a stray case about ten years back. There was a tall, blonde, pretty girl caught in North York with pointed ears. Fits the description. They said she cast spells on several villagers, causing them to die of inexplicable diseases. Hey, don't laugh! It's just the sort of dastardly, bizarre thing I would expect from the daughter of the Humanoid Typhoon! And that Galvin incident occurred so far from Vash's sighting the previous afternoon…We'd seen the same sort of slaughter thanks to Vash himself in the past, but this last time…Why wouldn't his kids be involved?" she asked, incredulous at the evidence. Hal nodded. "So you think these two caused it." "Well…The fact that the woman was scarred intrigues me. Vash is covered with scars as well, according to the files. And given that both Vash and this woman are scarred and dangerous, but without priors on the man, I think we have little to fear from the man. Perhaps he is, in fact, keeping the woman from killing again!" "Jumping to conclusions again?" Hal commented. "This is the first actual eyewitness report we've received, so we have to assume that they're both armed and dangerous. This family is a heartless, evil breed of people. They wouldn't be sloppy enough to let people see their weapons, so…" Suze felt it useless to argue, and so she changed the subject. "Don't you think we ought to question the people in March? I've heard rumors that a couple similar to these two was staying with Vash as spotted, but no one's followed the lead!" Hal shook his head. "It would be a waste of our time. We know they wouldn't return to the place, crawling with suspicion as it is. We need to follow their trail, now that we're hot on it!" He prodded his toma into a faster stride, and led Suze into the desert. In the moonlight, Knives looked absolutely angelic. He breathed softly, with little huffs at each exhale. His cropped blonde hair fell over his forehead at the center, curled as softly as his eyelashes. Suddenly breathing out in a sigh, he rolled from his back to his left side, facing Vanessa beside him. He reached a strong, lithe arm towards her, where it rested limp against her stomach. Vanessa held her breath, but breathed relief when she realized he was still asleep. She had moved slowly into a precise position, and didn't want to have to explain herself. Knives' left arm had been beneath her to begin with. She had wriggled atop his arm until her back was at his forearm and elbow, and then eased his hand above her shoulder. Finally in place, she turned her head to her left and set her face against his hand. With her free hand, she softly spread his fingers apart and pressed her eyelids against his fingertips. She held her breath and pulled his palm close to her face, so as to not tickle his palm with her breath. Slowly, she began to concentrate and coax the angel formation from her back. She felt the scar throb, reminding her of how removing the fleshy lump had crippled her ability to fully form the weapon without assistance. In a blinding flash of pain and feathers, the formation flew from her flesh, moving with an intangible ease into his left forearm. Once touching the core of his angel arm, the 'door' as he called it, his own formation sprouted. Knives' eyes flew open in surprise as he felt blades rising to the surface of his skin, about to slice outward from his arm and hand in a fraction of a second. |
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