Week 7 friday cont.
Lincoln stare at the ground in front of him. Litterally! With his face against it, it was hard not to stare at it.
He had tumbled off the porch and face-planted on the foot path.
His nose was bleeding. He had a small headache. He moved to sit up and looked at his phone.
He had dozed off for five minutes. There was no girl. There were no cops. No masked man.
"At least I'm not bored anymore." He muttered as he turned the screen off.
He heard a haughty laugh and looked closer at the screen of his phone.
"Are you okay?" Genairre asked him.
"Am I still sleeping?" He asked in return. She shook her head no. "You've never talked to me when I was awake before."
"I'm rather lazy." She admitted. "Shiney stuff acts like a mirror, then there are mirrors. They take more energy." She explained.
"Are you really concerned?" He asked.
"I helped save you. So why would I want you all beat up." She Answered and opened the screen of his phone. He looked a bit surprised. "I'm using the battery to help me out." She informed. "Might want to charge it when I'm done."
He watched as she navigated his screen and then opened his contacts. "I spent a while learning about this from some guy." Lincoln felt a twinge of jealousy for some reason. She turned after a moment. "My number." She pointed to the new contact. A set of strange characters ending with a heart that had horns and a tail. "Left you some new emoji thingies too." She yawned. "I'm going back to bed. Need my beauty sleep." She looked him over real quick, leering as she did.
Then the screen went blank again and he saw the battery indicator telling him the charge was low.
"Weird." He pocketed his phone and tilted his head back. Reaching into his pocket he found a napkin from the hospital lunchroom and balled it up to plug his nose. "What a day." He groaned.
When the blood stopped he waved to Clyde and Bonnie as they came up the drive. Bonnie stopped in surprise but Clyde dropped his bag and ran up.
"I fell off the porch. I'm okay, I promise." Lincoln said, calming his friend before he could freak out completely. "I dozed off and woke up on the ground."
"For a minute there, I... Let's get you inside and cleaned up." Clyde helped Luncoln up and Bonnie opened the door.
"Thanks." Lincoln smiled. "What do you know about dreams, Clyde?"
"That's Bonnie's thing." Clyde looked to his girlfriend. "Do you mind?"
"Not at all!" She smiled happily and kissed Clyde's cheek. "I've only started but I have links to sites online and a list of books. Even got one checked out right now." She explained pulling out her laptop and a book on dreams. "My aunt had suggested that I keep a dream diary."
"Do you think it would be a good idea if I keep one?" Lincoln asked.
"We forget most of our dreams. I write in mine once a week at most, once every month at the least." Bonnie told him. "I find that mine is helpful at times but usually I end up with some weird story." She handed him an empty notepad from her backpack. "It couldn't hurt though. I do some neat things with those weird dreams."
"You should see her collage of flying." Clyde told Lincoln.
"It isn't very good. It's also the first collage I had ever tried to make. YouTube tutorial." Bonnie blushed and opened her laptop.
"So, about the website." She typed in the address. "The creator of the site, an administrator and a couple of experts, or at least really well read people, often have discussions on here in an open forum. It is a free service thing. However, to post your dreams or read others, you need to create an account."
Bonnie turned the laptop so Lincoln could see the screen. "Old discussions are edited into a log that can be read later." She pointed out the link. "Last week was on what the color blue means within a dream. The week before had a blind man describe what he had seen in a dream. Stuff is pretty interesting!"
Lincoln scrolled through the posts.
Dream Sex
The Meaning of Color Red
Falling - Pt. 3
Nightmare: Common Elements Pt. 1
One in particular caught his eye.
Dreams: Alternate Reality?
"This doesn't all deal with psycological stuff, does it?" Lincoln asked Bonnie.
"No. There are some theoretical things and occult topics. Many of the posters in the archived chats are experts or at least well educated. Some have decent opinions. General posts made by subscribers usually just tell stories, or, what are supposed to be their dreams." She pointed to a red link. "At least they color code the supposed sex dreams."
"You ever click on those?" Clyde asked and Bonnie covered her face.
"Clyde! Why would you ask me that!"
Lincoln and Clyde shared a knowing look.
"Have you ever posted in it?" Clyde asked trying to sound like he wasn't teasing her.
She nodded and his jaw dropped. "Last night!" She said quietly.
Lincoln saw the look his friend gave him.
"So, Thanks for the help and I need to get home. I'm going to go wash my face real quick."
A few minutes later Lincoln closed the front door to Clyde's house. Right after the click of the lock he had heard Bonnie laugh. "Clyde!" His name turned into a moan on her lips.
"Way to go, bro!" Lincoln said with a knowing smile as he headed down the footpath.
He killed a couple hours on the X Box then made his sisters an after school snack.
Lisa was the first home. Her eyebrows were gone, her glasses were cracked and her hair was singed all around to quarter inch. Her face was coated in grey and black.
"That man was not qualified to substitute a chemistry class!" She told Lincoln before he could ask. "Why do I continue with public education when I already have various degrees!"
She was very clearly pissed as she switched to speak in Mandarin. The pauses between the sentences were filled with little growls. If the scowl she displayed was not a a clear indicator all its own, her rant certainly was.
She stopped halfway up the stairs and turned abruptly.
He watched as she walked right up to him and gave him a hug.
He lifted her in his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder with her face hidden in his neck.
"I know that it is a minor thing, but my original ensamble today was fully ruined in the resulting blast of the improper chemical mixture made by that buffoon. My emerald blouse, my sandalwood skirt, my olive green socks and my mahogany flats." She leaned back to look him in the eyes. "I find that I am rather upset over the loss of my clothes." Then she reached up and put a hand on her head. He watched as the grumpy look turned into a deep frown. "I am also nearly bald once again!" Her eyes started to tear up.
"Hey, you pull off short hair." He ran his fingers through it. "A flat top, spikes, bet you'll do just as well with long hair. That wig, it was medium length and you worked that well too!"
"I appreciate the fact that you are trying to lift my spirits, so to speak..." He put a finger to her lips.
"Lisa, take a bath, then we will put another outfit together for you. Something that works with, your new hair style." He smiled wide. "Leni could help!"
"In case you have forgotten, she is away with Love." Lisa reminded him.
"Okay. Take a bath anyway, and... I'll think of something."
"Very well." He held her a little longer. "I need down, unless you wish to wash me." She smirked a little. "Though I highly doubt that we have the time." There was a tinge of disappointment in her words.
He gave her a kiss on her forehead and set her down. He smiled when he noticed the lip marks left in the soot on her face.
She smiled at the black color left on his lips. "Thank you!" She said and hurried up the stairs.
"Any time, Lisa!" He called.
Lincoln headed for his room. He lay back and picked up the remote. His phone rang.
He sighed and picked it up.
"Hello." He pulled the phone away from his ear and winced. He fumbled a moment then managed to hit speaker.
"Could you repeat that, Yuki?"
"Is Leni home? I haven't seen her all day." She sounded worried. "Blanch and Nero showed up and they were paying Leni a lot of attention."
"Blanch Gene and Nero Costas!" He perked up. "Those two are fashion legends!"
"Blanch is why I was a coke addict, and Nero likes to Audition the new talent. Good thing Blanch brought me in. I'm really glad they hadn't been hanging around eachother back then."
Lincoln felt his heart drop with how Yuki said audition.
"Lincoln, if you hear from your sister, tell her that she needs to come home! They'll use her up and steal all they can in the meantime, and Leni's such a sweet girl." It actually sounded like Yuki was starting to cry. "I have Hikari out looking around. The word is out but the world is a big place."
"Right. I'll... Thank you for letting me know. You... You be careful, okay."
"I'm so sorry! I was supposed to be watching her and they weren't supposed to be here!"
"Yuki, Leni goes out to the mall all the time, she turns down plenty of people she doesn't like and..."
"Lincoln, Nero doesn't always rely on his silver tongue. He has muscles too. Blanch is a sneaky bitch, she practically invests in GHB, that's how she gets her blackmail pictures. They're SCUM! Please Lincoln, let me know if you hear from her. I gotta call Vampy, you call my big sister, pretty sure Harlow owes her something." With that Yuki hung up.
He dialed Shinji quick and got an automated message. He left one explaining the situation.
Almost ten minutes later she called back. He got into more depth and she hung up leaving him with a simple. "Don't worry, Linc."
He tried not to worry. He busied himself with helping Lisa. He looked over a fashion magazine of Lola's and helped her draw on some eyebrows.
Luckily she had a back up pair of glasses, horned rimmed instead of round, but black as usual and tinted too.
He managed to get her hair into short spikes after cutting away the burnt hair and evening it out. He even talked her into getting a green streak, which he modeled after Sol's.
A dark green cardigan over a light brown longsleeve tee and a pair of corderoy shorts held up by a dark brown nylon weave belt. Knee high socks, black of course with a double green stripe at the tops. Green and brown sneakers with tan laces.
Lisa grinned. "I musht shay, I feel like a bad ash, sho to shpeak!"
"And I must say your ass looks PHAT in those shorts!" He gave her bottom a pinch and she snorted in amusement. "P H A T..."
"I know what you had meant." She kissed his cheek. "Where did you find these clothes?"
His smiled wavered. "Leni has a box of clothes she made for you up in the attic."
"You think she's okay?" Lisa asked.
"Yuki was worried. The word is out. Leni is... unusually strong."
"I'm going commando." Lisa rubbed her legs together.
"Huh?"
"We forgot my under garments, Lincoln."
"Simple white cotton when you go to work or school. At home..." He shrugged. "Why bother? Just me and our sisters."
Monday week 8
Everyone was bummed. Leni had been missing for the whole weekend.
Yuki picked up every phone call. She apologized every day.
Shinji never seemed to be off the phone. A few people even showed up to discuss her duties, supposedly her superiors. Shinji simply told them to fuck off. Even pulling a knife on one in a grey suit to get her point across.
Posters were out and Luna and Luan were using their internet followings to get the word out to different crowds.
Lincoln and Lynn passed the time working out.
"Lincoln, grab the black bag from my car." Shinji had finally hung up her cell and was heading out the door to a white car.
He did as asked and she pointed to the back seat. "Get in."
Several hours later of her talking and him listening, they stopped in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road. "Hop out." She told him as she popped the trunk. "Get the bag."
He set the bag on the trunk as she motioned to it. He took a look at the trash bag she had hefted from the trunk.
He took a seat as she walked out to a fence line and proceeded to set cans along the posts. As she walked back she tossed him a can of off brand soda.
"What are we doing?" He asked.
"I can't rough you up yet, training you in fighting, but I know you won't sit around and let them injuries heal either." She unzipped the bag he had unloaded from the car and pulled out a pistol.
She handed it to him. Watching him. "Okay." She said after a moment and pushed the end of the pistol towards the ground and away from her. "Rule one, don't point a firearm at anyone unless you intend to shoot them."
"Rule two." She turned the pistol while he still held it. Making sure he could see. "Check to see if the safety is on."
She took a pistol of the same model from her waistband. She stood in front of him and showed him, wordlessly, how to check it. "Check to see if it is loaded." She removed the magazine and then checked the chamber. "Yours is empty."
She returned hers back to her waistband.
"You will check any firearm handed to you or that you pick up every time the first time." She informed then pointed down at the cans on the posts. "We are as close as that gun is for the best accuracy and effectiveness. Just aim like at the arcade."
"That simple?"
"Seemed to work for Lily." Shinji leaned against the car. "Okay, aim for the little round logo."
"Lily?" He asked.
"Yeah. Best to have them learn young. Safety is knowing how they work and what to do." Shinji crossed her arms and smiled proudly. "I remember Pepper's first buck. Shot it with her brand new twenty-two long rifle!"
"But Lily's four!" He started to freak out a bit.
"Pepper was three." Shinji told him. "Never too young to learn." She patted his shoulder. "Practice, now. This ain't Farm Boy's shotgun. You actually got to aim."
Lincoln turned back to focus on the cans. He aimed and fired. "Thought you said this would be like the game."
"Line up the sights."
After a full eight rounds he learned how to reload the magazine. "The flat part goes there." She pointed out.
"I think I know that much." He said flatly.
"And I thought you knew how to aim. What did you do, put the gun right up to the screen?" She asked as he emptied a second magazine.
"Do not question my gaming skills!" He said a bit annoyed. "I looked right down this little slot in the rear sights and lined up the one in front." He explained as he copied his gaming stance.
A shot. The sound of the can as it spun up through the air.
"A bit low but you hit it." Shinji patted his head. "Now hit the remaining three."
Tuesday week 8
Lincoln sat in the passenger seat watching the world pass by. He had been since he had been woken up with a warm cup of coffee and his favorite snack. The day was warm and the window was down allowing the warm breeze to ruffle his hair.
He envied the happy families on day trips and counted people on their cell phones while they drove. The latter made him angry.
"Here."
He looked over to see Shinji holding an egg.
"I'm not hungry." He waved his hand.
"No, this is for the next fucker you see on the cellphone." She grinned, eyes still on the road.
He took it. "Careful!" She warned. "It's rotten!"
Suddenly he was very worried about dropping it and held the object like it was a newborn babe. "So what am I supposed to do?"
"Figure it out. It's not that hard."
A few minutes later the traffic slowed to a near crawl. Fast enough to still cause enough damage if rear ended, but packed in tightly. Up ahead he saw flashing lights in the distance. Cars in the median with people swarming around up ahead. It was a brief distraction as he once again turned his eyes out the window.
He soon saw a man with his windows down who pulled into the lane along side them. Chatting away loudly enough that after a while Lincoln was starting to know this Brad and Angelina better than Clyde and Bonnie. He glanced at the egg, then to the back window of the man's obviously luxury car. The little lightbulb whent off in his head and he lazily tossed the egg into the man's back seat.
The effect was almost immediate.
"What the hell?!" He heard from the man. "Brad, I've got to go! It smells like something died in here!"
Lincoln watched as the man carefully made his way to the shoulder of the road. He sort of wished that he had included a note. "Hang up and drive" or something like that.
"Feel better?"
Lincoln nodded. "A little." He admitted.
That night they stopped. Again out in the outskirts of town.
Instead of sleeping in the car Shinji set up a tent.
"How is this going to find Leni?" Lincoln asked returning with some firewood.
"This won't." She sat down in a director chair and motioned to the empty one. "Trust me, when we get word of Nero or Blanch, I can get us there in a day, give or take, and my people and people who want to get on my good side will be there if we can't."
He dropped the wood and sat in the empty chair. "So, why take this trip?"
"One, for you to learn some stuff. Two, better than sitting at home worried sick. Three, I've got a few ideas of where Nero might be. Or at least a lead to him."
She handed Lincoln a shoe string. "Start a fire."
"How the hell am I supposed to start a fire with a shoe string?"
"Well, you'll need a few sticks." She said with mirth. "That's for sure!"
It took a little while of trying, but Lincoln finally broke down and asked for help.
She set one stick, more of a flate piece of wood in a small hole. Dried leaves and grass piled in and around it some. She tied the ends of the string around the ends of one stick, then looped the string and stuck the third stick through it. From there it was just a matter of holding one up and moving one back and forth to spin the upright stick. "Friction, make heat, heat make fire, fire warm, fire good!"
"You don't have to be so condensending."
"And you can lighten up a little more, Snowballs!" She chuckled.
"So what are we having for dinner?" He asked.
"Whatever we catch. Whatever you cook."
"Why do I have to cook?" He asked.
"Remember my last time helping in the kitchen?" She hung her her as he started to laugh. "Yeah, laugh it up, but at least we won't get food poisoning or set the wilderness on fire."
Wed week 8
Lincoln tossed another piece of wood on the fire. Not just to push away the cold but to help him see.
This was the eighteenth time he had disassembled the pistol. Hopefully it would be the eighteenth he got it back together. He shivvered a little, Autumn finally making it's arrival known.
Shinji sat across from him, turned slightly away from the flames and drawing.
He had never eaten squirrel before today. He promised himself to not tell the youngest Akiko sister about that.
"What are you drawing?" He asked.
"Blackness." She replied in a serious tone.
He laughed. "Good one!" Until she turned the page to show that it was colored in black. "Oh." His face fell.
"Just wait. It'll get a bit more detailed." She told him returning to her hobby.
He decided not to ask how darkness gets more detailed and went back to assembling the pistol. "Finally!" He finished with the joyous shout. He set the weapon in the small case and huddled closer to the fire. "That was a pain in my ass! My fingers are so cold!"
"I had to do that shit in the cold with an angry drill instuctor yelling in my ear at five a.m. after three days of no sleep and constant training." She glanced over. "You've got it easy."
"You don't sleep much any way." Lincoln pointed out.
"Yeah, but I rested at night and had plenty of lazy days when I was a kid." She pointed at him with a marker. "Tomorrow, well, today really, we make our first stop." She resumed her coloring.
"Our first stop where?" He perked up.
"In finding Nero. He has a place around here, but he often rents it out." She shrugged. "If it isn't him, the scum he deals with could be good practice for you."
"Practice?" It came out like a question but the young man already had an idea of what she had meant.
"Yeah, and a good ammount have a price on their heads too." Shinji continued. "Try and rest, Lincoln, for we shall see what the dawn brings."
He laid himself down in the sleeping bag.
"Kari eats squirrel. She likes the brains. Not everything she raises ks a pet." Shinji told him, seeming to sense his discomfort about their meal. "Just like Mika eats rabbit. Cat is pretty tasty too."
"Well, I think I'll be having some weird dreams tonight!" He rolled onto his side. "Thanks for that!"
"You're welcome!" She replied cheerily. "Remember, I eat more pussy than a Chinese giggalo, so I know what I'm talking about."
"And it just got weirder!" That set the assassin into a giggle fit. Soon Lincoln was tiredly chuckling along too.