Author's Note: WHY am I addicted to constantly making author notes? ! Oh well, again a big wonderful thanks to all my reviewers so far- so hope you can enjoy this third chapter. I wish I could make them longer, and it feels like they're actually pretty large chapters- maybe it's because my new computer is a tad weird to getting used to. Oh well, soon I'll hopefully have four thousand to five thousand word chapters. ;) This chapter is slightly humorish BTW.
2. An Unwanted Brief Reunion
Joey Summerskill was admittedly not one enthusiastic over mornings, especially with the requirements of having to get up early. After rolling about restlessly in bed, eyes closed for resting but despite the effort, unable to fall asleep, it then occurred in surprise to Joey she had yet to develop a grudge against her alarm.
Narrowing her tired, crystal blue eyes at it exactly as the numbers slowly changed from the exact late last minutes of five 'o clock morning to by then officially six.
'Yeah and while you 'beeped beeped beeped' in my face at five fuckin' thirty in the morning I 'beat beat beat' the heck outta ya.' she remarked to herself privately in thoughts, not necessarily concerned about showing up late too work. Rather the timing she had officially awoken without the excuse of a nightmare was rather early.
In preparation before when she had beautifying herself up, she made a scowl to the lightly make-up covered face of pale rouge colored lipstick on her lips and the dash of msascara. It was honestly unfair of the peverse expectation from the cranky boss of hers, constantly finding some sort of minor flaw to restlessly lecture her about how she failed to have herself appear impressive.
"Always gotta apparently have a sex appeal in order to get into the big top. Psh, well not for me." Joey muttered to herself, getting up to fix herself a small cup of coffee before heading out on the quick go like the usual routine. Though rather there was something about this morning seemingly slow for this morning, and the slightest jerking twitch inside Joey desperately wanted to snap and scream. Make time go faster just to get past this day in comparison of any of the others.
Admittedly, Joey naturally had good days with the promise of a possible, better future. Along with it was the other side, the grudgingly awful days with discourage and such. But this day, which hadn't even necessarily started was the one day more than ever she wanted it to end. So damn badly.
It was the one year anniversary.
No, not a marriage or remarkable moment for good remembrance. It was rather a bad one, that for the most unexplainable reason most of New York seemed to shrug off for that matter. As if when the yellow taped was wrapped about later around the body count of the Boiler Room, people were paid to keep quiet, footage erased of the gruesome sights, and seemed to ignore it. Like it all never happened.
Yet the dreams were the key to all the personal memories for Joey who though wasn't about to pour into quick tears, grieving like an overemotional widow. But...the lingering fact overall was those mutilarted demons that pursed her, cornered her at the construction site- were once familiar faces to those she knew or met briefly.
Joey made certain she wasn't about to cry again. There were already enough tears shed over that, but that didn't stop her heart from beating in guilt. The forever endless questions 'What If' to all the mistakes made, all caused in blame to herself. What if...she had never called Doc to meet her at the Boiler Room? Would she still somehow find his decapitated head in his hands? What if...she had never left Terri alone? Brought her along in search for the desperate stoy of a lifetime? Would she had never gone off to wherever she had gone off to (most likely in wonder to the Boiler Room or something to do with JP)? Questions that would never be answered, with Joey left to imagine the answers. But the pain itself to it was real, constantly there in just slightest reminder would it all slam right back into her face like a punch.
Sighing heavily, the heave deep with the filling emotions of guilty, sympathy, anger and shame to herself, and the stress of her mind giving herself another lecture- the soft, solemn moment was interrupted by the obnoxiously loud ringing of her phone. And just from the normal tone to it alone, Joey had a suspicious feeling it involved her boss itching to scream something again. Complain about her being late.
Not wanting to deal with his grouchy voice, Joey quickly tapped the button to her nearby answering machine and send him to automatic voice message.
'Joey, get your mopin' ass over here down here! We've got a nice arson story for ya, either show up or it's you that's fired.'
Rolling her eyes, Joey folded her arms in order to calm herself with her already tightened fists ready to punch her poor message machine. However, the mention of arsonist sparked to Joey's mind curiously. As she could recall from the light sleep she received, there had yet to be any noise of fire trucks rushing about. Then again, it hadn't been said the fire occurred somewhere nearby her neighborhood. For that matter, she didn't even know what happened. Not a thing, just the basic, wrongly spoken, command in order to have her questions answered. Just hurry up- in an improvised, not favored way for Joey.
"A little please oughtta kill ya." she muttered downward to the answering machine, in search for her jacket, took out the pot of coffee and managed to at least muster a few sips of a good, steaming hot cup for some well needed burst of energy. Deciding to skip out on breakfast, Joey then quickly rushed towards her door. Nearly heading out, she then realized at last minute she had forgotten her keys.
Grinning lightly at her foolish mistake, she wondered what kind of angry nonsense she would've found herself locked outside door and giggled to the entertaining thought. But as she turned around towards the kitchen counter where her set of keys was simply left, a sudden chilling wind blew past.
Turning around swiftly on her feet, Joey's heart pounded. Rather tense as though as if expecting some sort of a being to have snuck up on her suddenly. Staring blankly at her nearby furniture, she then relaxened slightly and blinked her eyes several times before grasping ahold of her keys and slowly placing them in her jacket pocket.
But then there came the sudden sizzling noise, the fizzing poor connection of when the television was at an unavailable channel and would show nothing butthe grey fuzy screen.
Wait- when did she turn on the T.V?
Turning sharply back to where her living room was, Joey was slow onher feet as if purposely adding her own playful suspense to herself as to discovering whether or not the television had mysteriously turned itself on.
'Christ might as well call the Ghostbusters.' Joey bitterly but humorously thought to herself, taking a close approach to find that strangely indeed the television was on. Or...perhaps left on? On a bad signal for a channel, with only the blurried grayish black and white there on the screen.
But suddenly, the screen itself seemed to brighten several times strangely. Briefly blinding Joey with every time it repeatedly glowed brightly, the noise of the fuzzy signal growing increasingly loud without the remote turning it on.
But for a paused moment when it hadn't been flashing so brightly, did Joey uncover her face from her hands, and narrowed them to what appeared to be something forming. No- a figure? Did panicking seem neccessary yet to and besides concerned and curious?
But...there seemed to be something of a face- a strangely familiar one.
'J...J...Jo...Joe...Joey...Joey...' the such mufflings of a voice, barely audible and nearly unable to tell if it was the voice of a male or a female- though Joey was going to figure it was a male's voice most likely calling to her. But from where? And for whatever for?
Shaking her head, Joey squeezed her eyes, trying to get ahold of what was going on. Everything was feeling blurried and warpped, giving Joey a light, confusing headache.
'Joey..Joey please! ...Joey...w...' the voice sounded cracked inbetween the shackling loud noises of the blurried signal, barely able to distinguish any words other than her repeated name.
"What?" she mumbled dryly, in the midst of what felt like pressure banging at her.
'Joey...Joanne! Wake up Joey!' the voice...it was so clear now. An all too familiar English accent that Joey unfortunately, from all the such strange blurs, couldn't think of a possible name her mind could draft through and remember. Honestly, she could barely think at the present moment except for a few basic things of now- like to be most certainly, utterly over concerned and to quickly consider the options of either leaving her apartment immediately or turning off the television.
But as Joey shook her head to make the pain go away and approach the television, the clacking of her three inch heel boots stopping dead in the tracks. The remarkable, yet disturbing evidence of something now, officially being truly wrong.
The television wasn't plugged in at all. Yet somehow it was indeed fully turned on, and though fizzing with no specific channel on- good God, it was on without a plug!
Joey stopped, and suddenly felt the feeling of someone approaching behind her, and though unable to even feel the slightest breath, hear any sort of a heartbeat. It just felt like someone was there, and the presence, according to Joey's pit feeling of worry, was that this mysterious, unknown presence was something of a threat.
Joey gulped rather loudly, a chill quickly traveling down her spine, and eyes widened. She wasn't trembling scared out of her mind or whatever, but obviously nervous to turn around.
'Joey wake up! Wake up! You're in her own world!' that voice from the television, though suddenly sounded faded and barely there. Like the slightest tingling whisper in her mind, and curled her fists.
Sharply turning did Joey find-
Terri.
Mutilated, leather clad Terri, her face barely recognizable from the original sweet, young, innocent face of doe eyes and a warm smile. No, this was a brightly pale, demon face of Terri sniggering ever so lightly in the airy, new dreamy voice of hers. The heat of her cigarette just inches from Joey's white blouse, the smoke wickedly kissing against it with the tingle of heat.
"Hi Joey." she breathed, grin spreding widely across her naturally wicked appearing face.
Joey widened her eyes, startled, and before able to react physically or mentally did Terri continue.
"Miss me?" she sniggered, grasping ahold of her spare cigarette in which had been the one that burned Joey the exact year ago at the construction site, and poking it directly andpainfully towards Joey's heart before she could scream.
'Joey wake up!'
Snapping awake suddenly, Joey blinked her eyes and wildly jerked, causing her right hand to knock over the nearby coffee and spill about her wrist and staining that with the unpleasent color of a tanish moca mixed with the snow white blouse.
"Ugh ow! oh! Dammit!" Joey shrieked, the stinging pain of the spilled burning coffee on her wrist unpleasent, while her left hand had accidentally knocked away the keys off the kitchen table.
Wait? What happened? Merely and innocently glancing around, her heart slowed down from it's previous rapid, panicked and tense beats at the sight of Terri. Terri...the mentioning of the poor girl's name was upsetting, but startling to know what she was now- and according to that dream, or whatever that was, she seemed perfectly happy with what was she as well.
Feeling over towards her chest, Joey could feel no such burn mark, honestly not a thing there. The only honest existing pain being the burned sleeve.
And a frightened mind despite the roaring protests of it being only a simple doze off. But for Joey, it honestly felt real- even the exact touch to it for something out of a dream.
Impossible. They couldn't possibly be back. She sent them in the Box, and the Box itself was currently at the base below the floor of some big building for a brand top-notch corporation (like Joey honestly cared of their name).
That one Box was the only one way for them to possibly return, and Joey had honest thoughts to believe there was no way it had yet to reappear somewhere. Not at all...right? The chances and possibilities didn't add up, each explanation Joey quickly thought up briefly all ended quickly with the fact they simply made no possible sense.
Turning to the side, and nearby where her wide open door was not far from, she swallowed hard before glancing down to finally pay full attention to rather noticcable stain on her sleeve. Boy was that going to take weeks to get out, an unfortunate adventure Joey certainly did not look forward to.
And at last moment did it suddenly come plummeting down on her for the fact- oh crap- she was totally late for this supposed 'hot' story (Humoring to that it involves an arson attack) and a lovely chat with her boss, who's name should honestly be changed to 'Mr. Sunshine'.
Rushing quickly out the door, slamming it loudly and abandoning the soon to go cold coffee, the fast news life was something Joey was normally used to. So, why suddenly so jittery with everything seeming so out of place.
'When someone tells me why on the one year anniversary it's turning into a reunion with me and Terri.' Joey bitterly thought to herself as she approached her car, stopping to close her eyes and think for a brief moment as she opened the door before getting in, driving off down to the station.
Hm...what could this mean? Was the dream real? And just what building was burned down? Who was telling Joey to wake up? Mystery...hm..:)