Okay so I mentioned something about another project that I was working on... I'm still working on it, but I'm stuck deciding on whether or not I actually want to post it and then commit myself to updating two projects at once while trying to graduate as well. So I'm writing chapters... you guys just may not get it until this installment of Horsemen is done/I graduate... whichever comes first. If you're curious, email me. I might tell you all about it if you can give me a convincing reason to :P
But either way - on with the story! Read and Review! Please sirs? Ma'ams?
Also, in other news, I HATE the stupid "Insert Horizontal Line" tool on FFnet It doesn't work half the time and I hate it and it's dumb. I don't trust it to insert the lines when I need to so I'm trying out a few different ways to imply POV changes/ scene changes. Bear with me.
Lara panted and leaned against the side of the truck, chest heaving from exertion and a thin film of sweat coating her brow. Lillie's door swung open and the injured woman half slid/half spilled out and limped to her sister's side. The pair watched as the two bodies of Jade and Sikowitz bobbed down the icy river before disappearing under the dark surface. It wasn't a fast current, but one that would surely take them so far no one from Sanctum would find them; wolves and bears would feed on their carcasses. Thus ends the West line, long live. A moment of silence was shared between them once she vanished, both silently thanking her and her family for their contribution to the world, their gift to their campaign.
"Let's get on the road before Sleeping Beauty wakes up." Lillie muttered, slapping the side of the Bronco. Lara nodded, never tearing her blank gaze from the bend in the river. They had surely earned a well-deserved rest once they got home. She would make sure Lillie would have plenty of time to heal before they moved on with business. She just dreaded the path (literally and figuratively) before them – her older sister was going to do nothing but complain at every bump and pothole that jostled her.
"All right." She breathed, pushing herself off the side of the truck and making her way to the driver's seat. As she passed by a window she paused, peering through the dirt-covered glass. Tori was heavily bound – wrists handcuffed behind her back, a logging chain around her torso and legs. She looked like a caterpillar in an iron cocoon… surely that'd foil any attempt of escape. She was secured near the tailgate, as far away as possible from a still-unconscious Sinjin. Hopefully, over time, Tori could be convinced to work with them… but after the fight today she seriously doubted it. Lara, however, was already beginning to formulate contingency plans. They'd win her over one way or another.
{...}
Jade was immediately aware of a pounding in her head. Like a distant lighthouse beacon it came at consistent intervals, matching tempo, she realized, with her heart. Her body felt tight, sore. She could feel the bruises. Did I fall down the stairs again? She mused groggily, recalling the incident a few months ago when the first heavy frost had set in; the bruise on her backside had lasted for weeks.
The next thing she became aware of was distant whispers. "What are we going to tell her when she wakes up?" Beck.
"If she wakes up."
"Shut up, Robbie!" Cat's shrill rebuke only worsened the throbbing in her skull.
"Stop it." Sikowitz voice was stern, somber. "We'll tell her the truth. She'll see right through anything else." Truth about what? "We'll just have to keep her calm until Norris can provide more information. He knows who took Tori… we just have to figure out how to find them."
Tori. Tori. Her eyes snapped open, pupils constricting painfully even in the low light. "Tori." She rasped, pushing herself upright and immediately regretting the motion. Her memories were a jumbled mess - Sinjin. The ambush. Tori. "Where is she?" She demanded, screwing her head in their direction. It occurred to her that she was in her and Tori's bed, her roommates and Sikowitz all lingered by the patio door to discuss matters quietly in hopes of not disturbing the sleeping scientist.
"Jadelyn." Sikowitz held his hands out, palms down, to encourage her to remain calm. "Stay down. We don't know the extent of your injuries yet. We don't need you hurting yourself even more." She glared daggers at him and threw her covers off defiantly. He looked horrible – both eyes were bruised a deep purple, his lip split in two or three places. A nasty lump swelled angrily on his temple. He looked like he'd gone a few unsuccessful rounds with a prize fighter. "Jade." He repeated sternly, limping in her direction.
"Where is she? What happened?" She demanded again. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and planted them unsteadily, noting for the first time the rainbow of bruises and lacerations on her pale skin. One particularly long laceration – now stitched up – zigzagged up her thigh and disappeared under her shorts. Beck appeared at her side and eased himself down onto the mattress, wrapping a firm but gentle arm around her shoulders. She tried to push him off but he added his other arm, locking them tightly around her.
He wasn't restraining her, she realized. He was hugging her.
Andre and Cat soon followed his lead and Jade, the girl who loathed human contact, found herself the meat of an affection-sandwich. "Cut this shit out." She snapped, pushing her friends away. It was then she finally noticed her hand was bound up in a soft-cast so thick her fingers weren't even visible anymore. She stared at it, combing desperately through her memories to determine the cause. Her gaze flickered angrily to Sikowitz. "If someone doesn't start talking now I'm going to start cracking heads."
"The sisters dumped us in the river." The older man explained, crossing his arms protectively over his chest. "For whatever reason, probably shock, I woke up almost immediately. I managed to grab you when you surfaced."
"He carried you two miles back to town... You were both hypothermic. We didn't know if you'd even wake up." Andre finished.
Jade stared at her lap, piecing together her final conscious moments. Tori screaming. Blondie demolishing her hand. Flashes of turbulence and a cold so intense she didn't think she would ever feel warmth again. "Where's Sinjin?" Her voice was quiet and didn't betray the white-hot rage that was beginning to boil under her skin. Mentally, however, she was flaying him alive.
"That's the million-dollar question."
"And Tori?" No one met her gaze. "Where's Tori?"
"Norris and a team went out looking for her… she's nowhere to be found. We can only presume they took her. Sinjin too." Sikowitz muttered.
The rage gave way to nausea and panic. "Who's they? Who were those women? Sweepers? They knew about Tori… knew about me." She glanced at her hand and attempted to flex her fingers – futilely, of course, but the action still pained her.
"Norris will have to answer those questions." The man sighed, earning himself a dangerous stare. "I don't know, Jade! He does. You could tell by his reaction when I described them, though he isn't speaking just yet."
"Take me to him."
"Jade, it's like 3 AM." Cat interjected, squeaking in terror when Jade whipped her head in the small girl's direction and glared.
"Take me to him." She repeated. "He's going to tell me everything." No one moved and she scowled, pushing herself off the bed and limping towards her closet in search of warmer attire. She pulled a heavy sweatshirt over her head, glad her head was momentarily hidden under the fabric when she grimaced; every movement hurt. She didn't even want to imagine what condition her hand must have been in to be wrapped up so securely. None of that mattered right now, however. Tori was her main concern, and every minute they dawdled allowed whoever took her to get even further away.
"Jade." Beck's voice sounded behind her, he being the only one brave enough to approach her in such a mood. After dating for so long he knew how to gird his loins before stepping into battle with her; he knew how to steel himself against almost anything she could throw at him.
"Either help me or get the fuck out. That goes for all of you." She snapped, her voice laced with venom. She spun to face them and eyed them all accusingly – any attempt they made to stop her was just helping the kidnappers as far as she was concerned. Beck said nothing in reply. Instead he extended his hand and nodded towards the ski-pants in her hand, wagging his fingers in a silent request for her to hand them over.
She narrowed her gaze at him suspiciously before ultimately passing them off; after all, she had plenty of other pants if he decided to use that brilliant method to keep her in bed. To her surprise he knelt before her and unbuttoned them. "Hard to pull on pants with only one hand." He explained, motioning for her to step in. She put a hand on his shoulder to steady herself and did as he offered, briefly recalling all those passionate moments when he was doing the exact opposite. The memories vanished as quickly as they appeared, however; Tori was the only thing she could focus on at that time.
She stepped into her thick boots but didn't attempt to lace them, not that she could in her cast, and made her way unsteadily down the stairs, casting a sidelong glance to her companions that warned them that any attempt to stop her would not be well-received. Thankfully none of them did; they appeared to recognize her immediate need for information... Perhaps they even wanted to know for themselves if there was any news on Tori. She, Beck, Cat, Andre, Robbie, and Sikowitz made the short walk in absolute silence, their countenance grim as they trekked through the snow. Every so often Jade would notice Cat wringing her mittened hands and she knew the younger girl wished to speak, to find the right words to ease Jade's mind.
... Condolences couldn't help now, though. She knew, as the others did, that any peace she offered would be empty words, lies. As long as Tori was missing there was nothing anyone could say. Jade hoped, prayed, that any information Norris could provide would be start them in the right direction.
More than anything she wanted to beat the life out of that arrogant brunette that had made the mistake of jabbing that taser into the back of Tori's neck.
Within minutes they arrived at their destination and Jade, riled up now by recalling the recent encounter, pounded the door violently with her fist. She paused for a moment and listened for signs of activity before she resumed her actions, increasing the force behind her blows with each passing second until it opened suddenly, revealing a very exhausted, very flustered, Norris.
"Jade." He frowned. "I'm glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"
"Who are they, Norris?" She brushed past him and into his home, leaving her friends awkwardly at the threshold. This was no time for pleasantries, a social construct she rarely complied with anyway.
He sighed and turned his attention to the group standing in the cold. "Come in. I'll put on the kettle. None of you should be out in this weather... Especially you two." He eyed Jade and Sikowitz pointedly before locking the door.
The pale girl crossed her arms defiantly and ignored his gesturing that she take a seat. Instead, she followed him to the kitchen and stared expectantly as he migrated from cabinet to cabinet for supplies. "Well?" She demanded.
"Lara and Lillie Childers." He placed the copper kettle on the hot stove and dropped in a few tea bags, avoiding eye contact as he did so.
"Who?"
"Lara and Lillie... It has to be them based on what Erwin told me."
"And who the fuckare they?" Jade snapped, suddenly infuriated that she had her ass kicked by someone named Lillie.
"Former citizens of Sanctum. Horsemen."
"Horsemen." She repeated. Tendrils of panic tightened themselves around her gut. "What would Horsemen want with Tori?"
Norris remained silent as he arranged a number of mugs on a tray. The seconds ticked by and Jade felt her patience wearing dangerously thin. By the time the kettle came to a boil she felt as if she was only seconds away from suffering such a fate, though hers would be far more dramatic than a shrill whistle. "What do you know of Marx?" He finally asked, removing pot from the stove and placing it with the mugs. He glanced up at her and cocked his head, motioning that she move so he could pass through to the living-room.
"Who?"
"Marx. Karl Marx?" She stared at him blankly and shook her head. "Marx believed that there were two kind of classes – the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The rich and the working class. He believed that the rich abused the poor and kept them down in menial conditions so they could maintain their comfortable lifestyles… I have his book, if you're interested." He motioned to his shelf against the back wall.
"I don't know. Is it going to tell me what you need to so I don't have to break your face?"
"He argued for revolution. He wanted the proletariat to overthrow the bourgeoisie and establish a new social order… communism. A classless, propertyless, moneyless, religionless, nationless (no national conflicts), non-exploitive, and self-governing society." Norris ignored her and began filling everyone's mug. "Lara and Lillie took a shining to Marx before Armageddon… I think it had something to do with a professor or college class they were in years ago. Either way, they took his message to heart. As far as they're concerned the revolution came when the virus slammed into us. They're taking it onto themselves to drag our crippled society into a new era and establish a new order."
"But why do they need Tori?" Cat chimed, thumbs tracing the rim of her cup. Her voice was soft and wavering and Jade frowned; she hadn't yet realized how badly Tori's disappearance had addled her. Robbie put a reassuring hand on her knee and squeezed, trying to comfort her.
"A figurehead?" Norris shrugged, stirring his own tea. None of them had yet to take a sip.
Jade continued to stare at Cat as silence descended upon their group. Everyone looked grim, anxious. All of them featured a "1000-yard stare," focusing on some object in the far distance as their worries consumed them. She allowed her eyes to wander over their faces, wondering just how dark her expression had been since she'd awoken.
But then her gaze settled on Norris and narrowed. Something wasn't right with him. His eyes, though unfocused, were darting around and never settling on anything for long. He drummed his fingers anxiously on the sides of his mug. He was agitated, nervous. The gears in her head began to turn, albeit slowly, and she played back the recent conversation. He knew too much, seemed too familiar, too comfortable, talking about Tori's kidnappers. "How do you know so much about them?" The tone in her voice was unmistakable and, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Robbie bristle and straighten. He knew it well by now, it was the tone that told him to run.
Norris chewed his lip and remained silent, as if weighing the potential consequences internally. "Norris." She demanded, snapping her fingers in his face.
"They used to live here."
"What? When?"
"They were co-founders of Sanctum. The three of us brought a small group of survivors here years ago and remodeled the town. We all used to live in the big lodge you're staying in now… after the smaller homes became inhabitable and everyone moved out the three of us remained there."
"What happened?" It was Sikowtiz's turn to speak. He had eased himself onto the arm of the couch next to Beck, as if the new revelation had been too much for him to handle.
"I wanted the city to be a Sanctuary for civilians and red-bands alike… we all knew that most of those accused were actually innocent anyway, you know? They didn't see it that way. They were cheering for Armageddon. They wanted to start an army, lead a triumphant procession and reclaim town after town in the name of progress. It was a ridiculous plan and, one we fought about for months. I finally got fed up and made us take the issue to the people. We asked them: me or them?"
"And I'm guessing not everyone was as cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs?" Jade ventured.
"A few were, but the vote was overwhelmingly in my favor. We asked Lillie and Lara to leave, and to take their followers with them. Our town didn't want anything to do with them. I tried to maintain a relationship with them… I didn't want to end on bad terms. They're still fam…" He huffed, setting his mug down on the floor and pinching the bridge of his nose. He obviously hadn't intended to share that information. "Still family."
"Family?" Jade bellowed.
"Half-sisters." He confessed.
"Your sisters kidnapped my girlfriend?" Her fists balled angrily at her side. "Well call them and make them to bring her back!"
"It's not that simple, Jade! They've refused my calls for years. They're livid with me… I'm honestly surprised they didn't try and burn the town down as revenge."
"But you know where they are?"
"I know where they were. I've sent two men to scope out the area and see if they can't track them down, or at least find someone who can."
"That's not good enough, Norris. Where did you send them? Give me directions. I'm going after her."
"I can't let you do that."
The scientist perked her brow. "I'm sorry, what?" She stepped towards him, using their current height difference to her advantage to glare down at him. "You think you can stop me? Really?"
"I think I can." He countered, rising to his own feet and towering over her shorter frame. "You can't go after them, Jade. Lillie's… well, Lillie. She's psychopath-Barbie. I've seen her kill without giving a second thought. She wouldn't hesitate to shoot you down if you get in her way."
The blonde. Jade noted, recalling how viciously she had attacked. "If that's the case I'm definitely not going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs while I wait for them to maybe let Tori go!"
"Well there's honestly a better chance of that happening than you successfully rescuing her!" Norris countered. "They've already sent you down the river… literally!"
"I'm not leaving her!" She was screaming now, the blood pounding in her ears and making them hot. She'd start walking tonight if she had to – surely there would still be fresh tracks in the snow. She wasn't, she couldn't, just leave Tori with them. The Latina had come to her rescue more times than she could count, charging into battle without a second thought to her own safety.
"Jade – " Sikowitz interrupted.
"I'm not!" She snarled.
"I'm not suggesting you do that. Look at me. Look." He stepped between her and Norris to dissolve some of the tension and refocus her attention away from the angry man. "Your hand is crippled worse now than before you arrived. What do you think you're going to do when you catch up with them? You've got no advantage."
She glanced briefly at the bandage appendage. "What's your point?" She snapped.
"I'm asking you to give me a few days to level the playing field. I've been drawing up potential blue-prints since you and I began discussing your surgery. I think I've finally settled on the best option."
"Are you serious? I don't have time for you to cut off my hand!"
Sikowitz was already shaking his hand. "I found a less invasive root. A glove. Like Madison's."
Jade flashed back to that night at Phoenix, when the cyberkinetic Frankenstein had emerged from the shadows. Practically his entire body had been encased in some form of techno-armor. His hands, in particular, were twice their original size and enclosed within powerful machines. He was terrifying. More importantly, she recalled, he was weak. Tori had crushed his armor like a tin-can. She didn't want that to be her fate as well.
Sikowitz noticed her obvious hesitation. "Well, not just like Madison's. Better. He had the right idea, he just didn't have the means to perfect it. I did, I figured it out." He took her bandaged hand in his own. "Let me do this, Jade. It'll give Norris time to gather information… give your troops time to prepare themselves."
"Troops?" She pulled her hand away and crossed her arms.
"You can't think you're going alone." Andre chimed. "Let's face it… if it wasn't for us back in Los Angeles you'd be six feet under right now."
The pale girl opened her mouth to argue when, unexpectedly, Robbie interrupted. "And besides… we all want to have words with Sinjin. And by words I mean we want to shove broken glass into his eyes." She blinked in surprise at his graphic choice of words – who would have thought he had it in him to be so violent?
Jade stared at each and every one of her friends and couldn't help but smile at their determined faces; none of them would take no for an answer. "Norris." She addressed, much calmer now. She placed a hand on Sikowitz's shoulder and he stepped to the side. "You've got a few days to get me as prepared as you can and then we're going to hunt them down. Understand?"
He nodded. "I'll be sending backup with you. No offense, but a couple of kids and a middle-aged man aren't going to be much of a threat to Lara and Lillie, not as determined as they are now."
"Fair enough. If they get in my way though I'm sending them back. I don't care about your sisters' plans. I'm going to get Tori and I'm coming home. If you want anything else you better tell your guys about it and make sure they follow through."
"We're all just worrying about Tori now. If I find out anything new from the scouting party I'll readjust the plans accordingly, but she's still going to be the prime objective." He replied.
Jade exhaled heavily and ran her good hand through her knotted hair. There was a lot that needed to be done quickly. "I need to see those blue-prints. How long before you can do the procedure?"
"At least a day to gather the necessary materials. If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right the first time. Robbie, Beck, Cat… I need your help to prepare."
"Kay-kay." Cat quipped, rising to her feet and bouncing on her heels. The other boys nodded in unison.
"What about me?" Andre wrung his hands anxiously. "What can I do to help?" He knew he wasn't tech-savvy enough to assist in preparation but that wouldn't let that stop him from being utilized in some fashion.
"Stay with Jade… Make sure she rests." Sikowitz ordered, glancing sidelong at the younger girl.
"Aw man. Sure, give me the impossible job." He huffed, dragging himself off the couch and to Jade's side. "Do you think you could give me an easy time tonight?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed it.
"Don't touch me." She barked, shrugging him away and stalking towards the door.
"Guess not." He sighed, snatching his coat off the couch and disappearing into the dark after her.
The rest of the group filed out shortly after in the direction of Sikowitz's current home. Norris shut the door behind them and deadbolted it, banging his head softly against the heavy wood as he lingered there. He hoped, prayed beyond all reason, that Tori could escape his sisters unscathed.
But knowing them? He knew he should probably just cross his fingers that she'd make it out alive.
{...}
Tori was queasy when she came to and wasn't entirely sure why. Her world around her rocked and swayed and she wondered, for a moment, if she had gotten drunk and passed out only to wake up still inebriated. It had happened before and hadn't made for a pleasant situation for anyone involved. Suddenly gravity tilted momentarily to the left and she followed suit, her head banging into something cold and metal. With a frustrated groan she forced her eyes open, panicking when she didn't immediately recognize her surroundings. What she became immediately aware of, however, was that the window above her head provided her with a picturesque winter scene that whizzed by at an alarming speed.
The next thing she became aware of was the fact that she was heavily restrained. In the bed of a truck.
She squirmed in the chains futilely; they were too tightly wrapped for her to get any kind of proper leverage. Her head throbbed as the vehicle continued to rock and she attempted to piece together the moments just before her "nap." "Jade… Sikowitz." She muttered, twisting her head to see if they might have been taken prisoner along with her. No… that wasn't right. They weren't there for Jade or Sikowitz. They had been there for her.
The question was though, who was them? And what did they want.
Tori wasn't eager to find out, especially once she recalled that they had been particularly interested in her cyberkinetics. This was Compass nonsense all over again. The Latina forced herself onto her back, wincing as her human arm wrenched with every pothole. She needed a plan… She needed out of these chains. She glanced down at them and knitted her brows – these were logging chains, made from heavy steel and designed to secure timber. There's no way she could warp or snap them, not even with cyborg strength.
With the physics of the situation ruling out her one and only plan she did the next best thing: she started screaming. Maybe, if she could get her kidnappers to stop the truck and check on her, she could trick them into unlocking her bindings. It was a long shot, for sure, but it was the only one she had at this point. The longer she was in the car the further she taken from Jade and the rest of her family.
The truck rolled to a stop after a few moments and she heard the door sling open with the protesting screech of metal on metal. The tailgate dropped with a thud and, as her eyes adjusted to the light, Tori realized it was the brunette… Lara, wasn't it? And she wasn't pleased. "And what do you think you're doing?" She demanded. Tori noticed she was supporting a particularly nasty black eye, as well as other contusions and lacerations that she could see. She'd taken quite a beating from her and Jade… she could only imagine how everyone else looked in the aftermath.
"I think my arm is broken." Tori whimpered, lying through her teeth.
Lara narrowed her eyes and, for a moment, appeared to contemplate investigating the situation. "There's nothing I can do for you out here." She concluded with a shrug. "Lillie's supporting a few cracked bones herself, cyborg. We're just going to have to get the medic to look at you when we get to town. I would offer you something for the pain… but the image of you violently kicking my sister in the ribs is currently seared in my brain. I don't particularly feel like helping you right now."
Tori gulped; this chick could go head-to-head with her cantankerous girlfriend as far as death-glares and dangerous tones went. Lara was completely unnerving and hadn't made a cruel threat yet. "I'm warning you, however, if you don't clam up I'll do something incredibly unpleasant." Ah, vagueness… a quality Jade lacked. The two shared a moment of intense eye-contact before Lara, refusing to break it, slammed the tailgate instead. This plunged Tori back into near-darkness and left her with only her thoughts and fears. Her one plan had failed… She was completely at the mercy of these women, whoever they were, headed to some unknown destination, wherever it was, to participate in their master plan, whatever it was.
Things were looking particularly grim for the young cyborg.
Jade had come for her before, had rescued her from the Myles and Madison and brought her back from the brink of death. She tried to cling to the fleeting hope that somehow the scientist would pull through for her again… It just didn't seem likely this time.
No. This time she was on her own. It was up to her to rescue herself. And, if she'd learned anything from Jade after all this time, it's that you either succeed or die trying, and take down as many bastards as you can in the process.