A/N: Hey, guys. Let me give you the low down on what's been happening as of late...
To keep things simple, let's only say that I was going to have a fifth year of high school (it's an Ontario thing, apparently). Unfortunately, I had too many credits, which meant I couldn't take any more classes, and I was necessary for me to remain a full-time student. So I was literally accepted to college three days into the summer.
This is all fine and dandy, but it ruined all my plans. I was sick, I was writer's block, and I was anxious knowing that I was going to be slapped into a new environment that I had to get used to. Needless to say, I didn't get much writing done this summer.
And, because I'm in a Journalism Print program, I'm not getting nearly as much writing done as I'd like. I was originally going to start uploading chapters again September 7th, but I didn't have that many, and so I decided to push it a month, which turned to two months...
What I'm trying to say is sorry for not uploading. I haven't given up on this story, but I'm eager to finish it - I was recently entered into a contest that could potentially get one of my personal creations published, and I really want to try to funnel my attention into that and school. I have a few chapters that I can upload every week or two, even though I know that's not what some of you want to hear, ha ha... Unfortunately, c'est la vie. I've got real life to attend to.
tl;dr: Author apologizes dearly. Would You Kindly lives on, but on my own terms due to real life : )
18
Canandaigua, New York
They didn't say much. It was a little uneasy, actually – the way that they just watched Elaine curiously. She'd seen those looks before from Yi Suchong and Brigid Tenenbaum, and that memory made it doubly uncomfortable. It made her feel as though she was being thoroughly inspected, like some sort of rare specimen under a microscope.
Elaine had sent all the Rianofski girls upstairs to get ready to go to bed. She and the two strangers – Robert and Rosalind, they said, were their names – sat in the den. The identical strangers both crossed one leg over the other, their backs straight as a board. Robert sat with his elbows on the arms of the chair he'd planted himself in, fingers linked across his stomach. Rosalind sat patiently on the couch, both of her hands firmly placed on top of her knee. They wore strange, old-timey outfits that matched their very professional attitude.
Surely, these people seemed civil and calm, while void of most emotion. When they arrived, they introduced themselves a 'Robert and Rosalind Lutece', and the girls all delighted in the strangers' sudden appearance. They clearly didn't arrive to cause trouble. But questions like why and how they were there still lingered.
"How…" Elaine cleared her throat, holding her hands on her lap as she sat in the chair across from the one that Robert sat in, and adjacent to the couch that Rosalind had found herself in. "How, may I ask, do you… know the Rianofskis?" She asked slowly. She wasn't entirely sure if that was the question she actually wanted to ask – she had a few of them built up.
"We come for tea every other day," Rosalind explained with an undeniably dry tone. She sounded bored. "We talk for a little while, and then we leave."
"And you two are… what? Therapists?" Elaine took a quick jab in the dark. They seemed like the sort, anyways. They definitely didn't look like they'd be a neighbor from down the road.
"That's a rather nice way of saying it, yes."
"We do tend to discuss his past problems. Though, not exactly in the way that a conventional therapist may pursue." Rosalind explained with a shrug. "Regardless, he fascinates us. As for us… likewise, I assume. Though his fascination with us isn't entirely scientific." She paused, glancing at her brother. It almost appeared as though she felt she had encroached on a totally different conversation, and was looking to her brother for a reprieve.
Elaine's eyes flicked between the two siblings for a few moments, feeling her lips purse lightly in an unconscious fashion. She had a few problems with this situation that she just couldn't quite work out. "You come here every other day." She used her fingers to keep track, pressing her index finger onto those of the other hand as she went down her imaginary list. "You know Jack well. All the girls seem to know and like you. You've obviously got some spare time to waste. And yet… you're not the ones who have been chosen to stay here and watch over the girls while their father risks his life." She couldn't help but keep the suspicion out of her voice. "May I ask why I'm here and you're not?"
"We've actually quite a busy schedule." Robert sniffed, checking out the large clock on the mantel piece, even though something told Elaine he didn't really need to. It felt more like Elaine was glancing at the first layer of guile that this man had. It annoyed her. "We've just dropped by to check in on the girls. We wanted to know how they were doing. We also wanted to know how you were doing."
"You don't need to worry about the girls or me." Try as she might, Elaine couldn't quite keep the suspicion out of her voice.
Both of the siblings didn't respond immediately. They sat in their seats, surveying Elaine with those slate-gray eyes that were just cold enough to look through her, yet to still show some semblance of emotion, however slight it may be. "We'd appreciate it if we could see the girls before we leave." Rosalind announced, standing up without warning. Her brother followed.
Elaine also stood, though it was mainly to be sure that she was to get to the stairs before the copper-haired twins did. "Leaving so soon?" She inquired without sounding the least bit disappointed. "It feels as though you just arrived."
"Doesn't it, though?" Robert chimed, rising his eyebrows for emphasis. It was strange to see such strong facial reactions from him, even if it looked forced. "It's funny, the way time works."
"Yes…" Elaine eyed the siblings as she turned to lead them up the stairs. They no longer felt like the civil and calm folk that they once came off as. They weren't yet sinister, but they definitely seemed to have their own secret agenda. Elaine just hoped that she and the girls weren't a part of it. Regardless, she knew that the girl's father kept a hunting rifle and a pistol in his office on the top floor. If she had to, Elaine would use them.
Not that she felt the siblings were a danger… But they were certainly intimidating. Not to mention creepy.
This made Elaine wonder why she was leading them up the stairs to let them see the girls. The girls obviously knew them, and the twins didn't act like they were in foreign company and home. It didn't at all change the fact that their slate-gray eyes pierced into Elaine's back as she ascended the staircase.
When the McDonagh reached the top of the stairs, she immediately noticed Sophie in the doorway of one of the rooms. Her daughter had poked her head out into the hallway just in time to catch sight of the strange visitors.
"You just missed them," Sophie announced quietly, mainly to Elaine. "They're all asleep."
"Cleaning up after their 'drawing' must have tuckered them out." Elaine, more than relieved – and willing to show it – turned to the twins. "Sorry," She hummed unconvincingly. "Looks like you just missed them." She started to usher them back down the stairs.
Robert held out his hand to stop Elaine from forcing them back down the stairs - seemingly without really meaning to. "'Drawing'?" He raised one pale, finely kempt eyebrow.
My God, did they only come here to annoy me? Elaine couldn't help but think to herself. How did they manage to make a friend in someone like Jack Rianofski?
"They – the girls – drew a picture of a lady on the carpet…" Elaine explained forcefully, and, with an exasperated sigh, added: "… with my makeup."
Robert and Rosalind exchanged glances. "Can we… see it?" The mention of this drawing seemed to take them by surprise, for some reason.
If it weren't for the fact that the girls really seemed to know these people, Elaine wouldn't have even spoken to them. They were clearly family friends, so throwing them out of the house would probably have ended badly for Elaine. However, it was getting mighty hard to not toss them out. They were creepy, and strange… and they became more suspicious the more they talked.
Nonetheless, Elaine forced a smile, and led them down the hallway to the room in which the girls drew said picture. If it got the visitors out of the house any faster, Elaine was more than happy to do it.
The door creaked slightly as Elaine pushed it open. She stepped aside to let the twins inspect it, lingering in the hallway with Sophie, who was throwing confused looks at her mother while motioning silently at the twins. Elaine simply shrugged. She honestly had no idea what these people were so Hell-bent on, or why they were so eager to loiter around the house.
Just inside the doorway of the room that they stood in, the siblings tilted their heads curiously at the drawing, standing stiffly.
"Hmm…" Robert contemplated rather audibly. "… Is it just me, or does she look quite a bit like-?"
"Quite," Rosalind interrupted knowingly. "But not quite."
"I see it."
"Mhm. I don't."
"You just don't want to."
"No, I'd rather not. There's a difference. In any case, you're wrong."
Robert halted for a moment, only to look up at his sister, before looking back at the drawing. "Black hair," He pointed out baldly.
"Far too long." Rosalind responded as though it were a perfectly appropriate answer to a statement so simple.
"Her eyes—"
"Too green."
"And her head?"
"Well, it's rather oval-shaped. Wouldn't you agree?"
"All minor discrepancies, I assure you."
"I do so hope you're joking."
"Without a cause."
Rosalind, with a small shrug of the shoulders, which Elaine assumed to be her version of laughter, turned away from the drawing and left the room, quickly followed by her brother. "The variables are growing larger…" She noted thoughtfully – just loud enough that Elaine managed to catch it as the siblings passed.
Over his shoulder with a halfhearted farewell wave, Robert called "Many thanks for the hospitality."
And, with that, they escorted themselves off of the Rianofski property.
All the doors and windows were locked, double-checked, and triple-checked. Elaine did not get much sleep that night.
The North Atlantic Ocean
Jack stared wide-eyed at the thing in front of him, having absolutely no idea what to do. All he could do was stand on the spot and not move, barely even breathing. He was afraid that moving in any way would incite the creature into attacking.
It seemed interested in Jack. Its cold, uncomfortably human-like eyes scanned him curiously as it kept itself afloat feet away from the man. The eyes, Jack was able to note after staring at them for so long, were somewhat clouded. This creature seemed to have troubles focusing on Jack, despite the fact that he hadn't actually moved. It looked like Holly was right – these things really didn't have the best eyesight. But it sure as Hell looked like they compensated in muscle power, subtlety, and speed.
Movement in the corner of his eye drew Jack's attention to a second terrifying Splicer joining the scene. This one had skin color that was similar to that of the inner flesh of a mango, with the sickly-white torso of a thin man.
The larger Splicer that had first grabbed Jack's wrist must have felt the movement in the water because it turned its head quickly in the other's direction. At quite an alarming speed, it pushed away from its spot in front of Jack, heading for the newcomer.
The two deep-sea monsters circled each other, like two safari cats that were fighting to find the weakest spot in the other's defenses. For a few moments, it looked like they were going to burst into a tussle. However, with some resolved argument, they both set the cold, clouded vision back on Jack, though their muscles were still clearly tense. Then they started towards the makeshift diver, splitting apart to get him from two vantage points.
They were going to share Jack as a meal, it seemed.
Jack had spent so much time worrying about actually dying in the ocean that he neglected to think about what he might do if he was ever in a situation like the one that he was in at that very moment. Of course, he had no idea what Sapphire's strange Splicers looked like until that point, but he, regardless, should have thought of some sort of backup plan to use in case he was ever cornered. All he had was the diver's knife that came with the diving suit he was wearing, and a diver's knife is partially blunt, and not a proper weapon – especially under water. In spite of this, he pulled the knife out, holding it at the ready. He wouldn't go down without a fight.
Just as the Splicers were about ten feet away from Jack, a small, wriggling creature slowly descended in the water between them – It was the smallest of the ADAM slugs that Holly had produced from the lobster trap. The badly deformed humans didn't pay much attention to it, at first. But it was the sickly-pale Splicer that found an interest in the slug.
It abandoned its position to shoot towards the slug, snatching it up with both hands, clutching it to its chest. The largest Splicer stopped its advance towards Jack, looking back at fleeting its companion. Jack watched – and felt – as the dark green and purple eel-like creature pushed away from its path, speeding after the smallest creature with its mouth agape.
Jack, confused and surprised, had to carefully hold himself still because of the kickback that the Splicer had created. When he forced himself to stillness, sheathing his knife, he looked down the path he had taken to get to where he was.
Holly was hurrying towards Jack, tightly gripping the two other ADAM slugs in both her hands. Her expression looked like a strange mixture of anger, terror, and panic. She shoved the slugs into Jack's arms once she reached him, and then hurried away, leading him back to the path that they had been following before they noticed the copper-haired figures.
Above them, the two Splicers had collided with one another, and where playing a game of tug-o-war over the little ADAM slug. The larger Splicer raised a foot, raking it down the chest of the pale, mango-colored creature, which tried to repeatedly snap at the other's snout. It eventually gave up on its attack on the face, and aimed for the neck of the other Splicer, clamping onto the dark, purple-skin, vigorously shaking its head like dog with a large piece of meat.
The largest twisted itself away, only to return the favor back unto its assailant, securing its jaws on the mango-colored skin of the smallest's neck. With its feet, it repeatedly scraped at its former companion, tearing away clumps of skin and muscle with its powerful strikes.
That was the last that Jack and Holly saw of those Splicers.
When they returned to the path, though they were panting and out of breath, they still did their best to hurry along to their destination without pausing. Neither of them wanted to linger around those Splicers. In fact, it was painfully obvious that neither of them wanted to be out in the ocean any longer.
By the time that they actually stopped, they were in a small-ish encirclement, surrounded by rocks and massive coral and plant life growths. Jack was only holding one of the two remaining slugs, by that time, because the other had managed to cling to his chest. Jack didn't much care, though – he was just watching Holly, waiting for her to make the grand reveal to show a secret bathysphere tunnel, or to slip behind some cleft in the rocks to show the way into the laboratory.
Instead, Holly began to climb the rocks, following a path that she evidentially knew.
Reluctantly, Jack followed, knowing that he would simply forget the path if he didn't climb up it sooner rather than later. The rocks, though sturdy and rough, were somewhat tall. This made it a little hard to climb up them without knocking one of the ADAM slugs around.
On top of the rock pile, Jack was able to look back at the building where they encountered the Splicers, which there was not a single sign of.
Holly, nudged Jack's elbow, grabbing his attention, pointed to a gap in the rocks at their feet. There appeared to be a small opening below the rocks – Sand and plants appeared to be the only thing that served as a cushioning for the duo's landing. Not that Jack was going to complain. It was better than nothing.
Jack let Holly enter the gap first and made sure that the area was clear before he followed after her. The landing, though not graceful, left Jack, Holly, and the slugs uninjured.
The cave-like surrounding was small, but lit quite well with the strange iridescent coral. Tiny fish scattered like a flock of geese, giving the makeshift divers some space. A short tunnel, which was also lit by the glowing corals, led them towards the duo's destination.
They had finally arrived at the airlock to the closed-off laboratory.