AN: Which do you prefer: Teal Chapters or Mark Chapters?
RISES IN THE EAST
[Teal]
Teal did a major no-no.
Captain Vincent's murder was all over the newsbooks the next day. The guards were out in force, picking out suspicious individuals and taking them in for questioning. Criminals were still staying in the shadows due to Teal's killer work ethic, so the list of suspects was almost nonexistent. That didn't stop them from coming to her home and questioning her.
"We know you do regular patrols at night." One guard would begin. "Did you happen to see anything last night? Were you in the area?"
"I don't know. I was on the lower levels last night. Where did you find Vincent?"
"The upper levels." The guard leaned back. "Alright then. It was worth a shot. Thank you for your time."
"Do you have any leads?" Teal asked quickly.
"None." She internally breathed a sigh of relief. "But we're not giving up."
He made to stand, but words tumbled out of Teal's mouth. "I-I can help you look for his killer. Just tell me what to do or where to go, and-and I can help with the investigation. I can help. Just keep me in the loop and I can help."
"It's alright, Larkspur." The guard's partner assured. "This is a personal matter now. We'll find the bastard that did this."
"Veronica is discussing the death penalty with the king as we speak. With any luck, she'll get to shoot on sight." He spoke grimly. "But we need to do our due diligence and find the culprit."
"You'll keep me posted if you find anything, won't you?" Teal asked rather insistently. "Any leads in suspects I can help bring in...?"
"Of course. We'll let you know if we find anything."
The guards cleared out of Teal's home, and as soon as the door closed, Teal fell backwards onto the floor with her fist in her mouth.
"Nnnnnnn!" She whined past her fist.
The guards didn't see her last night. They didn't have any clues linking her to the crime scene, but they were crawling all over the kingdom seeking out suspects anyway. They were all trying to sniff out her involvement, and it made her heart thunder in her ears.
It was equal parts exhilarating and terrifying.
Teal gazed up at the ceiling as she let the quiet and security of her home sink in. She breathed through her nose and held it for a few seconds before exhaling out her mouth.
No more killing on my nighttime patrols. I need to lay low for a while. She thought to herself. Wait until this Captain thing blows over before doing anything stupid. I didn't mean to kill him last night. Things just got out of hand - he shouldn't have tried to take me in. Vincent shares the blame.
It was fine, though. She was good. She was cool. Cool cool cool. She just needed to give fighting a rest. Too much of a good thing and all that.
That left her the whole day to do... what exactly? She kicked her legs idly as she considered her options. What did she use to do before getting hooked on killing? Oh, right! Stunts! Sports! Working her body!
"I'll hit the gym for a bit." She sat up, drawing energy from the idea. "Help clear my head."
And so began the hardest week of Teal's life.
The gym was a decent distraction. Push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squats, punching slime. It got her to sweat and exert her idle muscles. She also got many appreciative looks from the other gym members, delighting in how she distracted them. Her personal favorite was when a parkourist ogled her body a little too long, slipped on a block's edge, and face planted into the carpeted floor. That made her giggle, and she enjoyed the cold shower after as it soothed her sore muscles.
But after?
After, that prickling itch at the back of her mind came back. It reared its head before she even made it home. Suddenly every person she passed looked like someone she could sink her fists into. She ducked into a restaurant halfway home and ordered her favorite meat dish and spoiled herself further with a whole cake, just for her. She lavished in the energizing sugar rush and hummed in pleasure at the steak cooked to perfection.
But such pleasures only lasted until she got home. When the itch started to rise, she rinsed out her mouth and dove into bed to sleep it off.
Her dreams were filled with violent clashes between herself and Daymonte's guards. The cries of her foes and meaty impacts that reverberated through her bones were so vivid and detailed that when she awoke, she was convinced they had been real only to realize they weren't and she had to start the day unsatisfied. The itch kept coming back.
She staved off the itch by spending every waking moment keeping herself busy. It didn't matter with what, she just knew she had to run herself so ragged she wouldn't be able to think. She tidied up her apartment. She took up brewing alcoholic potions with little success. She volunteered to build homes for the poor. She constantly called up her friends to hang out and do something - Anything. She did so much to tire herself out and try to forget the itch. It was only ever dulled, her dreams returning it to the forefront of her mind. Other things just weren't as fun as killing folks.
She knew her boredom was bad when, one night, she actually flipped through the pages of her old redstone engineering textbook, making an effort to understand the words. It was one of the books you keep on your shelf to appear smart but never read. After wasting an entire afternoon on that, she drifted off and woke up the next morning from a delightful dream of beating up redstone nerds, her head using the textbook as a pillow. She pitched the book out her window out of frustration. While chucking the thing felt good, it didn't last, and she was left as bored as when she began.
The constant guard presence wasn't helping. Everybody was so whipped up over Vincent's murder that there were guards on every street on every level. They watched the people like hawks, determined to root out their Captain's killer. Everytime Teal spotted one she feared they would sense the burning itch under her skin that felt like it was screaming to be let out. She was nervous and twitchy holding back her impulses, her heart beating like crazy. Her hair was frizzy and disheveled, having forgotten to wash it.
One night, when she knew she couldn't handle another vivid dream of bare-fisted violence, she just laid awake in her bed, counting the specks of her stone roof aloud, her pupils dilated and a bit of drool leaking out the corner of her mouth. Her hands were clutching her arms so tight she left red marks. She was like that until dawn before she got up and walked out as if in a trance.
The outings with her friends soon became awkward as they took notice of her deteriorating physical and mental state. She pushed the stew around her bowl, not feeling hungry, her eyes dull and empty, her hair and skin a mess and the red marks standing out under her fishnet sleeves.
"Is everything alright, Teal?" Keara asked worriedly. "You've hardly spoken or eaten and you look... well... How'd you put it, Tomas?"
"Like you've been stuffed into a closet full of chickens and not let out for three days."
"That's it."
"Nnn..." Teal shrugged noncommitally. "I've just... been feeling down nowadays."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Keara volunteered, one hand touching Teal's supportively. "Whatever you need, we're here for you."
"Absolutely." Tomas chimed in.
"...Thanks." Teal muttered emotionlessly. "Just being with you two... it helps take my mind off things."
"Well we love hanging out with you, Teal. In fact, we should all do something! A vacation." Keara clapped her hands energetically. "That's what we need. A few days spent away from it all."
"Yeah. We could go camping." Tomas suggested. "Or the beach."
"You just want to see us in swimsuits."
Tomas made an overdramatic sound of shock. "I, madam, am appalled you'd think so little of me! I am a gentleman!"
"A gentleman I've caught more than once staring at Teal's ass."
"For the fifth time, I thought I saw a bat!"
Teal tried to smile at their exchange but all she could manage was a grimace before the waitress came back and took her full bowl of stew away. Her eyes kept flashing to the other patrons whenever they got a little too noisy and fantasizing herself kicking the shit out of them. Her body ached to lash out at something - anything - and she couldn't drown out that pervasive itch under her skin.
All she could think of while with her friends was how she wished she was away from them so she could beat people to death, but she knew she couldn't or she'd get caught, but she wanted it, but she'd go to jail or be hunted down, but she really wanted it. Like really, really wanted it. She never knew how badly she could want for something as she did right then. It was maddening. She felt like she was coming undone.
On the outside, she went through the motions of being with her friends with the occasional noncommittal noise, but on the inside she was screaming for the urges to stop. She just needed something to scratch that itch.
After the meal was concluded and she said a curt goodbye to Keara and Tomas, she sprinted as fast as she could and didn't stop - not even when her muscles and lungs burned - until she got home. Then she threw open the door and threw her head under the cold shower water, her palms slamming against the walls as she screamed through her teeth.
Dear Jeb, I'm going through withdrawal. She laughed nervously to herself while gripping her arms tightly and hugging herself in her home. I'm going through murder withdrawal. What's wrong with me?
The next night was the worst yet. Nothing abated. Teal found herself pacing her room, mumbling to herself, pinching herself, reaching for the door before forcing herself back when she knew what she'd do out there. Her fists swung out against her wall, punching stone until it or her fists broke. She pulled at her hair, bit her nails, sunk her teeth into her arm and screamed while squatting against the carpet.
She needed to do something!
She compromised with her urges by throwing open her door and running out into Daymonte under the light of the full moon. She ran and ran and ran to work off the itch. She ascended the many levels of Daymonte to the edge of the X-shaped chasm and ran some more, climbing the Ohm Mountains to the east and then going further by climbing Ohm Tower - the source of the daylight detectors that powered Daymonte's lamps.
There at the top, with wind blowing through her hair and her body exhausted, she threw her head back and screamed her pant up frustration to the moon like a howling wolf.
Following that, she went limp and fell back spread-eagle and asleep. She laid on that tower all night until first light assaulted her eyelids.
The itch came back worse than ever.
Teal hunched over, her head between her knees and her hands grabbing her hair as she started to tear up. She couldn't shake the itch no matter how hard she tried. There was only one thing for it, but she couldn't. The guards were out looking for her! She couldn't!
"Someone up here?" She flinched as some Crafter came up through a trapdoor. "Hey! Who are you? You can't be up here, miss."
Teal's eyes were shadowed as she looked at the Crafter like a dog would a piece of meat.
"Miss, I'm afraid you'll have to come with me. This area is restricted to Crafters licensed under the Daymonte Public Works Commission. How you even got up here is beyond me."
He was just some random public works guy doing his daily maintenance. The odds of him crossing Teal's path may as well have been the odds for and against lightning striking, yet here he was, making Teal's traitorous mind start whispering orders to satisfy that insufferable itch of hers.
"...Get away..." She tried.
"What?" He asked rudely. Too rudely.
Teal snapped.
[MURDER UNDER THE FULL MOON! THE WEREWOLF STRIKES AGAIN]
[The Head and gear of one Nate_Wilke - a member of the Daymonte Public Works Commission - was found splayed out atop Ohm Tower yesterday afternoon. Guards believe the murderer to be the same one that murdered Captain Vincent_Brocolo over a week ago. The nighttime murders coupled with the strange howling heard the night of the full moon prior to the discovery of the victim leaves this newsbook calling the murderer the Werewolf. Citizens be advised to stay indoors at night and report any unusual activity to the local guards, which will henceforth step up patrols to try and catch this killer. Captain Velocishot announced in a press conference how-]
Teal tossed the newsbook in the trash. Her face and clothes were clean, her hair was silky smooth and cutely arranged in her signature ponytail, and she looked to have finally had a good night's sleep. She felt better than she had all week.
And whenever that itch comes back, I know now to scratch it in secret as the Werewolf. Gosh, did they really have to name me that? Makes me sound like some sort of psycho.
She walked outside with a beaming smile and went about her day as normal.
AN: I really think I did a good job capturing the ticks associated with withdrawals.