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Post by Alexis London on Jul 10, 2009 23:39:16 GMT -4
Alexis woke up without even realizing she'd been asleep. It seemed as though the night had lessened into a slightly more rainy morning. A glance at the clock told her it was almost 5 AM.
Alexis sat up, realizing without a mirror that she looked like hell. There was no need to force herself to remember what had happened. The images from last night were ingrained in her memory. It was enough to cause the tears to move towards her eyes. Alexis held them back as she looked about the room.
Something hard shifted in her back pocket. Reaching her hand inside, Alexis withdrew the keys to her car. Getting off the bed, she went to stand by the window. The car sat across the street, glistening in the faint light and rain.
Suddenly, she didn't think she could stand the grief or the guilt any longer. In this apartment, she'd gained and lost two valuable people in her life. If she stayed, if she was here when Killian Reynolds awoke....then the boy's last life was as good as gone. Alexis made up her mind as she turned from the window.
Retrieving a legal pad and a pen from a basket in the closet, Alexis sat down on the edge of the bed and wrote:
Ryden-
I can't begin to think you for your help in this situation. You're a good man and if situations were different, I would want a man like you for myself. But the situations are what they and cannot be changed.
By the time you read this, I will be gone from New York. I don't know where and I ask that you don't try to find me. When Killian awakens, tell him the same thing. He is safer without me. In the time the boy has known me, he's blown through 3 lives. I can't live with myself if he loses another at my cost. In truth, you are safer without me as well. Go to see Marisolla and break the curse for Killian's sake, but don't worry about me. I can get along with bad luck because what's the saying? Something about without bad luck, there'd be no luck at all?
If Killian wants to keep the apartment, he's welcome to it. If not, pour gasoline on it and torch it. I don't care anymore.
Try to understand this is best. I expect you'll disagree, but it is.
-Alexis
Alexis arranged the note on the bed, got up and went to the closet. Grabbing the largest bag she could find, she grabbed a handful of clothes and shoes and threw them in. Her purse was downstairs. She'd grab it on the way out. The only other thing she wanted was her computer.
She made a quick trip to the living room to pick up the item. Throwing it in the bag she'd put together, Alexis ran down the stairs to the shop without even batting an eye or stopping to look about the apartment.
Stopping long enough to pick up her purse, Alexis set out into the rain. At the car, she threw both bags inside. She realized once she was behind the driver's seat that she had no idea where she was going, she just wanted the hell out of here. Turning on the car's engine, Alexis pulled it from its parking space and onto the rain wet pavement.
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Post by Ryden Alexander Compton on Jul 11, 2009 0:21:19 GMT -4
Ryden had sat in silence as the hours ticked by in the New York shop. The city outside of the windows busteled and screamed in a demand to be heard but just the same Ryden sat and kept watch as he waited for signs of life from any of the 2 individuals upstairs who had been thrown into his life.
He had always been a patient man but as the clock neared 5 in the morning he was begiining to grow impatient for something to occur...anything really would have been better then nothing.
There it was.
There was sound above him and after a few moments time he came to the conclusion it was Alexis; he was unsure what it was she was doing but he knew it would be ebst to give her space to do what it was she needed to do and sort through her feelings in regards to everything. At the sounds of her footsteps coming down the stairs Ryden let himself out of th eback of the story and into the back alley to place a call wanting to give her adequate space and time.
Ryden spent several moments outside in the morning sky and he placed a few business calls and searched the sky before returning to the shop and the silence which surronded it was rather interesting. The silence was misplaced and Ryden made his way up the stairs and he was not entirely surprised to find Alexis's room empty and a note laid out on the bed.
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Post by Alexis London on Jul 11, 2009 0:42:06 GMT -4
The traffic on I-78 was almost enough to make Alexis turn back. Almost enough, but not enough to drown out the pit of guilt that was eating her alive. There was no snapping herself into reality. Every thought that ran through her brain reminded her that she was a vampire, and vampires ruined lives. Therefore, vampires should be alone-at least away from trying to keep up relationships with humans.
Alexis thought her car had somehow managed to get itself onto I-95 Southbound. What the hell for? And where was she going?
If she stayed in, or near, New York, then Killian might find her. And that might lead to Gardener finding both of them. So that meant she needed to get the hell out of New York. Alexis knew she needed to lose herself somewhere she had never been. Gardener was pretty good with her moves, so she needed to be careful least he turn up and finish her off.
Alexis saw a road sign pointing the direction of Washington, D.C. She had never understood why they posted signs so early. Who cared how many hundred miles were left? Tell her when there were 20.
But that was an idea. She'd never been in Washington. And it was a less than obvious place to find her. It was a big area. Surely there was somewhere in that direction that Alexis could hide. She made up her mind-she was headed for the Capital.
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Post by Killian Reynolds on Jul 11, 2009 15:29:08 GMT -4
A rather violent and abrupt intake of air and all but jumping out of his skin was not the normal way Killian woke up...and that was his first clue...the second clue was he didn't usually make it a habbit of sleeping with a sheet covering him like he was a corpse...
Oh fuck.
Shoving the sheet off of him Killian allowed his eyes to search the empty room. Everything seemed in place and calm and nothing gave way to the fact that he had been dead...except the over whelming feeling that he had been dead and over the years he had been able to peg it pretty good.
...His head didn't hurt...why?
He was pretty damn sure his head should be pounding especially considering the countless times he had nailed himself in a 24 hour period. Pulling himself out of bed with no effort...another un-nerving observation Killian stared at his un blemished appearence...nothing but the faint hints of dried blood with no wounds beneath it shown back at him.
"Oh come on!" Killian yelled back at his own reflection.
He had no idea how he had died and there was a part of him...a really large part of him that didn't want to know.
"ALEXIS!" Killian yelled as he pushed open the door to his room and went out into the hallway. The apartment and the shop were all rather silent and that was never a good sign. Glancing at his watch Killian made a note of the fact that it was 2 days since when he had looked at it last...yeah he had definetly been dead.
Not bothering to knock Killian pushed open the door to Alexis's room and found it empty but at least organized. A note on the night stand caught his eye and after several moments of reading it Killian felt the color drain from his face.
Who the hell was Ryden and why hadn't he gotten a note?!
Tossing the paper back on to the nightstand Killian made a beeline for his bedroom and fished his cell phone out of his pocket dialing Alexis's number.
A low growl escaped his lips as the call dumped into voice mail.
"Alexis call me back...now. This isn't funny."
Not waiting even a minute he dialed again and again and again. He had no intention of stopping until she picked up the damn phone.
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Post by Alexis London on Jul 11, 2009 15:58:25 GMT -4
I-95 was horrible drive. Alexis decided that the further south she got. It still wasn't enough to make her turn around. She felt sick. Since vampires couldn't exactly catch the flu, she knew it was guilt eating her up. A part of her realized she liked her life better before she could feel things like this.
"Too late to turn back down." Alexis was jolted out of her her thoughts by a ringing from her purse.
"Hhmm." While she was glad to see the phone working, it complicated her escape. Digging inside, Alexis pulled out the black and silver item.
Incoming Call from Killian
"Wonderful. Alexis opened the phone and hit the ignore button. But as soon as she'd hung up, the phone began ringing again. After it rang what seemed like a hundred more time, Alexis realized that Killian was not going to stop calling no matter how many times she hit ignore call or just plain didn't pick up.
"What do you want?" She asked, picking up the phone with her left hand and pressing it to her ear.
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Post by Killian Reynolds on Jul 11, 2009 16:05:04 GMT -4
"What do you want?"
Killian was rather surprised when Alexis actually picked up the phone he hadn't thought his telephone version of a tantrum would have worked. It never worked on his mother all those eyars ago when he had been all of 4 and wanted to go outside and had sat and asked over and over and over again and all he had gotten was a smack on the ass for his troubles...Killian had been practicing being annoying for over 300 years now.
"Alexis so nice to hear from you. How's your day going?...Me? Oh well I'm doing amazing actually...nice sunny day a bit hot though for July I didn't know New York got this hot but you know whatever works, the shop is good; all is well...one problem though..............WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
Killian paced the small bit of floor in front o fhis bed as he waited for the vocie on the other end of the phone to answer; he was less then pleased by this...by any of it!
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Post by Alexis London on Jul 11, 2009 16:18:40 GMT -4
Alexis ignored most of Killian's remarks. She hadn't really expected him to be happy about this, but it was best and he'd figure that out after a few months. Before long, he'd get over it and forget all about her. That was life and that was how things worked and Alexis wasn't going to sort out the details.
"It's not important where I am." She was glad she was a vampire and she could stay away without sleep for long periods of time. She could drive straight through to Washington without batting an eye.
"I'm glad you're all right. You can have the apartment, store and anything in it. If you need cash I'll wire it to you. Good to talk to you, Killian. Later."
Alexis flipped shut the phone. She was in Jersey, honestly, but was probably pretty damned close to driving out of that.
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Post by Killian Reynolds on Jul 11, 2009 16:34:43 GMT -4
"It's not important where I am."
"You're right it wouldn't be if you just went down to the corner to get a pizza but I hardly think a dear John letter.....not even to me mind you is something you leave when off to get pizza," Killian snapped as Alexis kept on talking apprently not listening to a word he was saying.
"I'm glad you're all right. You can have the apartment, store and anything in it. If you need cash I'll wire it to you. Good to talk to you, Killian. Later."
Killian stared at the phone in shock for several minutes as he realized she had not only blown him off but hung up on him to.
...Good times.
Restraining himself from chucking the phone across the room. Killian dialed Alexis's number again.
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Post by Alexis London on Jul 12, 2009 0:46:10 GMT -4
Alexis groaned as the phone that was now laying in her lap. Pulling the car off at the nearest rest area exit, she parked in a spot, snapped the car into drive and flipped open her phone.
"Killian, let it go." She sighed. "Please, don't make this harder than it needs to be."
She felt terrible about hurting him now in this manner, but she felt worse about potentially using up all of his lives. She didn't want to think about his life before her and now that she'd royally mucked it up.
"You've burned through 3 of your lives since we met. Killian, you had to have seen my note. It's better like this. It isn't ideal for me either, but I can't bear the thought of seeing you hurt again."
She was debating trashing her phone. Getting rid of it would cut off all her communication. It would keep Clinton from contacting her, as well as any other business associates. Maybe it was for the best. She'd disappeared in the past without a trace, she could do it again. The only complication this time was that she cared about people.
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Post by Killian Reynolds on Jul 12, 2009 10:50:02 GMT -4
Killian was about to protest the moment he heard the phone pick up on the other end but Alexis was able to get her words out first...and they were words he had heard before...words that quickly shut him up.
"Killian, let it go. Please, don't make this harder than it needs to be."
He had heard those words once before; it had been over 300 years now but he had heard them 3 days before Esther had been arrested for being a witch and sentenced to be burned at the stake.
His hand tightened around the phone if only just to stop himself from dropping it; Alexis's words hitting jst as hard if nto harder then the first time he had heard them.
"I can go...leave so you won't have to...but...you didn't even say goodbye...I mean how are we supposed to find Mary...what am I supposed to do about that? You can be as far away as Fiji if you like but we're both still cursed and that has nothing to do with you being here or not," Killian tried to expalin it to her to try and make her see his point...this was also something he had tried 300 years ago that had failed.
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Post by Alexis London on Jul 12, 2009 12:04:43 GMT -4
Alexis felt her throat tightening. She didn't want to cry again. It was the story of her life any more. She also had to admit she didn't want to leave Killian.
"I don't want you to go, hell, I don't want to go either. This has absolutely nothing to do with me not wanting to be around you." She made a half assed attempt at regaining her composure. She doubted it was working.
"But I don't want you to give up the first home you've had in 300 years."
And that officially didn't make this any better. She was two seconds from turning back, but she couldn't let herself do it.
"Ryden Alexander Compton should be there somewhere. He's Marisolla's ex husband. He'll help you break the curse. Don't worry about me though, just worry about yourself. Killian-."
Alexis heard her voice break and swallowed hard to regain the control before Killian noticed further.
"I never cared about anyone in the hundreds of years I've been alive. You were one of the first I ever did. But I already lost one of those people for good, and I've seen you lost twice now. I can't watch you die a third time, and I don't want Compton's death on my head."
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Post by Killian Reynolds on Jul 13, 2009 1:50:48 GMT -4
Killian stayed silent on his end of the telephone; his pacing had stopped and he merely stood rooted in his spot in the room his yees staring out the window. He hadn't had a home in over 300 years Alexis was more then right about that but she was missing something. He could have holed up in any empty apartment he had wanted to time and time again but it was the friendship and the whole package that had made living with Alexis feel like home.
He was losing Alexis; he could feel it...he knew this feeling well. Esther had stood in the doorway of her own hime and told him to get out, to get away that it was safer and she had turned up dead.
"...Alexis...please you're the only friend I've got...and you can call me selfish, stupid, stubborn or all of the above but as much as being around you has been an epic pain in the ass...sometimes literally, you're the only family I've had for 300 years," Killian didn't even have to close his eyes to see the faces of his parents and to see Esther they ahd been the last people Killian had allowed himself to care about and he had done so well for 300 years but now...now it was different.
"Please don't walk out on me..." Killian stated his vocie on the verge of pleading as he sat on teh edge of the bed.
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Post by Alexis London on Jul 13, 2009 6:39:27 GMT -4
Now, officially, Alexis wanted to go home. She wanted to turn back and return to the city and-.
"Killian," she reached up and wiped the tears out of her eyes. In truth, she couldn't remember having ever cared about two people in her life. Even losing her father, and then eventually being taken from her mother, hadn't affected her like this.
"The last thing I want to do is leave you. Really. I love having you around. But-."
Her voice broke off as her tears fell faster. Hurting him was like a knife through her heart. This entire situation was such a mess.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry to have to do this."
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Post by Killian Reynolds on Jul 13, 2009 23:39:39 GMT -4
"The last thing I want to do is leave you. Really. I love having you around. But-. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry to have to do this."
He was losing this arguement and it really wasn't one he could afford to lose not with everything that there was to lose. Alexis's words though cut through him each and every time more so then Killian knew she could ever imagine and with her last plea Killian's resolve broke and for several moments he hung his head and could feel the tears burning down his face.
Apprently 300 years didn't make this better...if anything it only made it worse...much worse.
"...She said the same thing..." Killian whispered his vocie heavy with grief as he spoke.
"She told me it was too dangerous...that it was better this way...she was dead 2 days later and I was dead 5 days after that. Now tell me how any of that was better then what we had before hand?!" Killian snapped his emotions getting the better of him.
He probably knew that Alexis had not a clue as to what he was talking about but just the same the dam had been broken wide open now.
"It's not easier this way...the only thing this ensure is that we'll both die alone."
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Post by Alexis London on Jul 14, 2009 6:36:34 GMT -4
Alexis felt her own tears fall faster when she realized Killian was crying. She had absolutely no idea who he was referencing. Come to think of it, she didn't know a lot about his first life-or his real life-or whatever it was you wanted to call it.
"Killian-." There was no swaying him. He was not about to see her point on this. She had two choices: one, she could take the battery out of her cell phone, throw it on the ground and drive off.
That would be real nice, Alexis. Hang up on a boy who's crying telling you that you're the first friend he's had in 300 years.
Or two, she could turn around and go home.
She didn't want to go home. That just sounded so dangerous. If Gardener came back, Killian would be dead again and she'd.
She'd be miserable. And she was already miserable. So what did it matter?
"I'll come back, ok?" She took a deep breath as the words started to flow. "Give me a couple of hours."
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