| Room Sixteen |
[17 Dec 2005|01:24am] |
So finally, a location had been found, and the two men so set on finding Rhiannon now paused outside before taking further steps forward. One had already lit a cigarette whilst the other peered around the corner and swallowed hard.
Matthew was surprisingly relaxed and much to his delight, Joseph hadn't questioned him when he had returned to Joseph's apartment. He had taken some time to walk out his troubled thoughts and had stored Elfleda’s stone back into the boot of his car. It was better he didn't have direct contact with it; it only clouded his thoughts and muddled his intentions until he could no longer tell right from wrong.
Smoke curled as a slow drag caused the red tip to burn brightly. "I'll be in the car if you need me," he muttered as he flicked ash to one side, until the flecks scattered across the pavement beneath their feet.
"You're not sticking around?" Joseph questioned as he angled his head to glance up at Matthew. His body was resting against the wall behind him, as he still didn't have the strength it took to keep himself on his own two feet. A glint of silver hinted at the necklace he wore beneath the black shirt that adorned his torso. His hands lingered in the depths of dark jeans.
A wry look of amusement flickered across Matthew's features. "This is something that you and Rhiannon need to work out between the two of you." His fingers brought his cigarette back up to his lips. "She and I can sort out things later." He lifted his shoulders casually and then dropped his arm along with the cigarette clasped in that hand to his side.
Matthew turned his head to breathe out the smoke that had started to burn a path down the back of his throat.
Joseph pressed his palm into the wall and pushed himself away from it before he wiggled his fingers. "Can I have a drag?" He believed he needed the relief from stress that the nicotine seemed to provide. Fuck good habits, fuck clean lungs, Joseph wanted a cigarette and he wanted one now.
The Watcher presented the cigarette to Joseph and murmured, "Knock yourself out."
He took the cigarette and considered it for a very long moment until he placed it to his lips and breathed in the very thing he had beaten ,due to going cold turkey back in that camp. "Dio mio..." Joseph muttered, voice and tone thickening as he enjoyed a very familiar sensation -- a sensation he had gone far too long without.
"Like I said, I'll be in the car if you need me," Matthew muttered as he took a few backward steps and then turned. His hands curled at his sides before his body seemed to vanish into the depths of shadow. It was almost as if the shadows themselves followed him, until a darkness seemed to fill the spot he had once occupied.
Joseph eyed the spot where Matthew had been standing a few moments ago, and then took a breath as he brought the cigarette back to his lips once again. He'd smoke it, and then he would move and knock on that door.
Inside room sixteen of the Outpost Motel, the television was on mute. Rhiannon didn’t care much for hearing it, but she liked the play of light off the dingy walls. From time to time, she’d neglect what she was doing and watch the screen. It was inexplicable, but having it on reminded Rhiannon that she wasn’t alone.
Easy to forget that here. The motel was nowhere near booked. For the previous two days, hers had been one of five cars in the cracked lot. And none of the others close. Housekeeping had left her alone, after an unpleasant encounter that left their ears blistered, and Rhiannon slamming the door hard enough to splinter the frame.
Strange how she preferred it that way, yet still found comfort in signs of a world beyond room sixteen. One she planned to rejoin soon.
Rhiannon uncapped a yellow highlighter with her teeth. A bit at a time, the chiseled tip colored a brilliant streak across an unfolded map. It was one of several stretched across the foot of her bed, marking the most efficient path to Chicago, and Kara, a Slayer she’d met in Cleveland two years before.
It wouldn’t be easy to leave. But there wasn’t really a choice for her. And no matter how --
Rhiannon’s marker paused. A flood of yellow ink crept outward from the tip, and marred her careful line. She took the cap out of her mouth and watched the door, half-expecting a fog of black to creep underneath, and solidify into the shape of the Corruptress.
Nothing happened. She would’ve sworn, though, that Elfleda was out there. Just on the other side of the door, or maybe a bit beyond. Now moving in another direction, farther away, and then stopping altogether.
‘What the hell is she doing here?’
Without a word, Rhiannon capped the highlighter and unfolded her legs. She wasn’t in a hurry to confront. But hadn’t she warned the entity that she’d chose in her own time? In her own way? Rhiannon’s stomach burned, in a mixture of anxiety and anger, and perhaps blood reacting to a magnetically familiar presence.
At the door, she bent and tugged on boots, snapping the laces tight, and pulled her jeans down over them. She snatched her room key off the window sill and went outside.
It was dark out, and cold. Mid-forties at best, with a sharp wind whipping around the corner. Rhiannon pulled the door shut and rubbed her arms. Brought the sleeves down over her fingers, and looked up and down the sidewalk. Empty.
She wet her bottom lip, and chewed on the inside of it. Then started moving in the direction of the corner, with the wind pushing her hair off her forehead, and bringing the scent of cigarettes with it. She slowed down before rounding it.
Something was off, didn’t feel quite right. Or rather, it felt familiar in the wrong ways. Rhiannon watched the shadows for a few seconds, and finally took a step that brought her around to other side, where the glowing tip of that cigarette hovered in the air, right next to Joseph’s profile.
“Oh…”
Rhiannon looked over her shoulder, confused but finding nobody other than him. It felt like her chest was caving in. Then, “Shit.”
( Unspoken Before, Now Said )
( Stay With Me )
( Feeling Familiar, Never Stop )
( Say It's Okay (Adult Content: Sexuality) )
( Cuore, My Heart )
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