Thursday, March 24, 2011

Chapter 40 Reunion




"She's safe." The man says as we walk through a stone tunnel leading to more stairs. He speaks in a quiet voice, just to Alex and me as if he fears anyone else overhearing us though we're the only ones in the tunnel. "I made sure of that."

"Thank you," Alex says. His fingers over my hand relax ever so slightly and I wiggle my fingers with the new freedom.

"What's your name?" I ask the man as we walk in further.


He glances at me and actually smiles. "Ah, it's okay. You won't remember it anyway. Trust me."

I shake my head, unsure of what he means. I'm not usually bad with names, but perhaps he just knows something I don't.

At some point, we reach the floor where others are living and the man with no name leads us through crowds of people. I take in the sight with wide eyes. These people live underground much the same way the Southlanders were living above ground. It's almost like an underground city.


I glance up at Alex remembering how he mentioned living underground. "Is this where you lived?"

Alex shakes his head and pulls me close again as we make our way past the people, many of who have their eyes on us.

After walking through a few more tunnels, we face a door that makes both No Name and Alex clearly nervous. No Name turns to us and says, "I know where she is. I'll bring her back."

But before he can walk off, Alex stops him. "Ask someone else to do it. The front will need you."


The man looks at Alex for a moment before he nods and then heads off leaving us in front of the door.

Alex looks down at me with a hardened gaze, concern clear on his face. His fingers grip my hand tightly and I don't protest. He opens the door and we walk in.

The room is larger than the ones we have walked through previously. At the front sits a man who stands when he sees us, his eyes landing first on Alex and then on me. Behind him stands a girl close to my age. I can only assume that she's the telepath Alex warned me about as we walked through the forest. The girl has short hair and clear eyes that catch the warm light from the torch on the wall and still somehow manage to remain cold. Immediately something about her is familiar, but I force myself to focus and ignore that tingle of memory on the back of my mind.


"This is what you bring me?" The man looks exasperated. His voice is deep and in the small room it fill up the space too easily.

Alex's hand on mine is starting to hurt, but it gives me something to focus on. "She is Brandon's weakness. His pet."

The man's eyes narrow. I don't move away from Alex. There's a sense of familiarity to this man that I can't place. The memory is like a tingle in the back of my skull, and I try to duck behind Alex as both sets of eyes from the man and the woman turn on me. A shudder works its way from the base of my skull down my spine. It feels as if there are finger tips fluttering over my mind and the thoughts. I want to pull away, but there is no where to go.

The man looks up at Alex, but the girl keeps her eyes on me. "It's one way to Bennet. But she seems a little too willing."

Alex responds quickly. "I told her of my daughter."

"Is that true?" The man's gaze lingers on me for a moment before the door clicks open behind us.


Alex and I both turn our heads, not wanting to turn away completely from the man in front of us. A little girl walks in with a woman close behind her. Once she sees Alex, she freezes and then runs over to him, right into his arms. She locks her arms around his neck and holds her eyes shut tightly as Alex soothes her.

"You can go now."

At first I think he's talking to the woman who brought in the little girl, and I glance behind me to find that she's already gone. "No..." The realization burbles up and I turn back to Alex who already has his eyes on me, his brow furrowed. Even though I was prepared for something bad, I wasn't really prepared for this, not to be left behind with this man.

But Alex looks past me, his brows relaxing ever so slightly. Behind me the door opens, and in walks the last person I expect.

"Killer."



Next Chapter -->

20 comments:

  1. Well well, some interesting faces have appeared....

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  2. Sorry I'm late to the party. I just discovered this blog and read the story through from start to finish. Very gripping, I like the raw writing style. I look forward to more updates.

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  3. Oh man... I'm not even sure what I can say to this (other than the obvious "Oh, shit!").

    But yeah... wow. I think you broke my brain here (but in the best! way! ever!). Consider me sufficiently muted.

    Excellent writing!

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  4. Things are certainly racing toward their climax here. I can hazard a guess as to why Jimmy and Kyrene are there at that particular time, but knowing me I'm probably way off the mark... I think I'll wait for the official explanation ;)

    Hoo boy, I can't wait for the remaining chapters, this is getting intense :D

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  5. Showdown time!!! I just knew she was going to run into Killer at some point! :( OMG, I've never been so happy to see Jimmy and Kyrene there! (And dude, I'm always happy to see Jimmy, lol!)

    Oh, so at least there really is a daughter then. (And awww, she looks cute! I can't wait to meet her "properly"). Alex scored back a couple points in my book, for her actually existing, because I really had no idea if she did.

    Oh man, I can't wait for the next one! :o

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  6. Second thoughts - odd about that guy saying she wouldn't remember his name anyway. Very odd! "The front will need you." <-- It does seem like Alex knew they were coming then.

    At first I assumed they were after Brandon, but I guess it was always about Jimmy, wasn't it? He wanted Paula to get to Brandon, and Brandon to get to Jimmy. But he ended up getting Jimmy there anyway, lol! (Oh, and where is Brandon?)

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  7. I think the hair on No Name is what threw me off--I think I've figured out who he is now. Which brings up a whole new round of questions that aren't even about this particular story! Aaaah!

    I thought for a minute that I knew who the person behind Killer was, but it's impossible, given her apparent age (Paula's age)--she does look a lot like Vivian Bennett, though. No beauty mark above her lip, but still. I wonder if Vivian fled to this area and ended up pregnant again?

    Hmm...so it sounds like Jimmy and Kyrene must have been the couple who seemed to be looking for Alex and Paula--and if Alex wasn't worried about going into that town and didn't seem to be worried about being found by that couple, it stands to reason that he might have planned it this way all along, and was using Paula as a distraction so that the escape plan (Jimmy and Kyrene) wouldn't be detected. Maybe. :)

    Awesome chapter! I am feeling a bit more hopeful about the whole situation now (even though I could be completely wrong!).

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  8. Migy, :}


    Ocelotrkatl, welcome! I'm always amazed when someone reads through the blog. That is one great gift. Thank you very much!


    Van, LOL! This is the appropriate moment for being mute. XD

    Aw, thank you!


    poida, oh yes. We are leaping forward towards the ending! I hope I can do it justice. Official explanation will be coming right from their mouths too, lol.

    Thank you!


    Laura, lol! I'm glad to have Jimmy back. Also, doesn't he look rather sexy with some extra muscle definition? :3 You can see it on his arms.

    Yes, there is a daughter. Alex wasn't lying, hurray!

    On your second thoughts, I know, isn't that odd? That's a completely separate story line. Nicole (Lhasa) noticed that last week. That's just fun for me!

    And YES-- exactly. I was worried that I was being too subtle, but I couldn't find a way to just say it. Killer's wanted to get at Jimmy all along. And surprise! He's got him, but not in the way he really wanted him.


    Rachel, hehe I'm sure you have! I know, I'm rather evil here. You can probably guess at the other story because it won't be coming clear here!

    Also, yay for being the first person to even guess at that! The girl's heritage is important, but I'll hold off handing out clues and hope she'll reveal more of herself next chapter.

    Possibly. :) I won't say anything more than that because I might give away something, lol. But wow-- your logic is probably better than my logic.

    Thank you!

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  9. Yay, I was right, lol! And I bet Jimmy would like to get back at Killer too! Showdown! OMG, I totally can't wait until next weekend! :o

    And yes, I totally did notice the arms! *wipes drool* Killer better watch it because our Jimmy's been working out! ;)

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  10. Man, I knew you were going to leave it there!

    I'm glad Alex wasn't lying about his daughter, at least. It was still a bit underhanded how he got Paula to come with him (or totally underhanded, even) but it can be explained as a desperate father now.

    And argh, Killer and Jimmy face to face! I was getting really worried for Paula until Jimmy walked in. Like Rachel, I'm slightly more hopeful at the moment.

    I'm so excited for next week.

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  11. Aha! Now I'm even more convinced of the trick within the trick. Rachel has already picked up on the same thought that I had - that Alex knew Jimmy and Kyrene weren't far behind him which was why he wasn't worried about being tracked and possibly even why he wasn't worried when "the stranger" said his mates were close by - Alex knew his mates were also close by.

    Can't wait until next weekend, I can feel the rush towards the climax.

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  12. I can't leave a comment. I'm leaving one but I really can't say a single damned thing. Yes she knew she was a pawn and yes she knew he was using her and she knew.

    I hope my cynical awful me is not right.

    God you are good.

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  13. Carla, of course I would. This entry was already two pages long. That's longer than most entries!

    True, it was very underhanded, but at least he wasn't completely lying so there's that!

    Ah Jimmy to the rescue! Hopefully no one saw that coming, lol.

    Thank you!


    Judi, LOL! You're so onto me. :) That whole scene with the stranger was mostly to drop clues too. No Alex didn't have to worry about the Stranger's friends. He also didn't have to be the one to kill him...

    Thank you.


    SB, I'm afraid you are pretty close to right. Any way you look at it, she was used as a pawn. Even if he had good reason, he was still using her as bait. He had other reasons though, so hopefully they redeem him a bit, but still he wasn't exactly innocent in this.

    Thank you. I do think I cheat.

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  14. *taps* Hello, hello? Is this thing on? :D Had to do that; for some reason the last comment I made didn't take *shrugs*. So once more...what on earth is going on here?!

    How long have these two been shadowed? Did Paula's father send his people after her and Alex, did they come on their own? KILLER!! Screams OMG OMG OMG

    ROFL - Okay, I'm a little excited. Never let it be said that you don't have talent m'dear. I'm so looking forward to the next chapter!

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  15. So this would also explain why Alex was insistent on leaving the facility through the door they entered, for Jimmy and Ky to keep with them. It would also explain, why in the future (in Killers story) he's trying to make a deal with Michael to take care of him, and how he knows his abilities don't work on "Bennet". And I totally remembered who "Dave" was when he told Paula she wouldn't remember his name. So, if he is working for Killer, than it makes sense that in Michael and Edith's story, he would show up to get rid of Michael, because Michael slighted Killer in not helping them. If any of that even makes any sense.

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  16. Well, that's some revelation right there.

    Alex has a daughter - she's the bait I take it. Paula is the prey. I still can't figure Alex's motives just yet.

    The plot thickens.

    That first part, when the man tells Paula that she won't remember his name anyway, my first thought was that perhaps someone in this underground city had the ability to wipe her memory or parts of it or convince her mind that some things weren't important enough to mention and/or dwell on. Kind of like when some mages are able to cast a spell to make people's eyes slide over them without any sort of reaction. The mage isn't invisible as such but they encourage anyone who looks at them not to take any notice.

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  17. Velvet, ah sorry! Darn blogger! I'm half sure that a lot of the time it's the word verification thingee at fault. Because if you don't enter it right, the little yellow warning looks exactly the same as the little yellow "this post is saved." I have closed out comments when I got the WV wrong and the comment was not saved!

    lol! Aww, thank you Velvet. I really appreciate your enthusiasm and I hope I can deliver! *is a little nervous* A Jimmy and Killer showdown might just be the most difficult thing I've tried to do so far.


    Migy... :D You're on it now too. The thing with Alex insisting they leave through the same entrance they entered was another clue I threw in. I was a little worried that people might assume I was just being crazy with some of the things Alex has done on this trip because out of context I'm sure they look stupid so either he or I were looking rather incompetent, lol.

    Also, ha, yes! More connections. Oh phew! SO glad this is coming together for people other than just me. Just for that I think we owe you a hamburger one of these days. XD


    Carnaxa, Don't worry. Alex's motives will probably become clear in a couple more entries. They are rather murky. There's a lot that he isn't saying.

    Ah! You are definitely picking on a clue. Yes, I'd say that the mage/spell analogy is correct. This person's powers work exactly like that. It sort of makes things fuzzy...

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  18. Heh, I'm open to a burger ^^

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  19. Wonderful twist, and oh yes, I noticed the extra muscle on Jimmy. He will need it if he is crossing sword with evil ass Killer. And shut my mouth there was a daughter. Who knew? Well, you obviously. Off to read a little more~

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  20. Thanks! Haha oh yeah, Jimmy buffed up recently thanks to a new EP. My favorite shot of his new muscles is still ahead.

    And there indeed really was a daughter. :) Thanks for reading! (And you know, putting up with me and my crazy odd turns.)

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