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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 11, 2016 20:50:32 GMT -5
Taken aback by her outburst, he nods his head. "Yes, Clue. He's gone." he says quietly. "But right now I need you to forget about him. We are out of time and we have to go and go now!" She nods silently. Helping her to her feet, Lawrence wraps his arm around her, grabs the bags and steers her down the alley away from the body. Emerging into the light he hails a cab and in moments they are moving quickly towards the train station. As the cab careens in and out of traffic he holds on to Clue to try and comfort her as well as keep her from bouncing around. She doesn't acknowledge anything, just stares out the window. Screeching to a halt at the station Lawrence bundles up Clue and their things, pays the driver and makes for the ticket window.
Picking up the tickets they only have 5 more minutes before the train leaves. Making their way along the platform Lawrence locates their train. Finding an empty cabin aboard he sets Clue into the window seat and stows their luggage. Sitting down next to her he leans her seat back. "We have a two hour trip ahead, rest now. I'll be watching over you." She nods and closes her eyes. As the train pulls out of the station he can't help but watch her sleep. "Poor soul." he thinks. Then a thought strikes him like a thunderbolt. "She killed a man to save my life. She really does care about me." Looking down at her a feeling he can't describe now burns within him. He silently swears that he will do everything in his power to keep her safe. And after today he knows she will do the same.
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 11, 2016 21:37:25 GMT -5
The train rocking helped. Or at least she thought it was the train rocking her. Lawrence was there. She could feel him. Not from a touch, but on an energetic level. She didn't want to open her eyes, but didn't want to keep them closed either. Sleep? What was that? It was more like her body just closed down. The pain in her body was starting to break through. The pain in her heart didn't register. She was numb.
She was less than numb. Hollow. Empty. And yet teetering on the verge of a complete psychotic break or maybe a mental one. Who knew? She'd just killed a man, to save them both and she was having all kinds of trouble settling with it.
Blinking, awake physically, but still completely shut off inside, she turns her head to stare at Lawrence. A small part of her registering basic things like the train still moving and that he is there, but she's barely clinging to reality. Her eyes blink, more in preservation than on purpose. Her heart still beats, and lungs still expand and contract, thanks to their being involuntary actions. Her mouth feels pasty and dry with a strange mixture of sickeningly sweet something, and metallic.
The pain in her wrists is starting to register. The pain in her shoulders and back a dull ache that will grow. Everything is muffled still. The sound of the train brakes are little more than a higher pitched buzzing noise. Adrenaline gone, her body is lifeless. Everything still attached but none of it feels right. The tears start again. Falling from the corners to trail silently, wet, beyond sad, down her cheeks to run down her neck and be caught by her shirt.
With effort she moves her hand, a few fingers reaching out a little to touch the only thing that she knows is real in this utterly surreal alter universe she's in. Lawrence.
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 11, 2016 22:09:30 GMT -5
Pulling her in close to him he gently wraps her in his arms. "It'll be alright,darling. It will be alright." He dabs her eyes with a handkerchief retrieved from his pocket. "Shhh, easy now. I've got you." he says tenderly. But inside his heart is torn open. To see someone he cares so much for fall to pieces is almost more than he can bear. But he holds himself together and hopes her as well. He holds her, stroking her hair and lightly kissing her forehead. Knowing she is in that place between dreams and reality he whispers in her ear "Come back to me. Please come back to me, I can't do this without you."
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 11, 2016 22:48:06 GMT -5
Feeling him gather her close, she welcomes it. The heat from his body warms her, stopping the last of the shivering. The way his hand strokes her hair is tender and comforting. His lips on her forehead begin to melt the ice of the nothing where she is. His heartbeat becomes a mirror to hers, showing it what to do, how to beat. It breathes life back into her. His arms like shields to the world around her, and the horror within. Like a fortress of solitude only for her. His words, the only sound she can hear in her soul. Together they show her the path back.
Without a thought to what she is doing, she tips her face up to his, brushing her lips lightly, tentatively against his. Quietly. Tenderly. Resting her head on his chest and sinking in to the cocoon he offers, she sighs. Listening to the sound of his heart, his life beating, she closes her eyes again. Floating in the inbetween, she grabs hold of the tiny strand of reality he offers like the lifeline he intends it to be and clings. Knowing he'll guide her.
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 11, 2016 23:03:54 GMT -5
Looking down at her he sees a flicker deep in her eyes. "Yes, that it! Come back now, keep your eyes on me Clue. Watch my eyes Clue." he says excitedly. Slowly, moment by moment she begins to return to him. Her color comes back, the coldness of her skin is replaced by warmth. Even the rosiness of her cheeks begins to return. His expression which had been locked in a grimace turns to a grin and he encourages her back. "That's my girl, come on you're almost there! Don't quit on me now!" he urges. In a few moments her eyes return to normal and for the first time he feels like she can see him. He sits there still holding on to her and he stares deeply into her eyes, "Oh man." He sighs relieved, "I really thought I had lost you for good."
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 11, 2016 23:17:26 GMT -5
She offers him a small smile. "He looks so relieved!", she thinks. Feeling liked she's come back from the dead she starts to finally take in what's happening. Wrapped in his arms like a porcelain doll, they are alone in the train car. Clue sits up a little to look at Lawrence. She sees that sparkle in his eyes. The relief truly on his face. He looks like he's aged a little and wonders what the heck had done that so fast.
Her ears aren't quite clear so sounds are still a little muffled, until she speaks for the first time and it's like a megaphone in her head, "Where are we going?"
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 11, 2016 23:37:04 GMT -5
With that question Lawrence knew she was alright and it was time to get back on track. (So to speak) "We're heading to Cloud's Hill, a little cottage my family left me just outside of Wareham in Dorset. There isn't much there but it's a safe place to work and we'll be able to see anyone coming a mile off." he said confidently. "We should be getting in, within the next 45 minutes or so. From the station we'll have to take a taxi out of town about 20 minutes to get there. There are no provisions there so we'll have to grab some basics before we leave Wareham. How are you faring?" he asked squeezing her hand.
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 11, 2016 23:48:25 GMT -5
Squeezing back she says "It is a bit like visiting the first stage of hell - gruesome and horrifying -then being thrust into purgatory in Siberia - cold, nothing, without sound, light, love - and then being dropped back into your body after climbing back up the rabbit hole. It had to be done but there's no going back to before." Rolling her wrists and rubbing the aches in her forearms she rises. A little unsteady on the moving train and on her own feet, she needs to move and stretch. The ordeal has left her stiff and sore in more places than she's cares to admit.
While stretching out she asks Lawrence "Did that man call you Captain?"
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 12, 2016 0:08:12 GMT -5
Setting back in the chair he thinks back to the alley. "Yes, as a matter of fact he did. He must have seen me with you the night before in my uniform." Lawrence surmised. "I grabbed his papers before we left and have them in my bag along with the other agent's things. Perhaps when we get to Clouds Hill we can set them side by side and see if there is anything to be found." Looking back out the window he says, "In all the commotion afterwards I never got to say thank you for saving my life. Before a few hours ago I had no doubt that you could do the job but I had serious doubts you could pull the trigger on someone. I can freely admit now that I was wrong." he offered. "Last night at the church you swore to me you would watch my back and you have proven that. I have a new respect for you I can't even begin to describe. But the one thing that surprises me more than anything is not that you saved my life, but with our dance in the square this morning without even knowing, you saved my soul."
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 12, 2016 1:03:27 GMT -5
Touched by his confession, she walks to him. Laying a hand on his shoulder , she stands by him looking out the same window, watching the world fly by. "You have done a good bit of saving yourself you know. You brought me back. I'd have been lost without you and been stuck in a very dark place. And probably apprehended by the authorities if you hadn't gotten me out."
Looking down at him, she squeezes his shoulder, knowing that she can trust this man to be there with her when it gets hard. She will protect him and he her.
Not entirely sure what to do in this moment, her mind switches to making a list of required provisions they will need for Clouds Hill. Mentally clicking through the more tasty of the dishes the Boarding School Mistress taught them, she sits again with Lawrence. Gone is the awkwardness she felt the day before. Gone, the rigidness of comportment and staunch manners. Replaced by trust, comfort and caring. A kind of bond that happens between two people who have seen the vulnerable side and the strength of human character and put their own life on the line to save that of another.
He had no idea that the first night, when that night terror gripped her, that his tenderness saved her right back.
Her list made. Her aches slowly subsiding. Her hearing returned, mostly. She relaxes and turns to him and says, "Did you remember to pick up my beretta from the room at the inn? Your Webley is clearly in fine working order but is more suited for you than me. With all of this business we've already had, I'd like to know we are both armed."
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 12, 2016 11:11:17 GMT -5
"Indeed I did. I also have a few things stashed away in Clouds Hill that will be a little better suited to what we are about to do." he said. Pulling into the station they gathered their bags and made their way across the platform. Wareham was an historic market town of about 6,000 sitting on the edge of Poole harbour. Having been gone a long time Lawrence stopped on the platform and took a moment to get a full breath of air. "Feels good to be back." he says quietly. Turning down the high street he spotted a few shops nearby. "Here is where we'll pick up some supplies. Since there are considerably fewer cameras here we should be able to move around with relative impunity" he reasoned. "I do have a car out at the cottage but it has not been used in sometime but I believe I can have it running again in short order."
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 12, 2016 11:28:25 GMT -5
"Good." Looking around she finds the immediate area to have a quaint charm. Her mind finally clicked into their most pressing task, she takes him arm.
"Lead on, Captain!"
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 12, 2016 16:31:04 GMT -5
Walking down the street they duck into a Supermarket and begin purchasing food and other basics. As with the last shopping trip Clue led the way and Lawrence in a daze followed behind. After getting checked out Lawrence hailed a cab and loaded all of their bags aboard. As the cab makes its way through the countryside Lawrence looks out the window. "Hasn't changed much" he notes. He thinks back to the last time he was here nearly 3 years ago. He was a different man back then. Would he even recognize that man if he saw him now? The questions swirl in his mind for a while longer until at last they arrive. The cabin looks the same as it did when he left. "Grass could use a trimming." he thought. Collecting Clue and the baggage he got the door open and they stepped inside. "Ah, here we are!" Lawrence said cheerfully. "What do you think of the place?"
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 12, 2016 17:55:20 GMT -5
Looking at the little cottage, it's three rooms and the bones of what will become a place filled with puzzles and clues and thoughts, she nods her head at Lawrence, "This will do nicely! Though, I dare say there is a bit of a problem. I noticed coming in there was a greek inscription above the door. I can understand the sentiment, therein, but I will worry about a great many things. Why I do that, is because there is life to live. When this is all over, I want to make sure that we are the ones that get to do that living. I dare say as well, that I am not sure I am able to stay here though. It appears that I am a bit of a care upon you, and you sir, are quite unique yourself."
Laughing she turns a slow circle around a room filled with books, taking it in and thinking, in any other circumstance she would be in absolute heaven in a space such as this.
"Smell the air here Lawrence! Oh, such a clean, fresh invigorating smell!"
She comes alive in this place. A complete turn, for the moment, from what happened that morning. The lawns lush and green serve to remind her of the simple beauty in nature and in life. A light breeze rustles the trees and sends birdsong to her ears, making her laugh and dance back outside, entirely forgetting Lawrence and his packages. Sound returned to her, and in a manner void of atrocity, it's like she is discovering it again, anew.
Wanting to feel the grass, she quickly pulls of her boots to walk in it. Tilting her face up to the sky, she closes her eyes to shield them while she lets her skin drink in the suns rays. They alight strands of her hair, and dance over her face as a few clouds float by on the breeze. She turns a slow circle, her arms spreading out to open herself to the world. Forgetting all about what has already happened and the mission.
Finishing her circle, she opens her eyes and looks around the shrubbery. Noticing a small, flitting butterfly she stops to watch it. Joy. Pure and easy, written all over her face. And a wonder, like a small child discovery the world, lights her eyes.
Different than earlier this morning, in the square, dancing with Lawrence, because there is a place deep within that this joy will never touch now. Joy all the same.
She laughs as the butterfly floats around her head for a brief moment.
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 12, 2016 19:02:15 GMT -5
Getting the rest of the baggage in and the cab on its way Lawrence stepped back in the house. "Clue?" he calls out. Nothing. Looking through the cottage he finds the back door open and Clue's boots lying on the ground. Not far off he can see her barefooted, drinking in the sun and dancing around in the open meadow. Laughing to himself at such a display he turns over an old bucket and sits down to watch. He watches her flit about taking in every sight and smell. As he watches he realizes this is what it is about her he truly loves so much. Until now he hadn't put a name on this feeling for her that had been fostering within him. But sitting there watching her run about like a schoolgirl he realized that's what it truly was. "How could that be?" he thought. They barely knew each other. "Then he thought back to something his grandfather had told him on the subject. "When you know, you know" he had said. And at that moment Lawrence knew. He had known since the Sitting Room but he wouldn't believe it. Hearing her laugh brought him back to reality. Looking down the hill he sees her giggling as a butterfly wafted above her head on the breeze. Standing to his feet he realizes he had better catch her before she runs off too far.
Laughing heartily he moves quickly down the hill towards her. "Clue you silly girl, where are you going?"
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