Players:
Summary: Even in the depths of Hell on Earth, hope can light the dark places…
Date: January 16, 2010
Log Title A Thread of Faith
Rating: PG-13
NYC—Castle Dungeon
In the lowest level of the castle is a dungeon with cages that dangle from the ceiling ranging in various sizes. There are fire pits all around and just a dark and hopeless feeling about the place. Spells are in place to keep those captured from using their mutant powers. Chains hang from the walls and it's unbearilby hot down here. The room looks like it's designed to hold and torture it's prisoners.
It's been a bit since the theatre. Laying in the floor of the cell, with a blanket around her, is Rashmi. Lucas is sitting in the hall on the other side of the bars, leaning against the wall. He's still wearing only the pair of boxers and the tie around his neck, and he has a kayak oar in his gloved hand, which he is tapping on the bars in boredom.
Rashmi stirs on the floor of the cell, loosing a pained groan. Slowly, her head rises, eyes foggy from the pounding headache assaulting the back of her head. "Wh…. Wh'r 'm I?"
Lucas hops to his feet, holding the oar like it was a giant staff. He smiles, "Hey beautiful! Welcome back," he offers, with his little southern drawl. He has her in the cage, but has not lifted her off the ground into the air yet. "How you feelin'?"
Rashmi rubs the heel of her hand on the bridge of her nose, trying to pull the shards of her wits back together. Once she's mostly conscious, and realization strikes, she skitters back in the cage, her back slamming painfully against the bars. "…Lucas… where am I?"
Lucas walks across the front of the cage, dragging the end of the oar across the bars with a *clank clank clank clank*. He smiles, "Relax. Ya'll are with me. You love me, right?"
"Yes, Lucas," she says softly, pulling her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. "I do… but… You're not you, right now… Why did you *do* this to yourself?"
Lucas wanders around to the back side of the cage, so he's closer to her. She can clearly see his feline eyes, and as he talks, the flicker of his sharp fangs is impossible to miss. "Ah did what Ah had to do, Rash. Why can't you understand that?" He shrugs, "Join me. Don't let go down with those other freaks from the school."
"Because you *didn't* have to, Lucas!" As the demonic youth circles around to the back of the cage, she scoots forward, halting in the center and turning to face him. "You *didn't* have to change, and you *didn't* have to murder those people! Lucas… don't you understand that? *You* have *murdered people*…" Shaking her head slowly, she looks up at the blond, tears sliding down her cheeks. "I love you, Lucas," she whispers, utterly sincere, "even now… But I can't be with you… not like this. By now, you should *know* that…"
Lucas shakes his head, "Ah'm still me, Rashmi. There's no difference." He leans in close to the bars, and says, with a touch of a grin, "Ah'd killed people before." He chuckles, and withdraws, pacing around the cage. "Ah've just, now, finally figured it out. See…" He pauses, and looks at her. "Ah like it." He licks his sharp teeth, and smiles.
Rashmi frowns, eyes dropping down to the gloves. "Do you…? If you did, you wouldn't need the gloves. You wouldn't have needed the pool. You wouldn't have needed *me.*" With a shrug, the redhead takes a deep breath. "You would never have been so scared. And you would never have tried so hard to be a jerk, just to cover up for how terrified you were. But you were… always… and I still loved you, Lucas."
Lucas snaps at her, leaping forward to the bars, "AH AINT AFRAID OF NOTHIN'!" he shouts, with a scowl. He glares at her a long moment, and then walks along the edge of the cage a few feet. "Ah don't NEED you, Rash." He stops, and looks at her, his giant gloved hand scratching his abdomen as he explains. "Ah WANT you."
"….Or what?" The question is quiet, neutral, though the fear in her eyes stands out plainly.
Lucas tilts his head, "You're scared…" He takes a half step away from the cage. "Don't. Ah don't want you to ever be afraid of me, Rash." He lays his gloved hand on his heart, a touch of pleading to his tone, "Ah've learned so much since Sam… We… We can be together, and… and Ah won't hurt you…"
"…But you already have…" The tears continue to fall, even as she attempts a trembling smile. "You hurt me when you left… You hurt me, when you changed… I'm looking at you through bars, Lucas… That hurts, so much…" Stepping forward, she takes hold of the bars, gripping tightly enough for her knuckles to go white. "Please, Lucas… This isn't you, I know it isn't… You're *better* than this… you always were…"
Lucas watches her carefully, and then he shakes his head, "No…" More quietly, he adds, "Ah NEVER was." He clacks the oar on the bars once more. "Ah don't suppose Ah could get a goodbye kiss…?"
"Yes," Rashmi says, stepping away from the bars, slowly kneeling back down in the center of the cage. "You always were. That's why I came here, you know…? Because I have faith in you." Closing her eyes, her head tilts down, hair obscuring her face. "…I'll be by the pool," she says, an echo of the promise of their last fight, the conflict that ultimately brought them together. "When you're ready."
Lucas slowly turns red with anger, his face twisting to a scowl, and then he slams the oar into the bar with a loud *bang*. The already warm room gets even warmer, and his gloves actually begin to steam as he shakes with madness. "AArrrrrggghhhh!!" he exclaims, venting, and then marches to the chain on the wall. He grabs it, and violently begins yanking it, the cage beginning to rise off the floor.
"Hail Mary, full of grace," Rashmi begins as the cage jerks up off the ground, her tears falling from her chin, to patter on her skirt, "the Lord is with thee…" and so the prayer goes, a thin whisper of faith in the bowels of Hell on Earth. And all the time, the thoughts that race through Rashmi's brain, faith in Lucas, in his ability to break free of whatever influence he'd surrendered himself to.
Once the cage is up in the air, Lucas locks the chain on the wall. "Ah'm sorry you don't understand, Rash." He picks up the oar. "Goodbye." He turns, and begins to walk towards the door.
"You will," Rashmi's voice is heard from the air over the firepits. "You'll understand, someday… And I'll be here, when you do."
Lucas pauses, looking back up at her. "Whatever." He spits, and leaves.
