Players:
Summary: Robyn calls Rashmi after the incident with Heather's Parents.
Date: June 9, 2011
Log Title: Panic on the Streets of Salem Center
Rating: PG-13
Barnes Academy - Rashmi's Room and Streets of Salem Center
This is a phone conversation between Rashmi and Robyn
It's getting late in the evening, nearing eleven thirty at night and Robyn's been scouring Salem Center looking for Heather. He's finally realized it's a lost cause and is sitting in the alcove of a store front as he fiddles with his phone to dial Rashmi. "Please…pick up…" He mutters as he isn't sure what to do.
Eleven thirty is still well into study time, thus Rashmi's phone is picked up before the second ring can get well underway. Pausing briefly to check the call log, she frowns, opening the line. "….Robyn? It's late, what's wrong?"
"Oh god Rashmi…" Robyn begins. "I don't know what to do. I haven't gone back to the school yet but Heather….her parents came. Connor's gone and so is she. I can't find Heather anywhere." He sounds like he's on the verge of tears as he talks. "I think Connor…she might have killed him."
"…Wait *what?!*" Snapping upright in her chair, Rashmi tucks the phone against her ear, eyes wide. "Heather's parents are there? Robyn… Robyn what happened to Connor??"
Robyn sniffs and takes a deep breath. "We were out, Connor, Heather and I and Heather's parents showed up. It got really confusing, Heather started freaking out, Connor told me to get her out of there so I tried. I told her I wouldn't leave her. Then…then…something happened to her father, her mother started screaming that Connor killed him and then there was one of Connor's portal like things but it wasn't. It was like a black hole and when it vanished, he was gone so was she and also everything in that area. She…she killed Connor."
Silence for a long moment on the other end of the line. The only sound, Rashmi's quiet, shuddery breathing. "….Robyn," she says slowly, "Robyn… did you see Connor…? Like… after it went away… was there… anything?"
"There was nothing. I've been wandering all around Salem Center…I haven't seen him or Connor or anyone. The rest ran away." Robyn says. "It's just..they're torturing Heather too."
"Roby—" Rashmi pauses, swallows, and attempts to force some semblance of control into her voice. "…Robyn… Go back to the Mansion, okay…? It's not safe for you just outside like that… And… everything's going to be okay, Robyn… I *know* it. Connor's disappeared before. Kids've been taken, before. We always come through, y'know?"
"But I can't find Heather." Robyn says. "I have to find her. She, I was in her head and I -saw- what they were doing to her. They were showing her awful things and…and…" He doesn't really know what else to say. "You always say everything's going to be okay." If he's annoyed by it or if he finds comfort in it, it's hard to say at this point. "I know just…he's gone. I…I can't go back to our room." He says as he starts his treck back to the school while takling to Rashmi on his phone.
"I know, Robyn," Rashmi whispers, her voice losing its steel and beginning to crack. "I know. She knew this was going to happen, Robyn… She told me, so I could get the word out as best I could. I know how horrible it is for her… But she can win this. I *know* she can." Shaking her head, she pushes off her chair and turns, falling on the bed. "Robyn… Everything *is* going to be okay. It *has* to. I understand about your room. Talk to Ms. Frost, see if she can't let you have the room I take when I go up to visit, okay? I think I left some books there, last week."
"I'm scared Rashmi." Robyn admits. "Her parents…they're horrible people. They really are. I know Connor didn't murder her dad and I know he's still alive. I know she can create illusions but I'd be able to find Connor if it was just an illusion." He says thinking out loud. "You don't know how horrible it is for her, I..I was in her head. I tried to possess her to get her home and I saw it all. She's alone in there."
Rashmi's free hand flexes; should anyone be able to see her face, the desire to just reach through the phone and hug Robyn tight is practically written in neon letters all over her expression. "I'm scared too, Robyn… I'm scared for them too… Just… have faith in them, okay…? Remember the time thing; we can get through this too. All of us. *All* of us, Robyn…"
"I know, I just worry." Robyn says. "I don't want Heather to go through this she's….she's helped me in the past I want to help her. She's our friend." He says as he continues his long trek back to the school. "I just wish I could find her, she ran away but I don't have her speed."
"I don't either," Rashmi whispers, eyes squeezing shut. Drawing in a deep breath, she sets the phone on speaker, punching out a text message to Mansion security. Robyn Larkin is on his way home from Salem Center; somebody meet him there so he's not unprotected. "…We can't help her that way, Robyn… If we find her, we probably find her parents… and then that's you too. She knows that. She understands. We just need to be safe right now, and try to think of something… some way to help."
"I should check to see if Shane is okay." Robyn eventually says as he continues walking on autopilot. "I really hope Connor's okay….and he shows up soon. Other wise…" Robyn is already fearing the worst from what he saw. "You're right though, I have to talk to Emma, get the other students warned….her Mother is scary."
"I've already told Ms. Frost what Heather and I could come up with," Rashmi says, sniffling back her tears. "And yeah… Her mom's scary, but her *Dad* is the one that terrifies me. *He's* the one that makes all the mental pictures, Robyn. And the two of them..? I…. I don't know what to even *do.* Not yet. I'll work *really hard* on coming up with something, though."
"He was the one creating the whispers." Robyn says. "I heard it, they kept whispering that she was a failure and the world she saw was destroyed. I almost started believing it. Actually I did believe it. It was because I started running and cause I got far enough away that my mind went back." He explains. "Though I understand her a bit better now."
"Yeah," Rashmi whispers, curling her legs up against her chest, resting her chin on her knees. "Just what she told me… I understand her a little better, too. And I'll be glad for her when this is all over."
"I will too. I gotta help her, I promised I'd be there for her." Robyn says as he really wants to keep that promise. "I don't want her to be alone, she shouldn't be alone anymore. It's take away from who she is."
"You *are* helping her," Rashmi says, a note of urgency in her voice. "You're doing everything you can… and you're staying out of danger. Robyn, this isn't even like Nigeria…. you just… I don't know if there's even any way *to* fight this… I don't know. I won't stop looking… but… Right now there's nothing. So go be safe. There should be a car coming for you soon, I called Mansion security. I'm telling you so you know it's me, and not them."
Robyn nods as he walks but then remembers he's on the phone and can't be seen. "Okay, I'll be on the look out for the car and I'll try to get some sleep tonight." But Robyn doubts he'll be able to. "I..you know it was easier when it happened to Jordan but with Connor missing I.." He just shakes his head. "This sucks." He just out right says.
"Yeah," Rashmi says, for once out of more and better words to say. "It really, really does."
It just feels nice to have someone agree with you on that. "Rashmi…thanks." He says. "Let's..get together this weekend. I want to see you." Just to have that comfort in a friend.
"Sure," Rashmi says, managing something that might resemble a smile. "I'll be down Sunday? Or in the City?"
"I'm fine with either I just…need to spend time with a friend. A good friend." Robyn says as he's sure she'll understand what he means. "Sunday might be best. Rashmi…thanks. I should get going since the car is here." He says as the ride form Xavier's pulls up.
"Okay," Rashmi says softly. "Tell the driver thanks for me… And… try to get some sleep, okay? I know what sleeping with all that worry's like… but you need to get rest anyway."
"Okay, I'll try." Robyn says knowing it won't be much. "Thanks and I will tell him. You get some sleep too." He says as he climbs into the car not wanting to go back.
"I will, Robyn," Rashmi says, sniffling. "…I gotta go, okay? I'll see you this weekend."
