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Summary: Connor, Nicholas, Quenton and Warlock are prepped for the night before their execution, Kalindi delivers a message via the dream scape.
Date: October 19, 2012
Log Title: The Night Before
Rating: R
Small Church - Holding Cell
Dim lights hang from the high ceiling giving just enough light to see decently, not that there is much to see in the concrete room. The tall ceiling goes up at least twenty feet and the blinking red lights of cameras in each corner are visible, there is no privacy here. There are no windows and the only door into room seems to be a solid sheet of steel from this side. The sent of stale, musty air, hangs about the room. Bolted against two of the walls, at a height of two feet, are steel benches, which seem to double as the only thing to sleep on as well. A steel toilet, with a sink on the top, is situated in the corner for those who need it.
The door to the cell burst open and a dozen Purifiers stormed in, grabbing the four of them and dragging them into a room they'd never seen before. It's small, about ten feet by ten feet square. The walls are white tile and the floor is concrete and there's just a drain in the floor. The chains around the four boys wrists have been attached to hooks so that their hands hang above their heads to a point where they're standing on the floor on the fronts of their feet. Any remaining clothes that they were wearing have been cut off and once they Purifiers seem done they leave the room, leaving the four there to hang.
"Well. Here we are again. This is the first time I've been naked in front of three other guys. So…" Quenton seems pretty passive, much more calmer then he had been the other night. Still, his body is trembling violently, and he's coughing loudly, his features a lot more pallid. He's definitely sick, perhaps from the cold water that had filled the cell the other night. He squeezes his eyes shut and lets out a bit of a groan. "Maybe today they killl us," he says. He sounds almost hopeful.
Connor simply utters a groan from his side of the line of young men, having been almost more animal than person the last few days… eating when helped, but otherwise curled into a ball. The lucid moments are coming less and less, and he's heard mumbling everything from movie lines to physics equations in his sleep and waking time. And he complains constantly about not being allowed the cookie. All in all it's worrying that his eyes look distant and lost.
Warlock closes his eyes as they're hung there and rarely for his time here doesn't give a smart comment, but Quenton commenting about killing them has him shaking his head, "It's not going to happen here, haven't you worked it out yet? we're an example. Whatevers about to happen here is just to try and break us again", he's got his sight back but thats not much help right now.
Nicholas's eyes go from Quenton to Warlock to Connor a few times and eventually settle on Connor. "Maybe Quenton, maybe." He's having trouble standing and keeps losing his balance, most of the weight pulling on his arms. "I can't seem to get warm after yesterday." He says still shivering from the cold. "Connor, look at me, I'm going to start asking you questions, do you think you can answer them?"
"Can you see again?" Quenton wonders to Warlock, glancing over at him a moment, before sniffling, then sneezing, coughing a little loudly afterwards. "I think I have pneumonia," he says, laughing. "Oh. That's good." That's good, he says. "Ask him trivia or something. Try and get him to focus, I don't know. You probably have it all under control."
"It's not a school day, you don't answer questions on a school day." Connor replies in his cough-rasped voice. It's obvious from how he looks that he's gotten a bad cold, or possibly turned into pneumonia. He doesn't really balance himself, just hanging there as he then adds with a curious look on his face, "Why am I not wearing pants?"
Warlock nods, "Yeah I can see, a little too much actually", he shrugs at Connor's question, "These church types are pretty repressed and this is someone's perverted fantasy". He reminds himself to shut up, "Connor? what days are school days?"
Nicholas starts coughing as he's probably just as sick as the others as the cold water shower that lasted for a few hours didn't do them any good. "Connor, what's your favourite movie? I don't know if it's a school day or not, don't think of it as a school question but as a getting to know you question." Seeing Connor like this scares him, a lot. "They took our clothes Connor." He looks over at Warlock and nods. "Thank God. I'm glad we didn't screw up your vision."
There's a voice that comes over some sort of loud speaker system. "No Quenton, you will not be dying today and Warlock, we're done trying to break you. We are prepping you for transport where tomorrow you will be killed. Even though you had a bit of a shower yesterday, we want to make sure you're nice and clean for your execution." The voice clicks off and scalding hot water, not hot enough to leave burns but hot enough to be painful, starts to spray down on the four quickly filling the room with steam.
The scalding hot water makes Quenton flich a moment, but he adapts to it quickly, even as his body jerks from side to side. "No idea why we're naked. I guess so they can bathe us. Got to look presentable for when they kill us," he calls out over the water.
Connor screams out, but it's hoarse and followed by a fit of coughing as he ends up sagging there and shivering despite the heat, and ends up saying out loud, "AKIRA KUROSAWA'S SEVEN SAMURAI!" And then collapses once more, before mumbling out, "Best film ever made, too many movies copy it, no one gets it right. Plus… black and white is cool. Actors had to act back then, really show emotion."
Warlock winces from the heat of the water but bites his tongue to avoid making a sound, clenching his fists he closes his eyes again to try and stop the water getting in his eyes, "This time yesterday I actually remember wanting a nice hot shower, bit fucking hot though".
"If they want us to look presentable, I could use a good shave." Nicholas says to Quenton in an attempt at a joke as quite a bit of facial hair has grown on his chin. He hisses and winces from the hot water as his skin starts to turn a bit red. "Guys, help me think of questions for Connor to focus..uh…do you have any brothers or sisters? What's your family like?" Maybe it's because he's been thinking about and missing his a lot that the question pops into his head.
Quenton would have a stubble, too, maybe, if it wasn't for the fact the Handler had given him a nice shave before giving him a smile. How nice for him. "Ask him if he believes in God," he suggests, wincing as his skin begins to redden as well. His breathing is becoming a little heavy as he's soaked with the hot water. "Man, I'm glad I took a piss before we got thrown in here," he comments. "I'd try to aim it at one of you guys." Humor. Come on, humor.
Connor twitches a few more times, and then he takes a few more of those shuddering breaths, but the steam in the air seems to be helping his breathing quite a bit. Listlessly, his head turns in Nick's direction, and he replies after a few eyeblinks, "My dad's an airplane engineer, but he doesn't work for Boeing… my Mom part times at a new age bookstore, and I have two sister, younger than me. Shawna… and Ariel. Shawna's turning thirteen soon." Rocking back and forth, he then says, "I hate my dad. He ditched on Mom for a job in Germany until I was two. Work always comes first, and he doesn't want me going to Barnes. He's a fucking jerk, and I'm glad I'm not under his roof anymore. Some days I wish he'd just disappear at his job, like he did before. Do us all a favor. Uncle Yuri's cooler. He's a better dad to me. He taught me all the stuff I taught you guys. Yuri never let me down, always comes when I need help. I wish he was my dad."
Nicholas is having trouble standing and for the fourth or fifth time he slips, but this time he lets out a cry of pain as too much pressure is forced on his broke arm. "I don't…don't doubt you would..Quenton." Nicholas says giving him a weak smile through the pained grimace. "Connor….you don't mean that." Though Nick thinks he does since he's able to say that in this kind of situation. "You're really going to die hating your father?" He looks over at Quenton but it's hard to see his expression through the water. "I imagine Quenton's like me, would pretty much give anything with one last day with our father."
"I want to see my mother. Even if she is a murderous vampire bitch who wants to see me rage again," Quenton admits, after a long silence. "Do you believe in God, Connor?" he asks, since it seems the questions are at least keeping the older mutant occupied, his eyes shooting on Nicholas at his cry of pain, pulling at his chains, stretching himself almost, until a snap can be heard at his back. "Oh, awesome."
The steam hides the tears, and hides how raw and peeled away Connor's mental defenses really are, "No one gets it… no one understands… I want to be alone. I want it all to go away… not just the people, but the other me's. I could go anywhere, so why should I stick around to be picked on, insulted, or beaten up. I could have escaped… but I let them take me. I'm so sick of HERE… I don't want HERE. I want away. I want so far away… but I can't… because once I'm alone I forget things. I forget times, and I forget meals. Mom got me a cat because he needs to be fed every day, and his litter changed, so I had to leave my room… I used to stay in there until I got hungry, and sneak down to eat, so I wouldn't see my family. I didn't want to be there. No one understands… no one gets it… I'm never alone. I always have everyone else here… I can't close my eyes without seeing them. Except now. And now, the people I see just want to hurt me."
Nicholas's head turns quickly to Quenton with wide eyed fear. "Are you okay?!" He doesn't wait for an answer though, and just listens to Connor. "Connor…" He doesn't know what to say, he's not really sure how Connor's feeling. "Connor, I can tell you this, no one will understand, no one will want to understand. Everyone expects whatever issues you have to be gotten over quickly and no one wants to listen to them. All I know is we're stuck here together and we can't be alone, so we have to count on each other since….since….tomorrow, we're going to be dead. I don't know what to say Connor." At this point he's trying to hold back his own tears.
Finally the water turns off and the sounds of dripping can be heard. Most of the water has gone down the drain but everything is wet and the room filled with thick steam. No voice comes over the loud speaker this time, no one comes into to the room.
"Oh, no, I'm fine, I just needed that," Quenton says, with a dark chuckle, followed by a series of heavy coughs. He stares at the ground. If he's crying, it's hard to tell, the dripping water on his face obscuring any tears. He just sniffles a moment, then flicks his red eyes to the ceiling. "I don't want to hurt you right now. That's gotta be something. An improvement from the usual," he tries to offer hoarsely. Humor isn't working anymore.
Whatever this weird panic attack was set off by seems to fade after a bit, and Connor hangs there limply, coughing a few times as he croaks out, "I know." Responding to Nicholas, but then he says, "I'm an Agnostic. I don't really believe in God. I believe in the faith of him, but not what we see these days. These days, it's not about the message, but the messenger. But I've seen too much in life to not believe there is something greater at work." He then leans his head back, swinging a bit on his chain, and he then adds, "Don't ever let anyone tell you you're not strong Nicholas… you're stronger than anyone ever lets you know. Both of you are. You fight demons every day the regular person never understands… can never accept. To them, we're different. Outcasts. Branded because our lives are marked with pain and struggle. But never once did you let it define you. Never."
Connor growls out as best he can, "I'm a mutant. And if I'm going to die a mutant, I'd rather die alongside other mutants… because at least I'd die knowing I was with people who got it. You think if there's a Heaven, they'll have cookies?"
"They'll have whatever you want." Nicholas says to Connor. "I believe in God, but I also believe in accepting that not everyone does. I don't believe in him like these assholes do, since they're wrong!" As he yells the last word Nick breaks out into a cough. "It does define me Connor, everyday, I'm not the same person I was but it doesn't matter anymore." He does his best to straighten up, putting all his weight on his right foot. "Quenton's right, for a little bit of time as we have, you can lean on us, I can't promise to be the most stable but right now, I need all three of you or else…..or else I would break and they would win."
"Sure won't have it where I'm going," chuckles out Quenton. It's not even spoken blandly anymore. He just seems to accept it. "But… you're a good guy, Connor. Even after everything." He begins pulling on his chains again, his body swaying side to side. "Flying was awesome. Wish I got a final chance to fly before I died. One time that isn't interrupted by a dart to the neck."
Chuckling at Quenton, Connor replies, "I wish I'd gotten to go to the Antarctic." And then he shakes his head, "Nick… look… you don't realize, but if you'd let what happened define you… you'd never have started learning about your powers, or dating that girl from school… the one who's a vampire. Somewhere in it all, I think you looked back and realized… they'd want you to live your life too. And you'd want them to be proud of the kind of man you'd become. Otherwise, you'd be consumed by the sadness. I know. Been there. Can't explain why, but I know how loss feels."
"Stop it Quenton!" Nicholas says to him as it bothers him that he thinks so lowly of himself. "I know you've killed people but it's never been by choice, it's the Rage. You're not this horrible person you think you are, you're a good person. If you weren't a good person you wouldn't be so afraid of it, you wouldn't be fighting with it everyday, If you weren't a good person you'd just let it take over you and not care who or what you hurt! Quenton…." But he doesn't finish what he's about to say as the mention of Jill causes his legs to go out and he just hangs their with all his weight on his wrists. "She left me Connor. She disappeared and didn't say a word and left."
Whatever energy Connor had for this outburst fades, and his eyes roll up into the back of his head as he gives off a couple more hazy giggles, and then passes out, head slumping and leaving him swinging back and forth slowly from his chains, legs dangling limp and the water making the angry red M on his thigh much more prescient.
"The rage is -me-, Nick. It ain't some alter-ego. It's me. It's everything bad about me manifested into pure fucking unadulterated anger. They didn't just take away my powers, they took the ability to feel it from me. And hell, while it's great and all, it still reminds me that all of that was because I got pissed off." Quenton draws out a breath, watching Connor as he faints before closing his eyes, spitting to the side.
Nicholas watches Connor pass out and almost feels it's for the better. "I know it's you Quenton, I know it's a part of you, but it's something that's a part of you because you're a mutant. If you had a choice, would you keep the rage or would you let it be with you forever? The Rage is something you have to live with, but it also controls your choices. You're just….you're one of my best friends Quenton and I don't think I could have fought this long without you here with me and I don't think I'd be able to get by without you cause right now my friends are the only thing I have that keep me together."
Six Purifiers walk into the room and place a blind fold tightly over each one of them. They leave Quenton and Nicholas to hang for the time being but the unconscious Connor and Warlock are dragged out of the room. As for Nick and Quenton, since the two are still conscious they're left to hang for the time being. Though the Purifiers don't leave without parting actions. Once their blindfolded, each is delivered a punch to the gut, the face, a kick to the legs, each of the six Purifiers lands one blow each on the two mutants before leaving the room, the door slamming shut behind them.
"I'd… there's a reason I'd keep it. Sometimes I'll need the extra oomph it gets me when I'm angry. There might be something I need to fight that I can only fight with the rage. I don't know. I —" He grunts as he's blindfolded, and the strikes make him cough loudly, grunting, his jaw clenched. Now that he can't see Nick, though, he makes a joke. "Well. At least I won't see your schlong anymore."
Cries of unexpected pain, coughing and the metallic taste of blood are all Nick experiences after being blindfolded. He spits and then chuckles at Quenton's joke. "Assholes. I was trying not to stare at yours but it's just so oddly shaped." He jokes back. "Well if the time ever comes where we fight these guys, I can understand wanting that rage, that extra kick. You're a better person than you give yourself credit for, Shane wouldn't have fallen for you otherwise."
"It's not oddly-shaped," Quenton jokes back, coughing again, licking his lips a moment. "It's studded. For her pleasure." This sets him off in a coughing and chuckling fit, before he inhales it all in, the kind that's on the verge of crying. "God. She's so great. So awesome. So amazing. God," he mumbles. "I hope they do kill us tomorrow. I hope she doesn't watch. I don't want her to see my face. To see what we've been through." His hair's a little longer now then it has been.
"Is it bad that I still hope that we some how manage to make it through?" Nicholas says not sure if he's holding onto false hope. "I didn't mean what I said that day, I was just trying to make you mad. When I saw you starting to give up I got really scared. Seeing you and Warlock still fighting, it's what's enabled me to keep on fighting. I should make some stupid promise to you, that if we manage to make it out of this, that way you can hold me to it." He coughs some more followed by the sound of spitting. "I keep tasting blood."
"Nick… just… you gotta stop, man. You hold on to it, it's gonna make the sending off harder for us. You don't want that," Quenton murmurs, breathing out heavily. "Just relax." The red-eyed mutant peers through the blindfold uselessly. "Don't make any promises we haven't already, remember? Remember the graves?"
"I remember the graves, I remember the getting drunk." Nicholas says and a small smile starts to form. "No matter what, it's going to be hard." There's a groan that escapes Nick as he tries to pull himself up a bit to give his injured limbs a break. "Thank you."
"How's my smile?" wonders Quenton, quietly, only a little self-consciously. "Is it healing right? If… we do get out of this, you think Shane will stay with me?' Because Quenton's face is what she was attracted to, obviously.
"I can't see it." Nicholas says and he knows he's avoiding the answer. "It's healing about as well as my chest, which isn't very well. Q, I know Shane will stay with you. She cares about you a lot, she'll be pissed when she sees your face. Not at you but at the Purifiers. She's with you for you, not because of your face. Trust me, I've seen the way she looks at you and how she talks about you. You know how you'd make fun of Jill and Me for being crazy about each other, you two are the same way with being obvious about liking each other." Nick then switches his train of thought. "If we get out of this I'm getting a Tattoo of something I want, I'm going to have the letter 'M' scarred on my arm and Mutant on my chest, I want something permanent that I want there."
"I know you can't see it -now-, but when you do," Quenton murmurs. There's a quietness after, before he adds, slowly, "If we die, I want her to find someone else, you know. When we die. Someone who won't hurt her. I'm afraid she'll be alone, and I know she doesn't want to be." He exhales, and then adds, as an afterthought, "And… Zoey. I hope she's happy. Maybe Heather will take care of her, she's a good friend."
"I hope your sister is happy too. Shane….I don't think she wants anyone but you." Nicholas says quietly. "Well at least not right now, but I know what you mean. I hope Jill's okay, you know? I get touchy when someone mentions her cause I feel like she dumped me." Nicholas breaks from talking to cough a few times as by this time his voice sounds like it's ready to give out soon. "I think if I were to pick just one of us to get out of this alive, it'd be Warlock."
"Yeah. I'd pick Warlock, too," Quenton admits quietly. "He's the best of us. Didn't do anything wrong. Didn't do anything. Was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." He shakes his head, blowing out some air. "I can't help but wonder why Connor let himself get caught. Why? It didn't help anything."
"I don't know, I don't know the situation. But I was with Sophie, Nigel, Ms. Hilde, Warlock and someone else. If they gave me the choice to give myself up to save them or keep on fighting, I think I would have given myself up. I froze though." Nicholas says. "I got scared, anytime I saw anti-mutants groups I would just freeze in fear cause it's like I was reliving watching my parents die. It's the same thing when I see fire, and great, I'm letting these assholes know what scares me into a panic attack."
"I fought. Of course, that's no surprise. I fought hard. I actually thought I won for a second there, but then they grabbed onto Shane," Quenton comments, as he hangs there. "And for a moment there I forgot about her power, then I remembered and I relaxed and she blew up and then someone shot me in the neck. I turned around, and I was going to fly up there and rip them apart but…" He drifts off. "God."
"Those darts." Nicholas says. "They hit us with a smoke bomb before or after I got hit with a dart, I don't remember. I panicked and by the time I remembered what Connor taught me, it was too late and my powers faltered. Then the smoke, I couldn't see and then they hit me with something, like a tazer I think and I woke up in that cell with Warlock." He breaks out into another coughing fit and takes a few deep breaths when he's done. "I wonder why the school can't find us, they found me while I was trying to make it to Florida. I just woke up there."
"How exciting. I'm not going to be one of the people who blames our capture on the school, they wanted -us-. I am blaming the school for you know. Not being able to track us across the city, when they tracked the girls from all the way cross the world." Quenton coughs, too, before sniffling loudly.
It's impossible to see that Nicholas is shaking his head. "No, I'm not blaming them for our capture. They wanted me before I even knew there was a school for mutants. I still wish I knew why." He finds he doesn't blame the school either for their lack of rescue. "It took them months to find them, have we even been here a month? It…..I'm really scared Quenton."
"We're not going to be saved, Nicholas," Quenton murmurs to Nicholas, quietly. "Stop. You gotta stop. You gotta stop holding on to first hope," he mutters, shaking his head.
Nicholas is quiet for a while and it's only the sound of shuddering breath that reveals he's probably crying. "I know Quenton, I know. I'm just scared and I know it's stupid and I know we're not going to be saved and….I just keep thinking that I'm not ready. I try to accept that tomorrow we're going to be dead, I know we are. I'm just scared. Damnit Quenton! I'm just, I hope those bastards who kill us tomorrow get it worse."
"I know, I know," Quenton murmurs, just sighing, a sharp, shallow sigh. "It's not stupid. It's hope. I just… I just don't want you to be disappointed, to breakd own in front of them when it's time for us to die."
"I'm not going to." Nicholas says. "I promise. I'm not going to beg, cry or anything, it just makes it easier to dream now, and have one last night of false hope." He tries to explain. "I guess I want to make stupid promises to myself so I have something to focus on up until the end. So I can't hear what they say, or what they call us. Right before the bullet hits me, or however they do it, I want to think of anything but where we are and whose doing it. I'd rather die with the thought of us visitng our parents graves than the thought of 'why me?'"
"My dad was buried in New York city. We'd have to visit him first," Quenton says quietly, letting out an odd sound, before he closes his eyes. "I always knew he was going to die on the line of duty, you know? From being a cop." Silence for a moment. "I just never thought it'd be me, you know? We can't do it in the same night. We don't get drunk and visit our parents. Your last thoughts should be of us enjoying ourselves."
"No, I don't want to get drunk when I go to see where my parents are buried. I just hope they are buried somewhere, I'm not even sure where." Nicholas says and any sign of tears is gone for the moment, though his voice is still raspy. "My Grandparents, my Moms parents, are still alive, down in Flordia but Ms Frost told me that the Purifiers staked them out too so I haven't been able to to contact them." Then silence from Nick for several seconds. "I'm really sorry about your father Quenton."
"Then we'll go back and find what happened to them. This time wearing something that will protect us from darts so that we don't get our powers — well. Now you have me talking like it's going to actually happen," Quenton accuses, glancing up at Nicholas, at where his voice would be, and watching that direction in vain before letting his head hang down. "It's fine. I… I miss him, but hey. He believed in God, too, yeah? And while I say I don't… it comforts me to think there might me a place where he's happy."
"I know I didn't know him and I know you might just think I'm saying this but I bet he'd he proud of you. I'm saying that because…that day when everything changed, they tied us up in the basement my Mom, my Dad and me, then lit the place….give me a second." Nicholas says taking a few shuddering breaths to try to steady his voice so he can finish saying what he wants to. "Even though it was my fault they were being murdered, because I had powers, all they could do was tell me they loved me. That they didn't blame me, that they were proud of me. And…" By this time it's obvious he's started crying again. "I want to believe that your Dad would feel the same. That he still loved you and was proud of you even if you did do what you did."
"I can't… I can't think of how that must have felt. I… that must have hurt more, seeing them die and hearing them trying to reassure you. I… think I would have… I couldn't handle that. You're a lot stronger than you think you, buddy," Quenton says, his tongue licking his lips, before he shakes his head now. "I… don't know. I can't think of why he'd do it. Why he'd come close to me when I was a monster. He was one of the few people who saw me rage, he saw me standing over the bodies of the guys who killed Jake, and yet still he came. Why?"
"Because he loved you." Nicholas says to quietly. "He saw in you what all of us see in you besides yourself, that you're really a good person under there. He probably knew the risk he was taking and thought, maybe, as your father he could calm you down. He loved you Quenton, and I think he risked his life to try to calm you because he did. Just like me, and Warlock and Connor and Shane, we don't see you as a monster, we probably never could."
At Nicholas's last few words, a sense of supernatural drowsiness would start to set in, like a sedative except feeling much less chemical. The urge to sleep would come, a difficulty to keep those heavy eyelids open.
"And Heather," Quenton adds to that rather small list. "Heather, too. She's helped me more then… what the hell? They gassing us again?" He weakly tugs at his chains, but to no avail, and without further ado, Quenton opens his mouth, calling out something but it just becomes a groan before he passes out.
"I don't hear…" Nicholas lets out a yawn. "I guess this is….it." The last word trails as he falls into a sleep, all that weight hanging on his arms as he falls into a slumber. His last thoughts figuring that this is the end.
With sleep comes dreams, though the dreams that come are more lucid than the usual sorts of dreams, and both Nicholas and Quenton would find themselves linked in the dreamscape. Kalindi is presently standing within a bubble of blackness, presently untouched and unaffected by the dreams around her, her eyes glowing with an eerie darkness, wearing an equally dark dress.
With Quenton, the dreamscape twists into some sort of hell behind him. Because of Kalindi's presence, and Nicholas's, it doesn't make it too chaotic, but there's shadows dancing behind him, destroying even more shadows in some sort of constant war. All of them have smiles. Just like Quenton's smile. He glances down at himself self-consciously, then lifts a hand to cover the macabre scar on his face, walking along. When he sees Kalindi, he mutters, "This is weird."
The face is infront of him is one he's never seen before, and with her creepy appearance, the surroundings and the fact that Quenton is there too, he looks at him and the only thing he can think to say is; "Maybe we're both in hell. We are dead right?" It's only when he sees Quenton lift his hand he realizes he can see, that his hands and legs are free and that he doesn't feel any pain. "We have to be dead."
With Quenton, the dreamscape twists into some sort of hell behind him. Because of Kalindi's presence, and Nicholas's, it doesn't make it too chaotic, but there's shadows dancing behind him, destroying even more shadows in some sort of constant war. All of them have smiles. Just like Quenton's smile. He glances down at himself self-consciously, then lifts a hand to cover the macabre scar on his face, walking along. When he sees Kalindi, he mutters, "This is weird."
"No, this is not hell," says Kalindi, her own subconscious partially affecting her part, and so her words are overlaid with some demonic speech, which might make it seems like perhaps she is lying about the 'not hell' thing. "You are both very much alive. You are only asleep, and I have come to your dreams. At first, I was coming to learn what I could, on behalf of Jill Pervinca. Instead, I come with a message of hope instead of a plea for information. Hold strong a little longer."
"Hate to break it to you, Persephone," Quenton says dryly, "but we're going to -die- tomorrow. We're going to be executed. As in murdered. And it's gotten to the point where after all we've been through? Death's going to be a relief." Still, he's probably interested, even as his hand tugs at the collar, should it still be on his neck in the dreamscape. "How long can you keep this up?"
An odd sort of noise escapes Nick's throat as the name 'Jill Pervinca' is mentioned. "You're a friend of Jill's, she's alive? And well? He's right, we're going to die to tomorrow, if this isn't a dream or they're not drugging us or something can you tell her something for me?" He looks around the area, some of the sights unnerving him before he decides that focusing his gaze on the creepy Kalindi is the best method. "Who are you?"
"My name is Kalindi, you may call me Kali if you would like," says Kalindi, an afterimage of arms appearing as she lifts hers in a wide shrug, without her seeming to realize it, drawing on the associations she makes with her own nickname. "Jill is alive and well, yes, Nicholas. I will pass on whatever you would like for me to say to her." She looks towards Quenton and then says, "I can keep this up for a few minutes, but it will seem like more than a few minutes, or less. It is a dream. However that is not important, what is important is: You will not die tomorrow. You have not been forgotten, and you will get through this. People are coming for you."
"Who? You and Jill? I'm sorry, but I don't think you can save us. I lost faith already," Quenton says quietly. "You have no idea what we've been through, what they've done to us. We're not breaking, but we are bending, Kali." He draws out a breath. "Do you even know where we're going to be? Do you know where we are?" he asks of her, glancing about the dreamscape.
"We don't even know where we are. We don't even know you or if this is real. Right now last I remember I was talking to Quenton and next thing I know you're in front of me." Nicholas says in a defeated tone. "Look, if this is real, just tell her thanks, for always been there and that I do care for her and I'm sorry I'm not going to be able to see her again. Tell her I'd rather her be happy than sad, please."
Kalindi raises her eyebrow and says, still speaking in layered tongues, the speech in Hindi layering with the demonic, and the more audible English, which is spoken without accent in the dreamscape, "Not Jill and I, no, Quenton. You are slated for public execution tomorrow. We know where. We know when. We will assure ourselves of your safety. But do not speak of it. I am sure you will have no difficulty appearing as though you believe you really shall die, as you sincerely believe that." Kali's eyes turn towards Nicholas, and she nods once, "I will tell her that if you are not able to tell her yourself, and that is final. And no, you do not know me. I am Kali, a sorceress who stayed in the tower in Romania with Jill and Rashmi, who are presently planning for your survival. I only ask that you be strong, and on Rashmi's behalf, when this over, give yourselves time to recover and heal… I know that you will need it."
"What can I say? This is a little different from the time we went to Romania," Quenton says quietly. "These people have darts that take away powers, and -guns- and other shit. If that isn't going to be a problem, then rescuing us earlier shouldn't have been. Don't get me wrong, sugar plum. I'm grateful you're going to try. But I doubt you can. I don't want the same thing that happened to us to happen to anyone else."
Nicholas's dreamself is quiet, trying to reflect on Kalindi's words but Quenton's words ring even more true. "I know you're trying to help whoever you are, or I think you're trying to help but right now, we've made peace with the fact that this is our fate. Just, let Shane know Quenton cared deeply for her and loves her but also to live her life and not let herself be consumed in grief, okay? As long as I believe you can give our final words, I can die a little bit more at peace."
Kalindi nods once and says, "You may choose to give up hope, and I understand that you have been through much, even if what you have gone through is not something I can understand. However, I will pass your last words only if you die. I expect that I will never have to utter them. We can argue this all day, and it will get nowhere, but that is my promise. I will give you your peace if you perish. If you do not and you are saved, I do not know, you can do something nice for me? Anyways. I just wanted for you to know that you have not been forgotten, and there is a plan in motion… and to be clear, not everyone is affected by these darts…"
"It won't be peace if he's dead, if we're dead," Quenton mutters, shaking his head, but he waves his hand a little flippantly. "Thanks for coming to reassure us. You picked the wrong ones. You should have picked Connor and Warlock. They believe in this rescue business. I don't," he admits. "A public execution? Figures. Hope they put a bag on my head. Hope Shane doesn't watch."
Nicholas covers his ears with his hands. "Just stop it okay, it's already hard enough as it is. There's a difference between me saying stuff to Quenton about if we get out of here, cause we know it's not true and just talk but you….I can't let you give me anymore false hope. Like he said, Warlock and Connor are the ones who need you, not us."
Kalindi headshakes and says, "Then I will go. And Warlock and Connor might have acted differently if they really had gained hope. I just want you to know. And to be ready…" She bows her head, and then snaps her fingers, fading out of the dreamscape as the dream itself begins to unravel.
When Quenton's eyes open, he sees black from the blind fold. There's silence, before he wonders, quietly in the dark, "Nick?" The dream was crazy. He even felt a sense of hope rise in his chest, before it faded with the dream. "You awake, buddy?"
Nicholas opens his eyes and meets the same black as Quenton, even blinking a few times before remembering. The answer to him being awake is met but a groan. "Yeah, I'm awake. I just had the weirdest dream." He says, not sure what to make of it, but before he can say anything about it the Purifiers finally come into the room and the sound of the door opening followed by many footsteps his heard. Quenton and Nick are lowered from their restraints and their wrists are unchained only to be roughly forced behind their backs and tied tightly with a rough rope. The blindfolds are left on as they're marched/shoved down a hallway and up a long flight of stairs. When they finally stop their ankle restraints are removed, they're dressed in clean grey sweat pants and their ankles are bound with rope, before being shoved into individual cages that are obviously meant for a large dog. The filled cages are then moved into the back of a black, unmarked van where Warlock and Connor have already had the same treatment. Once the doors are slammed shut the engine is started as the Purifiers begin the transport of the prisoners.
