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Post by Kelathi on Jun 5, 2016 2:38:49 GMT
Again, she was so weak that although her initial instinct was to push away from the hands that grabbed at her, she found herself letting her weight lean on Jesse instead. "Yes... I'm sorry, I tripped." She realised she was apologising for everything again, and she bit her lip angrily, and made a concerted effort to distance herself from him, leaning on the wall and pulling away from him more abruptly than she had meant. She knew he only meant well... but she did not feel comfortable being so close to another, even if every time they had been so, he had been helping her. Old habits died hard, after all. Also, she did not want to risk him catching sight of the handcuffs... "I think... I might make use of that shower now, if the offer is still up." she added with a coy smile, thinking back on the first time they had met, and the addition of the smile being an attempt to smooth over the curt way she had pulled away.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Sept 3, 2016 5:08:26 GMT
Jesse found himself pausing at her explanation, but decided to continue with his original plan. Give her room. “The floor isn’t finished, it might be… uneven,” he offered, even as she pulled away. Instead of leaving it in awkward silence, Amelia offered a chance to change the subject.
“Of course,” he replied, then with a bit of a sheepish, slightly embarrassed smile added, “Just… I managed to get the handles mixed up the last time I tried to work on it. So turn for cold to get warm. Towels are in the closet outside the bathroom, uh… second door on the left.”
Watching Amelia head up the stairs, Jesse finally turned to deal with the frozen plate he had pulled out. Fortunately, it was made of cardboard and plastic, so dropping it hadn’t harmed anything. It was, however, a little wet from curious tongues trying to get in while he was distracted. “You guys…” he groaned softly even with the slightest hint of a smile on his lips, opening the box, slitting the plastic and popping it into the microwave.
While waiting, Jesse leaned against the counter as he usually did, hands propping him up as he stared across the kitchen. He was trying to piece together once more every moment from the hospital. As confusing – and hurtful – as it had been to wake and find Amelia gone, there was also the question of what the hell had happened to him. He remembered drinking coffee to keep awake, but only growing more and more tired. The doctor who had offered him the coffee had been friendly, asked about him rather than the girl he was waiting for. Jesse had guessed he was new, as he kept fiddling with the collar of his white coat.
Jesse’s eyes widened as he realized that he couldn’t recall a nametag on the coat, as was typical of the nurses and doctors. Perhaps he had forgotten it, perhaps he didn’t have one yet, or perhaps that hospital didn’t use them. But that seemed odd, since it had been the man to approach him. Jesse’s hand reached for his arm, rubbing where he had found the small scab. The size of a needle mark, as he might get from donating blood, but he hadn’t noticed it before getting home. He thought he must have just cut himself on something when he was asleep, but… there were an awful lot of questions about the hospital. Plenty to consider while waiting for Amelia to come back down. Perhaps she’d know why…
(teasing a little about my idea for Jesse lol)
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Post by Kelathi on Jan 9, 2019 23:50:33 GMT
Alone in the bathroom, Amelia was still wary as ever. She tried the lock on the door, but it didn’t slot into anything on the doorframe, clearly another fault of the house that Jesse had yet to get to. With him being the only, well, human living here it made sense that it wasn’t a priority. With the door issue she nearly changed her mind and decided to go without a clean-up, but then she mentally shook herself. She reminded herself of all the things Jesse had done for her so far, never asking for anything in return. In her gut, she knew. She knew he was a good guy, and she knew she could trust him, nothing about him had suggested otherwise up to this point. It simply didn’t make sense that he would suddenly try anything. So, with a sigh, and one last glance towards the door, she began to undress. The chill of the air prickled against her skin, causing a shiver to run through her. Experimentally, she gave the handcuffs a good tug, but they were on way too tight to just slip off. She would try again with soap, and see if she could break free once and for all. Wrapping her arms around herself, she hopped into the shower quickly, remembering Jesse’s words of how to work it as she twisted the handle to switch on the hot water.
As it splashed against her skin, she gasped, the shock of it sending a ripple of pleasure reverberating through her body. Without hesitating, she stepped into it completely, letting the water cascade over her head and enveloping her entire body. The water was not even that hot, but in contrast to the coolness of her skin it felt scalding. For a few minutes, all thoughts of the day’s events, and even the year’s events leading up to this moment merely melted away, running down the plughole as easily as the grime that littered her body from weeks of neglect. Her back to the door, she was so wrapped up in the wonderful feeling engulfing her that she didn’t notice a curious, whiskered maw pushing it’s way through the gap in the door. Before he could be convinced to push his whole body through, something else seemed to gain Cyrus’s attention, and he went bounding away instead, leaving the bathroom door ajar.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 10, 2019 4:45:03 GMT
Having accidentally followed Amelia’s example of not paying close enough attention to the steam, too busy thinking, Jesse had managed to burn his own mouth on his dinner once it was ready, Daphne becoming hopeful as she remained loyally by her owner. “No, ah… ‘ou don ge hiss,” he responded around the mouthful, finally getting it down. Cyrus, meanwhile, had trailed along behind Amelia, pouncing on and playing with a toy as she went into the shower. He poked his head in with the steam, but ran off again hearing the kibble bag opening. He’d probably turn his nose up at the dry food, but neither dog surrendered an opportunity to beg for food.
Jesse tried to give Amelia her privacy, for obvious reasons, but as he went upstairs he noticed the door was cracked open. He hesitated, then walked over, hearing the shower but no sounds beyond. Did that mean she was ok? Or had she collapsed? She had been so cold when he had grabbed onto her… had she passed out?
Finally, concern overrode manners, and he pushed the door open a little more to look in. At first he was relieved, if now a little pink in the face at seeing her standing in the shower, but something caught his eye. He paused, staring, before he breathlessly asked, “What in god’s name…?” Jesse hadn’t even realized he had said anything, staring at the scars that crisscrossed her back.
What the hell was she running from?
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Post by Kelathi on Jan 11, 2019 0:32:17 GMT
She should have known better than to expect the moment to last.
Looking back, she wouldn’t be able to say what had caused her to turn around. Maybe she sensed that she was no longer alone, but if so, it was certainly subconscious, as turning around would have been the last thing she would have done in that moment.
Her gaze met his, and widened slightly.
Throwing her arms around herself in an attempt to hide… well, everything… the words tore from her at the same time. “Go away!” she yelled angrily, face flushed with embarrassment rather than the heat. At the same time she spun back round again, falling to a crouch, instinctually trying to figure out a way he could see less, as opening the door and reaching for a towel would just reveal more. In this moment, she wasn't concerned about the fact that he could easily see the handcuffs, or even the scars on her back... in that moment, she was only concerned with the fact that she was utterly naked in his presence.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 13, 2019 19:04:38 GMT
It was her yell that brought Jesse back, realizing… well. His eyes simply went wide and his face red at the response, ducking out and slamming the door shut behind him. It had been a genuinely innocent reason for looking in, and a genuinely concerned one for lingering… but that didn’t help slow his racing heart down. Or the fact that he’d gone mute, since even a confused and concerned Daphne wasn’t getting much of a response for licking his chin, whining softly after the door had slammed.
It took a few minutes for Jesse to gather his wits and keep moving, going back downstairs as if giving Amelia the entire floor for privacy now. However, instead of simply wandering around in a daze for the accidental intrusion, he pulled out his laptop and began his research, albeit on a secure browser with his VPN intact. It wasn’t like he wanted to be tracked for searching for images of abuse…
In an effort to help, he wanted to know what had happened, and he had lingered long enough to now have a very good memory of her scars. But nothing he looked for seemed to match up. Obviously, he couldn’t look her up, he didn’t even know if she’d given him a real name, and he wasn’t about to offer a photograph of her to the search engine even if he had one. But this all restricted his ability to find out more down to simply understanding what had happened to her physically to leave such scars. Daphne settled in beside him, ears pricking up as Cyrus began crunching on some kibble out of boredom before looking back up towards the stairs, waiting somewhat patiently for their guest to come back and play.
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Post by Kelathi on Jan 13, 2019 20:05:36 GMT
As soon as the door had slammed shut, Amelia had torn the shower door open and leapt out, spinning around and bracing her back against the door, to stop it from opening again. Unbeknownst to her, as she stood there, back pressed against the door, thoughts running a mile a minute… he was doing pretty much exactly the same on the other side.
She waited for her rushed breathing to return to normal, but she felt no less panicked. Quickly, she ran the towel over herself, and then began to throw her clothes on. Now she had gotten over the initial shock of being seen as she had been, she knew his intentions had not been dark, or, at least, she severely doubted that was so. She wasn’t sure what he had been doing, maybe he had reached for the door to close it upon seeing it was ajar? But for some reason, despite herself, her instinct was telling her that this was just a misunderstanding.
But…
He had seen her scars. He had quite possibly also seen the handcuffs trailing from her wrist.
She had all sorts of worrying thoughts to mull over now. What would he think of her? What would he do? Would he call the police? Would he turn her out? And what should she do to stop these things from happening to her, should she go downstairs and just tell him everything, and appeal to his protective side?
Even as she thought this, a memory, almost painful in it’s clarity, flashed across her mind. Bright lights. Cold floors, rushing up to meet her. Pain in her back and arms… If she tried to tell him what had happened, she would have to relive it.
No, she couldn’t face it. Not even just as a memory.
She brought her hands up to her face, covering it and closing her eyes tight. She was at a crossroads. She wanted to run. She wanted to stay. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to stay silent. She wanted to find an escape route out of the nearest window. She wanted… she wanted at least to face him.
In the end, she decided upon the latter.
The mind that had had her running at the first sign of trouble screamed at her for her stupidity as she slowly made her way downstairs, instead of pitching herself out the nearest exit. Her heart was in her throat as she cautiously peered into the living room, halting in the doorway and unwilling to cross the threshold just yet. Cyrus, upon noticing her, leapt up to greet her, and his sudden movement made her flinch. She offered him her hand anyway, to show it was okay for him to approach, but her eyes were on Jesse. “What are you going to do?” It was hard to keep her voice from wavering, it was somewhere between fearful and accusative. “Are you going to call the police?”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 13, 2019 20:30:45 GMT
Even when Cyrus bounded away, Jesse was still focused on his research, trying to think of what else the scars might have been and so use the search terms. Amelia’s voice brought him back, turning and jumping at the same time. Her questions made him pause once he realized what was being asked, shaking his head.
“Why would I call the police? I just…” he began, then struggled for the words. His tone was one of confusion, but concern that the last time he had tried a similar tactic, something had gone wrong. Besides, if the police were the right people to go to… wouldn’t she have gone to them instead? “I just want to help you. And… I don’t know how,” he finally finished, clearly feeling the explanation was inadequate even if it was the truth. His eyes dropped with his last few words, clearly at a loss. As difficult as his escape from that gang had been, as mistrusting as he had been… he only carried a few knife scars. Nowhere near the extent that he had just seen on her back. There was something wrong about the whole situation, he knew that much now, finally having been able to piece together some of the clues that had been sprinkled before him.
What picture they were shaping into was still unclear, and Jesse found himself questioning if staying there was in fact the best thing for her, only because he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do enough to protect her.
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Post by Kelathi on Jan 13, 2019 21:02:37 GMT
He seemed to genuinely question why he might call the police- had he actually not seen the cuffs on her wrist? She had been sure he would have pegged her as some kind of escaped convict. Or maybe he was focussing on something else… His words were comforting, and ones she needed to hear right now, even if she struggled to believe them. Despite old fears trying to hold her back, she wanted to trust in what he said, wanted to take that leap of faith and actually have someone on her side for once, rather than always having to run and fight on her own.
“If… if you really want to help…” She was shocked at herself for finding the courage to say the words. But he really did look sincere in what he was saying. “Then just… believe in me.” The words settled in the room like dust motes, fragile, soft and hesitant, the meaning rather open yet, without elaboration. She opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could utter another word, a heavy banging broke through the momentary silence. Immediately, Amelia froze, her face blanched, and her entire body felt like it had been plunged into icy water. The banging had come from the front door, and sounded like someone’s closed fist against the wood.
There was a short, breathless pause, and then it started up again. “Jesse!” She near-squealed, losing all composure as she near jumped out of her skin, running towards him a few steps, before halting abruptly. She had headed towards him instinctually, but stopped when she realised what she was doing, hesitation flitting across her face.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 14, 2019 3:49:09 GMT
The dogs perked their ears at hearing the banging on the door the first time, Daphne letting out a low growl. They had stayed calm even as Jesse and Amelia tried to work out their next step, but the second set of knocks had both barking and growling.
Jesse’s expression had been one of surprise to start at Amelia’s request, but he had mutely nodded. Before he could reply verbally, they were interrupted, and it took a moment to realize that it wouldn’t be the gang banging down the door, ready to take the informant down. He stood at the second round, glancing at Amelia only because she had spoken and started for him, stopping short and looking terrified. Swallowing past fears, Jesse moved towards her to get around the coffee table, offering a comforting hand on her shoulder for a moment before walking towards the door.
Taking a calming breath, Jesse first checked the peephole in the door before opening it, without removing the chain latch that only allowed a few inches of clearance. “Can I help you?” he asked in a cold tone, peering around the door and letting Daphne softly but aggressively growl beside him as a guard dog.
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Post by Kelathi on Jan 15, 2019 1:27:47 GMT
At Jesse’s front door were two men. Strangely, though the wind was still howling outside, they were wearing suits rather than overcoats, which would have been much better suited to the current weather. As the door was opened, one man attempted a friendly, if weary smile, whilst the other stayed stony-faced, fixing a hardened glare onto Jesse. “Good evening, sir.” The first began, pausing for a moment as he heard Daphne growl. Eyes flickered down to her for a quick moment before he spoke again. “Sorry to disturb you at this time, but we are looking for a missing girl, and we were wondering if you have seen her, or have any information as to her whereabouts?” He rummaged in his breast pocket for a moment, drawing out a photograph and offering it to Jesse. The faded photograph showed a young girl, photographed from the shoulders up. She was facing the camera, her wide eyes fixed on some point behind it, perhaps looking at the photographer rather than the lens. Although her blonde hair was long and fell past her shoulders, the blue eyes were unmistakeable. Both men were watching Jesse closely as he looked over the photograph. “She discharged herself from hospital a few days ago, and there are concerns for her safety… as well as the safety of others.” The implication was practically dripping from those last words, leaving an open question in the air.
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 15, 2019 4:44:20 GMT
The two men's appearances could only mean one thing, that nearby was a car. The fact that they were wearing suits as well put Jesse on edge, even if only from his own experiences of such well-dressed men coming to look for someone. It never seemed to end well.
Jesse looked down at the photograph as it was offered, taking it slowly. He studied the picture intently, both recognizing the subject and taking the needed time to think. Just… believe in me. That was what Amelia had asked of him. And yet there were people here, claiming to be concerned about her. Not just for, but about. The memory of her scars was still fresh on his mind, and a part of him wondered if he was allowing that to color his judgement. But finally, he made up his mind, knowing that he would have to play this carefully if he was going to keep Amelia safe the best way he knew how.
“Yeah, I’ve seen her,” he began, and for a moment it almost sounded like he was going to turn her in. Almost, as there was an emotional disconnect in his voice despite having visibly recognized the girl in the picture. “I mean, I’m the one who took her to the hospital. I ended up falling asleep, but when I asked around later she was already gone. I just… assumed she went home. So... she’s still missing?”
His tone was one of a man who had tried to help but had been rejected, just as he had felt he had been to start. Everything he was saying was, in fact, the truth, as the two men would know if they were really after Amelia. Why else were they there, trying to talk to him? Jesse had given the hospital his information, after all. To lie about that would only confirm suspicions. Instead, he drew on the emotions he had felt when he had woken to find her gone; concerned, confused, and aware she was in some sort of trouble, but nothing beyond that. True feelings were better than pretend ones for lying.
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Post by Kelathi on Jan 15, 2019 22:10:58 GMT
“And… you’re sure you haven’t seen her since?” The first man pressed. “Only, we’ve been asking around, and a neighbour of yours swears they saw a girl of this description enter your house this very evening.” They were watching Jesse’s face very closely as the man spoke. After a pause, it was time for the other man to speak, whom had otherwise been silent till now but had appeared to lose his patience. His voice was gravelly, and markedly harder than the first man’s. “She’s disturbed.” He stated bluntly, not beating about the bush. “She’s been off her medication for too long, and that makes her dangerous. We’ve been sent to retrieve her, to take her back where she will be safe. Any help you can give is greatly appreciated.”
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Post by Red Irish Dragon on Jan 17, 2019 20:13:55 GMT
Jesse kept his natural flow, even though he could feel doubts bubbling from the questions. He made a bit of a face at being told of a neighbor seeing Amelia come in, raising an eyebrow. But the other man finally spoke, growing impatient with the conversation going nowhere.
Instead of steeling himself against the rough interruption, Jesse showed his surprise, shaking his head. “I’m… I’m sorry, I wish I could help more. But I haven’t seen her… so…” he went on, as if just coming upon an idea, “Wait, you talked to Mrs. Harper, few houses down, right? I swear, all the construction people I’ve had through here have been muggers or prostitutes, at least according to her. She’s even reported me about it to the police… She sees things no one else does…” He finished with a face, his hand indicating the woman as a heavy drinker. As soon as a neighbor had been mentioned, he of course knew who it was.
The nosiest woman in the neighborhood, who actually had done just as Jesse claimed, apparently not trusting a bachelor of his age on their street. It was rare not to smell a little alcohol on her breath either, so once more he pulled enough facts in to hide the fibs. After what he witnessed on his own run, he knew better than to not have a running catalogue of useful information, seeing it in action by the same people who had helped him.
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Post by Kelathi on Jan 19, 2019 23:14:03 GMT
It was clear by the intense gazes of the men that they were not convinced by Jesse’s response, even if it was spoken with conviction. But with no way to dispute what he said, they seemed satisfied by his answer, at least for now. “Well, be that as it may, before we go…” The first man dug into his pocket, drawing out a pen and a notepad. Scribbling something onto the paper, he ripped the page off and offered it to Jesse, meanwhile returning his things to his pocket. “If you should catch sight of her, this is our number. It’s in her best interests that if you have any information as to her whereabouts, you contact us and so that we can get her back as soon as possible, and give her the help she needs.”
Meanwhile, Amelia had a choice. Find some way to escape before she lost the chance, or trust in Jesse.
Upon returning to the living room, it would be evident that despite everything, she had picked the latter. Cyrus seemed to know something was going on, whilst his sister went on ahead to back Jesse up at the door, he had stayed behind. His presence was welcomed, especially when he positioned himself between the door and herself. The voices of the men were a faint mumble from here, so she could not really tell what they were saying, or how the direction of the conversation was going. Unable to just sit and wait, Amelia was standing, hands clenched into fists so tightly her knuckles had turned white. She was ready to run, or fight at the slightest hint of danger. But first… she waited for Jesse.
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