Cubnapping Christine

4/4/2005

06:32 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent Moon phase (29% full).

Jermantown Avenue, Industrial Sector
From warehouses a few blocks away from the river, across a chunk of city more than a dozen blocks wide, factories brood over the streets like dark dragons over their piles of treasure, greedy and all-encompassing. Huddling around the factories are smaller, less imposing buildings that are probably warehouses, or storage locations for trucks. The factories spill fumes into the air, darkening the area and blanketing it in a stench to mark humankind's domination over the world. Some of the warehouses stand empty, some are boarded over, and some, on the northern and western fringes of the area, have been converted to bars, with bizarre lighting, frequent brawls, and music that blares loudly at all hours of the night. There are no residences here for anyone to complain, and the factory workers populate the bars thickly. Throughout the area, trash and oil mingle together on alleyway streets, impeding the paths to the dumpsters at the ends of many of the alleys.
Contents:
Joey
Christine
Obvious exits:
Odeon Theatre  Filthy Alley  East  West  

Joey leads the way down the street, moving quickly in the direction of the Odeon. She keeps the pace brisk, sensing the others hesitation. "C'mon, we're almost there. You are so going to love him. And I promise that everything will be fine."

Christine's slower, lagging to peer at a particularly novel smokestack, or peeling barfront, or puddle of oil. Then she has to jog to catch up, which is beginning to make her grumble. "I wasn't entirely serious about the five minutes thing. I'll give you all of ten minutes if you'll let me catch a breath. Is this really where you live?"

Yi is not yet in sight.

Joey pauses, nodding to the girl. "Yah but it's not as bad as it looks really. Alright over here." She stops by the door, pressing it open just slightly. "I'll hold the door open and you step in. One of my friends might be in there, but they're cool too ya know. Just people come and go depending on where they're at."

Christine puts her hand over her mouth in a horror that's only half feigned. "There better /not/ be! I'm not doing this in front of them." She stares at the naked mannequin in the ticket booth, and looks to Joey for a partner in shock. Then, still staring at it over her shoulder, she shrugs up her handbag and steps into the theatre.

Odeon - Lobby(#4049RJ)
The Odeon's lobby is testament to a faded and perverted glory. The deep crimson carpet is thick in places but in others stubbly as velveteen, and the rich pattern of tangling flowers is everywhere marred by dark stains. The walls are clothed in kingly purple tatters of wallpaper, and covered with faded posters featuring women and men in various states of undress, posing with various degrees of tastelessness, and screaming out titles like "Male Service", "Bang Bang: a Sexual Explosion", and "A Slip of Her Tongue" in garish lettering. There's no light in the room but what comes in from the street, and during the day the actresses look grey and ghoulish, and the bright reds and purples of the room faded and dusky; and at night, the place might as well be covered in thick black paint.
Immediately in front of the entrance is dull matte turnstyle which no longer turns, where once tickets were taken. To the right are a pair of doors which some joker has labelled "Pimps" and "Hos" with red spraypaint: these are the washrooms. To the left are a pair of doorways which lack actual doors, and opposite is a grand set of boarded doors which lead into the theatre proper.
Please check +view for further description.
Contents:
Joey
Christine
Obvious exits:
Upstairs  THeatre  Street  

As the two enter, Joey closes the door behind them. A quick call alerts anyone who may be inside. "Hey, It's Jo, I got a friend over so- everyone behave. I'm showing her the dogs." Then loud enough for anyone to still hear, but not so loud that she is shouting, she offers an encouraging, "C'mon Christine, over here." The emphasis on the name- yes, yes, familiar name.

Inside, the raucous sound of barking comes from down inside the theatre. "Badger, come back1" Laughter sounds, and the dog shoots out of the doors, carrying a wrung and gnawed on towel in his mouth. Yi follows not long after, pushing the loose door.
You paged the room with 'I think he's in the +view...?'.

Christine murmurs, "Wow, this place is..." She searches for a word that expresses her honest impression of the theatre, while betraying no negative connotation. The problem is, that word doesn't exist. "Wild," she settles on, just as the dog tumbles into the lobby. "Hey Badger!" she says, in that saccharine tone she reserves for dogs, children, and the mentally retarded. She's grinning, but that stops the moment Yi steps into the room. Confused, she just furrows her brows and pats her knee to attract the dog's attention.

Joey remains standing behind Christine in a pattern to block the door. "There's my boy." She announces proudly. Her gaze looks towards Yi, urgent and uncertain. "That's Yi, she comes around here from time to time. She's like family to me." And Joey stays put at that, though a horribly guilty look starts to haunt her face.

Yi is brushing herself off and about to go after the wolfdog-kin, before stopping midstep at the sight and sound of the two others. Her dark eyes shift from Christine to Joey and back again. Then, a sort of something clicks, and the older ragabash smiles in recovery. "Hello again," she greets the Korean with a small wave.

"Yeah, we met. Charlotte's Web, right?" Christine gives Yi an overcompensatingly peppy smile, and bobs her head. "No cheer," she mutters, sidelong, to Joey. "I've given it a good shot, you have to admit! But I'll just meet your dog and--what breed is that, anyways? Wow, he looks like a dingo or something. And I /so/ want to take a picture of this place, but my parents get to look through all my shots when I get home. And the card is filling up anyways."

Joey ohs and shakes her head, "No no pictures. Cops don't like squatters, anywhere, so gotta keep this place super duper hitech secret. Uhm, well. Ya want the truth? Badger is uh, part wolf, sorta. I mean, yah, he's got wolf blood in him." She looks over to Yi desperately. "It's the reason he doesn't come out with me, and all. But, he's good at cheering ya up eh? Look at that tail. I mean, just ten minutes ago you were all grouchy and now you're all smiles."

Yi nods, giving Joey a brief glance before she moves over to join the trio. "Yes, Charlotte's Web," she answers familiarly. "Though... I thought perhaps you would meet someone else we are friends with... Christine." The saying of the girl's name is followed with a short, knowing smile. Badger is summoned with a small stoop and a short, inhuman chuff that sounds like a command otherwise. Giving the kin a small scruff on his head, she leaves him be. That results in the young (albeit rather large) dogkin bounding back over to Christine and sniffing at her furiously, jumping on her as well. "Badger knows friends when he smells one," she notes. "I hope you plan to stay a while?"

Christine eyes the dog critically. "I thought it was illegal to keep part-wolves because they kept going after little kids...I guess it's not a pit-bull, at least." She keeps smiling, but she stops trying to attract Badger's attention. Much good that that does. "No, no," she says, both to Yi and to the dog, and puts up her hands to deflect the Badger's friendly overtures. "I gotta go in a minute, actually. But if you hang out in the park this week, maybe I'll get to talk to you some more." Her smile goes from nervous-friendly to nervous-apologetic.

Joey gives a faint shake of her head, not meant for Christine's eyes, but for Yi's. "Badger wouldn't eat kids, or attack them. Unless they were hurting him maybe. But anyone would do that. It's that whole survival thing." She remains by the door, uncertainly.

Yi still has that small, seemingly reassuring smile assumed on her expression. "Mm, well, to be honest... another friend of ours had mentioned you. And, we were wondering if you might have something in common with us," she starts to say, sending a small look back at Joey, one near unnoticeable.

"Huh? I don't know anybody else." Christine glances at her watch, and lifts its rapidly ticking face up for Joey's viewing like her pass to get out the door. "Who's she talking about?" she mouths to Joey. She smiles like someone faced with a girl whose name she's forgotten, and is desperately trying to remember. And then, something about the way Joey stands there in the doorway tears the smile from her entirely.

Joey frowns at the girl, a deep sincere one. "Christine, there's something you gotta learn about yourself. Listen to Yi, okay? Please? I told you, I promised you, everything would be okay. It will."

Yi puts a hand to her chin, trying to come up with an easy way of breaking the news. "Well... have you ever felt strange deep inside?" The hand drops, a couple fingers tapping at her breastbone. "Like something is... scratching underneath your skin, needing to get out? Do you have any strange dreams at night?"

"Joey!" Christine complains, still mouthing the words. "This. is. too. weird." She looks back towards Yi, already starting to shake her head, until the last question hits home. And that, it seems, only makes her the more eager to get home. "I'm so sorry," she says to Yi. "Can we please talk about this in the park? Tomorrow would be totally fine. Any time between one and three."

Joey bites at her lip, feeling horribly guilty about the betrayal here. "Christine, it's okay. I promise. I /promise/. You gotta really listen, and it can't wait. The way people are avoiding you, the looks you're gettin', like something just ain't right about you. There's a reason for it."

Yi watches Christine intently, not glancing away even as Badger gives a slight whine at the tension suddenly enveloping the area. He retreats back towards the safety of the theatre. "I'm afraid the park is not a place we can talk about things like this," Yi continues. "As people should not be listening to us when we talk about wolves, or dreaming of running through the woods at night." Her tone is quiet, and for the moment assuming a calm as the ragabash slowly takes a step closer towards the girl. "Is that what you have been dreaming about, Christine?"

Christine frowns at Joey. "I'll stay five more minutes." She looks over at Yi to extend the ultimatum. "Five minutes," she repeats, and listens. Her hand tightens on the latch of her handbag as Yi draws closer. Um, no. Are you a--a fortune-teller? I'll totally hear you out, just please tell me what this is. I'm not good with surprises."

Joey nods to Christine, whether she means agreement or not. "You're part of our family, that's why we know all this stuff you're going through. We went through it too." She tries to add the encouraging side of things, leaving Yi with the more brutally honest lines.

Yi shakes her head, resisting a smile at the idea. Yi, a fortune teller? "No, I am no fortune teller. But I /can/ tell you /why/ you have those dreams. And that..." she pauses, taking in a bit of breath at the crucial moment, "is because you, Christine, are a Garou. Or in better understanding words, a werewolf." She lets this go, and watches intently for the girl's reaction.

"We're all God's children," she gives Joey grudgingly. And to Yi: "I see. Well, actually, you have the wrong person. And I'm not even just saying that. See, I know a girl who has dreams just like that--" She puts her index finger up, and summons her last scrap of a smile. "But! That's not me. And, I've heard you out, sooo I'm going now."

Joey steps back at the door, making sure she acts as a tight seal to the outdoors. "You didn't listen with your heart Christine, you listened with your head. If we let you back out, you will snap one of these next few days. You'll burst from the inside out, and you will have your first change. You'll frenzy. And you'll kill whatever gets in your way. You've already felt it threaten the surface. You get angry, /real/ angry. Over small things. Over Andrea..." she points out.

Yi rubs at the back of her neck, looking off slightly. "Joey," the elder ragabash notes, "Why don't you show her Squeaks?" The hat and bandanna come off, as she scrubs at her head a bit now that the hair is on its way to growing back. "Or... if you want to, show her."

Christine stares at Joey. "That's called PMS, girl, and by gosh, I'm about to go PMS on you." She tries it to drop that threat in the breezy tone of earlier, but it just comes out in a whisper. She's got the latch on her handbag unsnapped, and for anyone with ears, that would be the unmistakeable plink-plink of a cell-phone turning on.

Joey sighs, "Christine. Don't.." and just like that Joey has reached out to snag the handbag, and rise up through her forms just as quickly as she can. Up into Glabro, and resting in Crinos. There is no intent of terror, and as she looks down at the girl, hand bag now in her might paws, her eyes are soft and intent, filled with human like intelligence.

[look Joey (Snaps-Leashes, Crinos)]
A monstrously huge mix of woman and wolf stands over nine feet tall on her hind legs. Brown fur covers the form in it's entirety, and a tail hangs behind her as she moves. Claw-equipped hands hang at her sides, huge and supported by arms built with firm muscle.
Her head, complete with elongated muzzle and wolven ears, is large just like the rest of her. Intelligent eyes sit nestled in the crest of her head and her fangs are long and deadly serious.

Yi stuffs the headwear into her jacket pocket, and already is on the move towards the door for any interception the moment Joey starts her transformation. Should be easy enough, though the ragabash glances behind her to make sure that no one else actually comes through the door itself from the outside.

Christine screams like the girl in the bad horror flick who's about to get knifed. Or eaten. The cell-phone in her bag chirps a third time, cheerfully, and then is drowned out. Her scream keeps going, the noise hissing along an aural fuse, until she simply detonates. Poof! Fur and fangs and sinew, and nothing that looks particularly like the slim, long-haired Asian girl any more. Her clothing goes at the start, but her slim silver chain holds out for another few seconds before it too snaps Hulkishly, sending its cross spinning across the lobby. Christine would keep screaming then, but that doesn't work so well, does it? The noise she makes startles her into petrified silence.

Snaps-Leashes tries a lupine grin that is meant for encouragement. Her paw-like hands reach out to gently grab at the others arms as her eyes stay intently upon the girl. ~You're fine.~ And while the actual translation may be lost, Joey is surprisingly remaining a pillar of calm tonight.

Yi stands by the door, remaining in her human form, eyes locked upon the two crinos. "Christine," she calls out quietly, letting the name float its way to the dramatically sharpened hearing of the new cub. Then, "Joey, don't shift out yet. Wait for her."

Christine recoils, her heightened senses reeling. She snaps at a dust mote, snaps at Snaps, and then picks a direction and takes off. That direction is, unfortunately, the wall. The fastest she manages is sort of a lurching amble, but even so, she only barely skids to a halt before she hits the wall and a peeling poster of "HELLO TITTY". Only then does she consent to be still, turning around and staring furiously at Yi and the other crinos.

Snaps-Leashes had moved her nose out of the way just in time to avoid the snap. As the new cub turns to run, she only scrambles to try and hang on to her. Wham. Down she goes and Joey cringes in her massive form. Her eyes land on Yi, ~Now what? I feel bad.~
Yi tenses invisibly again, watching the two carefully and moving only closer only when Christine has seemed to calm down. Walking over slowly, assuming a less confrontational manner, Yi reaches out a hand to place it upon the cub. To Joey, she nods. "It's Ok," she says aloud, in a steadying voice. "Christine," she says again, trying to get the cub's attention. "Think Calm. Think Human." Yi makes sure to enunciate, and keep her voice low but clear. She looks back to Joey. "I think we're alright. Try shifting down, and see if she will do the same."

The last thing Christine is going to do is let Yi touch her after all of this. She makes a garbled, unlovely noise at Yi, and slinks back. Her eyes move to Joey, and she makes a second noise at Joey's change, a longer one now that she can hear whatever her voice has become without panicking. And Yi's suggestion about thinking calm has yet to sink in--it's just not going to win while it has to complete with thinking escape. She keeps watching Joey, for further developments, another change...she's not sure.

Snaps-Leashes does as Yi suggests and shifts back down to Homid, squatting near the other and looking over her. "I know it's big Christine. But trust us, it would be bigger if you didn't have us here to help you through it. You have to let us help you. Look at your hands. Your nose. You can see your own nose!" She folds her arms over her chest and sighs, "I'm sorry I tricked you, I didn't want you getting hurt or.. worse, if you did this out in public."

Yi retracts her hand at this point, not planning on giving the scared cub a chance snap at it. Glancing back to Joey, she nods to her fellow ragabash once before looking back. Taking up a casual air, Yi stretches her hands behind her head. "Ah, well. That was interesting, wasn't it?" Her eyes dare to stray towards the theatre doors, where things have gone rather quiet. Then she's looking back at the other two. "I believe, if we give her a chance to calm down, she will be able to change back." Yi seeks out the crinosed cub's eyes. "Can you understand me, Christine? Nod once for yes, and twice for no."

Christine looks at her taloned forelimb. It fails to calm her; she stares right up to Yi, who, as odd as she has proved, is the one person in the room who hasn't yet grown fangs. Yi's question strikes her as surreally amusing, and she gives another one of her talky growls, and nods her oversized head twice.

Snaps-Leashes just sits there biting at her lip and looking a little glum. "Just try and relax. Take deep breaths, close your eyes and ... imagine yourself sunbathing on the beach or something."

Yi tilts her head to one side, taking the cub's answer first literally, and then less so. A wry smile alights, and she turns to Joey. "If she's another ragabash, I think Olga might explode." Said with an amused, soft chuckle, she turns back to the crinos. "You /can/ change back, Christine. Again. Think, human." Again, pronouncing her words clearly as if she were in an English-as-a-second-language course, she talks, and waits for a reaction.

Christine doesn't close her eyes, not with these two around. But she at least tries this time, throws herself wholeheartedly into the business of being small and pretty and Asian again--well, Asian-human, anyways. And by gum, it works! But shit, what's worse? Fur, or nakedness? Christine isn't sure. She covers her breasts as best she can, and forces herself to look Yi in the eyes. "I need a blanket." She's trembling with exhaustion and the holding back of tears.

Snaps-Leashes stands up at this request and hurries up the steps two at a time. She returns back down with a half-knitted afghan from her 'room' and hands it over. The young Gnawer looks like she wants to say something, but is just horribly guilted yet.

Yi shrugs out of her jacket as Joey hurries to get a blanket, and offers her outerwear clothing over as well. "Welcome to the world the humans don't know about," she states with a slight twinge of otherworldly hollowness. "If you wonder why I didn't change, it isn't that I could not. But, I thought you would need someone to remain human, and act as... a middle party." She pauses, and then asks with a bit more curious concern, "Do you... have any questions you would like to ask?"

Christine takes the jacket from Yi and tugs it on, gently, watching her body every minute for a sign of anything untoward. When Joey gets back down, she snatches the blanket from her with arm extended as far as it'll go, and doesn't look at the girl. She knots it into a makeshift skirt, and looks towards the exit. "Do you have a bathroom?"

Snaps-Leashes looks totally distraught over things. She runs a hand over her head and scratches into her curls. "You better show her Yi," she admits with a tone that suggests the girl is aware of the bitterness she has earned. "Her school thing is gonna start looking for her soon. What ya wanna do?"

Yi notices that look towards the exit, making it clear that she's aware. "There is one, but the building itself does not have electricity or running water." She bids the girl to stand. "But, if you truly need a more comfortable living space..." Here she glances back towards Joey, "She can stay in my flat. Considering, well, she will not be returning to her school now." Yi looks back to the cub, trying to keep her casual smile.

"I," says Christine, warningly, no longer paying attention. "Am going to be sick." She waves a hand widely and starts towards the door that looks most promising--the one with the graffiti of 'Hos'. And she almost makes it before she doubles over, and vomits onto the floor. Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, she says hotly, "I'm not going anywhere. And you can't keep me here, and..." She's crying now, and she smells awful--the edge of her blanket-skirt caught a bit of the splatter. "What is wrong with you people? What is wrong with you?"

Joey just looks up at Yi, her expression as sad as Christines. She mouths silently to the other, 'it will get better, right?' She stands up and shoves her hands into her pockets. "Christine, you gotta, ... you gotta believe what you know is right. Deep down. Let go of the other stuff, and just... just believe in this." Her head shakes and she moves closer then, stopping to grab some newspapers to act as papertowel. One napkin is pulled from her pocket, and handed over to the girl.

Yi casts her gaze down as the girl hurries towards the appointed 'bathroom'. "The only thing that is 'wrong', is what you believed didn't exist, now does. It always has, and now... you are aware." She tries to be helpful, but understanding. "Most will think it is a dream. But, you know this is not. This is the truth, Christine."

Christine takes the napkins and newspaper no more cordially than she took the blanket. "/Judas/," she hisses at Joey. She cleans off her mouth with the napkin, and dabs at her cheek with the newspaper, smearing the ink across her cheek. She's looking more Gnawer by the minute, really. "I can't even hear you, just give me a second!" She drops the newspaper and rubs her temples with her thumbs. "Ok. This is, what? This is a kidnapping? Have I heard of you on the news?"

Joey bites hard at her lips when the other throws the name at her. She take a step back and sighs, "I gotta get outta here for a bit Yi. Y-you okay with things?"

Yi furrows her brow, looking from one to the other, and then she nods to Joey. "I am," she answers the other ragabash before turning back to the cub. Had she hair, Yi would be running her hand through it. But as she has none, she must content herself with a scrub of her head again. "This is... not a kidnapping so much as an enlightenment. And no, you will not have heard of us on the news, because... we do not make ourselves known to humans." More pointedly, she adds as a sharp note, "Don't blame Joey for this. We knew who and what you were from the moment you came to St. Claire."

"Microchips everywhere," mutters Christine, more for her own benefit than for anyone else's. "I can't do that. I'm not--I don't know. This is messed up." She looks at her feet, and bends to pick up the silver cross she finds there. "Can I get my bag? I won't...try to call anyone." Her tears are tapering off finally, and she's got a better hold on her voice. Still, she doesn't look at Joey.

Joey lets out a sigh as she turns towards the front doorways. "Someday you'll look back and see I was trying to be your Guardian Angel Christine, not your traitor." She looks back to Yi and gives a nod, "I'll be back in the morning, if I see Olga first, I'll tell her what's up." Then she slips out of the premises.

Yi sighs quietly, shaking her head at first with the departure of the other Gnawer. Walking over to the bag, Yi picks it up by its broken strap. Pointedly, she fishes out the cellular phone and pockets it. A quick check inside, and then she holds it back out for the girl to take. "You are correct. Calling someone you know right now, is not an option for you. But you can have your bag back. And I encourage you to ask me the questions that I know you have in your mind right now."

"An angel!" Christine throws at Joey's back, with venomous indignation. "And Olga's, what? Is she a werewolf too? Or is she a unicorn?" She shoves the cross into the pocket of the jacket and takes her bag, rather more gently than she accepted Joey's offerings. The temptation to keep sullenly quiet rears up, lasting for a full minute before it's gone. "How long are you going to keep me here?"

Yi looks down almost reflexively at the glint of silver in the dim light before it disappears, and then breathes out slowly. "Olga is a werewolf too, yes. Or as we call ourselves... Garou." She pauses briefly, and then adds, "And yes, unicorns exist as well. But, you do not see them in this realm. The spirit world will be one that you will see, later." Seeming to catch that she is digressing from the answer, she replies with a short intake of breath, "You will be remaining here until we can determine you are safe. From others who would harm you if they found out what you are... and until we are sure you will not be running off to tell someone about all this." She pauses, and then looks to the girl. "But more importantly, Christine, we /will/ treat you like family here, because you are one of us. And we /will/ try to help you understand the world that you have awakened to."

Christine listens in still silence. Her nose is running, and she wipes it embarrassedly and nods. "But no real angels in your spirit world, huh? Do you have any aspirin?" She opens her bag, identifies notebooks, pads, and a Bible full of post-it notes. "And what now? The police are going to find you."

Looking back towards the door, Yi breathes out again. "That would depend on what you consider to be an angel." A hand runs over her stubbly head. "I do not have aspirin here, but, if my flat I do." Turning back to the girl, she adds, "The police won't find us. They haven't for over four years I have been here. We have connections to the police as well, for that matter." The ragabash turns, and points at the door. "And more importantly, if you did do something like that, I ask, who would believe you?"
Something strikes Christine hard. "Was the cop spying on me, in the bookstore? Were you spying, in the park? And Olga, she was, wasn't she?" She turns around and stares down the grungy hall, and breaks into a peal of unamused laughter. "Where am I supposed to go to the bathroom if you're going to keep me here?"

Yi eyes the cub at her laughter, and then waves a hand towards the door. "You are not required to stay /here/ precisely, unless Olga says you must. Otherwise, though, I did offer that you could stay where I live, which /does/ have a bathroom, television, shower, bed, and even video games to keep yourself amused with. Until you grow sick of those as well." She says this with a matter-of-fact tone. "But as for spying... I was not. Not intentionally, anyway. But we have been watching. We always are. There are some, like yourself, who do not have the luxury of a spirit... a sort of guardian angel, if you will, assigned to them at birth. Those cubs, we usually find having changed violently, out on the streets." She clears her throat. "If you come with me quietly, we will go to my flat, and we can give you new clothes to wear."

Christine digs her hand into the jacket pocket and clutches the cross for her own assurement. "Who's there?" she asks, the desperate, punch-drunk smile wavering at her lips. "Is there anybody there?"

Yi shakes her head. "I live alone there," she replies with a slight look elsewhere. "And it has been that way since I first lost my friends." The Gnawer once more gestures towards the exit, but this time with an invitation for them to leave. "But, I will say now that if we do go, and you choose to stay there, you will live by /my/ rules." Here, she gives a bit of a smirk. "It does involve being clean, and eating food when you are hungry."

Christine follows Yi's gesture towards the exit, and a longing moves in her. "I'll go," she says, subdued. "Do you have a car?"

Yi tilts her chin a little, and the nods slowly. "Yes," she answers honestly, "Though... it has its temper. The "Mystery Mobile" only works if you ask it to." She starts towards the exit, leading the way. "I encourage you /not/ to shout or do anything crazy when we step outside. Because... it is not in your best interest." She looks back, a calm expression assumed on her. "We are not here to hurt you, Christine. We are only here to help you understand /why/ you are what you are, and what you can do now that you know."

"All right," says Christine dully, and shrugs. The Mystery Mobile doesn't faze her--she's hit the limit of her ability to be surprised, and it's downhill from here. "I'm just tired."

"I understand," Yi says with a quick glance look outside before nodding back to the girl. "No one I've known who has discovered this truth of the world, has taken it easily." Soon, after a few minutes of walking to a battered up car parked on the side of the street, Yi simply pops the lock open mysteriously with a long glance to it. She slips in, unlocks the passenger door, and gestures for the girl to enter from the driver's side. Truly the Mystery Mobile is named as such - it's a mystery how it still runs. "I actually live within walking distance, from here, but I don't think you want to walk in that."

Christine follows Yi silently, holding up her afghan skirt with one hand, and looking keenly around the street for some sign that her oddness is not an isolated oddness, that the world has changed with her. But the people who pass her are depressingly mundane, and after a while she gives up her game and stares at Yi's back. She slips into the car, and the first thing she does once she's in and the door is closed is to see if it will open again.

The door requires some effort, but it does open again with a rusty creak. Yi waits for the girl to reconfirm that all the world around is still the same St. Claire it was before. Then with another choking roar to life, the two are off and traveling. It's not too long before Yi parks the car out around a shaded corner in an alley offshooting from Bridge Street. And, leading the girl, she enters the dinghy looking one-floor tenement where she lives. "Welcome to my humble home," she says rather warmly, flicking on the lights.

Apt. 15(#2604RJh)
The apartment is muted in color, sporting cool blue Christmas lights that blink against the walls occassionally. Most of the mess that was within these walls is cleared to an extent of fair cleanliness. Furniture, it seems, is decidedly lacking save for lumpy beanbags and a puke-colored green Lay-Z-Boy gotten from the Goodwill store. There is a table, but it is a compilation of boxes, a couple of empty metal kegs and a sturdy plank of wood. The entire collection sprawls in a half-circle facing the small color TV and built in VCR, which perches against the wall atop a large metal keg. Its antenna sport aluminum wrapping, curled in some places for better reception. Below that, a Sega Dreamcast and its controllers sit neatly in a small box with games partitioned within it. The other side of the apartment contains boxes, some empty and some not. Set atop them is an old radio. Somehow, the emptiness of the apartment is still set off by little decorations and Stuff set strategically around and on the fuzzy brown carpet that sports a few cuts and scars. Amidst it all, a stamped-on smileyface rug greets the occupants and offers them to Have a Nice Day. (+view for rooms)
Contents:
TigerCharm(#3238h)
Obvious exits:
Out  

Christine is quiet in the car, and quiet all the way up to the point where they reach the tenement. "You guys have never successfully ransomed anybody, have you?" This is a rhetorical question. She scans the apartment with the same bland failure to be interested. "Can I use the bathroom now?"

Yi gestures towards the bathroom just off to the side. The apartment is indeed rather small, but seems clean. Definitely cleaner than the Odeon by leaps and bounds. And upon entering the bathroom, that part is scrubbed to a glistening shine where it can be. "We do not ransom anyone," she answers, missing the rhetorical quality of the question. "And the bathroom is over there. I will get some clothes for you from the bedroom. If you are hungry, please help yourself to the kitchen."

"Great," mutters Christine, and disappears into the bathroom--her longtime stronghold. She immediately turns the water on, and leaves it to run for the length of the time she's in there. At first there's some more weeping, mostly masked by the sound of the faucet, and then the shower is turned on as well. When that's cranked off, there's just the faucet again. Finally, perhaps twenty minutes later, she re-emerges, wrapped in a clean white towel, and holding the salvaged silver cross in a balled fist. She chooses one of the beanbags, hauls it up against the wall, and takes a seat, only to fix a blank stare at the wall across from her.

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