[IC] The Unwanted. Superpowered RP with a hint of horror.

[AcerRo]

Something had woken Elijah. As he slowly rose from his kitchen table, he couldn't help but notice the clock on the wall. It was three in the morning. The music as still playing from when he passed out. He tried to shake the fog from his head, a combination of the bottle he had thought he finished and too many sleepless nights all seemed to be catching up to him.

He picked up one of stray smokes that was lying on the table and lit it. A deep drag seemed to helped clear his head a little. He looked around what passed for his home. It was bleak to the say the least, and Elijah knew it. If he was honest he didn't much care. A tiny table with two chairs, a nearly empty kitchen was that occupied the room. This was by far the most populated area in the house, even that would seem sad to most people. As he took another pull from the bottle he finally realized what had woken him up. Somebody was outside his house. Eli slowly got his feet and collected one of his handguns. Standing off to a corner he waited for whoever was outside to come barging inside.

He sat in the corner with his handgun ready as he watched someone with a goat mask. Eli tried to wait as long as he could before pulling the trigger but the moment he saw the goat mask he couldn't help himself. Eli pulled the trigger twice, a board look on his face.
He walked slowly to now slumped over body. He was still alive but he wasn't long for this world. Eli gave the kid credit he had some fight in him. It showed as the kid in the goat mask tried to crawl away from him. He made all the way out to the porch before Eli grabbed the goat mask and pulled it off of the kid. He couldn't help gaze at it for a few moments.

"You know, I used to wear a mask. Weren't nothing like this. My mask was to keep people from figuring out who I was. I was living in families garage outside of Fort Benning. I know it doesn't sound like much but it was home. Mask was to make sure that one could track me back to them. I'd hated for something to happen to them." Eli said slowly walking behind the crawling goat boy.

The kid was in a bad way, he left a thick trail of blood in wake. Gasping for each bloody breath. The smell of blood was so thick in the air it was all Eli could smell or taste. If he was honest, he was enjoying it right now. This was also the first time Eli had gotten a good look at the kid. His back was covered in something, it looked like some kind of messed up triangle. It was a symbol of some sort but they're much more important things to figure out. Eli pushed everything from his mind and finally started to work on the kid in front of him. "Hey shitheel, who sent you? Huh?" Eli asked sternly as he kicked the over to his front. His gun aimed at his face.

With a bloody laugh kid, who couldn't have been any older than twenty, spoke definitely. "Kill me, it won't matter. The Lion will roar, and the Morning Star will rise. I am but a single Messenger in an army fo-" A loud bloody shout came from the kid as Eli stepped on one of the bullet wounds.

"You just a stiff necked little some bitch ain'tcha?" Eli said as he watched the kid curle into a ball and pointed out past the porch into the darkness. The yellow glow of the porch light only served to make the scene more horrific. For all the blood, death and combat Eli had seen, this was damn sure in the top three. As he looked out to in the darkness he could a lifeless figure tied to a tree. There wasn't much he could make but what he could make his stomach turn in knots. A bloody, eyeless, skinless face that was twisted in horrific pain. Eli couldn't tell but he was pretty sure that he was attached to the by barbed wire.

As the anger in Elijah rose, it was the laughter that sent him over the edge. Eli's face twisted in anger as he looked to see the kid pulling out a dirty set of eyeballs. That was all he could take as Eli started to raise his gun with the intent of inflicting more pain on the sick bastard. He never got the chance to as arm started to glow, fire erupted from the brand on his arm that appeared a two weeks prior. There was no pain as his shirt caught fire, and the body of the kid. Eli quickly shed the shirt and watched somewhat happily as he watched the kid burn to death.

The smell burning flesh and his screams lingered in the air, it was never a pleasant thing but Eli could make an exception this one time. As the kid burned Eli looked at symbols on his arm. There was no pain but there was smoke. As he gathered himself Eli went to the body of the faceless man. He wanted to cut but he knew better, he knew the cops weren't gonna be far behind. Eli quickly ran back inside and grabbed a few things. A Go bag and his rifle were both tossed in the truck. When he put on a new long shirt he called the county sheriff. Eli spoke in a calm and clear voice but he was anything but. When the sheriff answered Eli didn't give him time to say anything. "Linehouse, its Eli. I need you at my place right now."

"Eli its-" Sherif Linehouse
"Linehouse if what happened up here gets out there is gonna be the biggest shit storm since Bloody Harlan. Call your deputies and round up everyone that at the Ole man Johnson's a couple of weeks back." Elijah said with the slightest hint of panic.
"Elijah where do you get-" Elijah cut him off again. "I got a man with no one face on my tree Ed, strung up with barbed wire. I don't know what the hell is going here but this is insane."

The was a long pause before Edward Linehouse giving an acknowledgement. When the sheriff arrived and saw what happened. He couldn't but puke, was it the horrific sight or the stench of burnt human? Did it matter? Eli patted Edward Linehouse on the back. "You'll get used to the smell. Him though, that's never get any easier to see." Eli said pointing to the faceless man. Though it didn't seem like it, Eli was scared. Horrified to an extent he hadn't know since he left the Air Force. The signs were there if you looked close enough. A slight tremble to the hand, eyes that wanted to stay fixed anywhere but the bodies. Even his normally smokey voice held a the slightest hint of panic and fear.

After another heave or two, the sheriff finally spoke. "The hell is wrong with you son? How are you so calm!? What the hell is going on here!?"

"Helps when you've seen a whole village like this... Round up those everyone from that party like I said Ed. Bad shit is coming for someone." Eli said looked to the burnt body. The yellow glow from the light bulb really made him even more unnerved. What he called a house was little more than a three room shack. It was so worn out most were surprised it had running water. It had everything he needed but almost nothing else. He knew without a doubt this was going to be one of the last nights he'd spend in these mountains. He heard the sheriff call for backup. What would come next he couldn't fathom, but he knew he wasn't gonna stick much longer to find out.

[Xandrya]

Jennifer

"Are you sure you can't stay a little bit longer?" Jennifer wiped some white powder off of her upper lip. She had caught a glimpse of it in the mirror as she sat up in bed facing the dresser. Her bare legs were a tangled mess within the cotton sheets, and she struggled to cover herself since the little clothing she had wasn't doing a good job of keeping her warm.

"No, I have to go," Warren replied, his voice coming off as that of a man without much emotion. Jennifer knew this meant she would probably never see him again. She watched in silence as he got up to fish for his clothes which were scattered throughout the carpeted floor. Jennifer felt a tinge of disappointment knowing she would be lonely for the remainder of the night as she watched Warren get dressed. She could tell he was eager to go, but who could blame him. After all, what did she have to offer beyond sex and drugs?

"Thanks for the lay," he added, throwing some bills on the bed next to her. It was at that moment that Jennifer felt herself lose all control as her anger was fueled by the drugs and his snide remark.

"Hey, fuck you!" Warren's eye widened when he saw Jennifer grab a hold of a bedside decorative vase and throw it in his general direction. She missed, obviously, the vase crashing loudly against the wall behind him. Jennifer's blood went cold when she saw the death stare he gave her. The room was very still for a moment, none of them moving or saying a word, and he broke the silence a few moments later by rushing at her. Jennifer reacted then as well, hurrying to get off the bed and somehow find safety near the wall. She was a bit clumsy though, landing harshly on her side rather than on her feet, before she felt his weight on her as he forced her on her back.

In one swift motion, Warren flawlessly pinned her wrists above her head as he used his free hand to wrap around her neck. She attempted to get him off of her by using her hips, but he might as well have been dead weight. She ceased whatever fight she had left in her when she realized she was inevitably stuck. Warren smirked at her poor efforts, his hand tightening a little, and she gasped for air in response, resuming her struggle.

"You stupid bitch, don't you think I know what you are?" His voice remained low, as to not bring any more suspicion to their room, and his sudden calmness scared her even more. Jennifer couldn't help but allow a few tears to roll down the side of her face as her efforts began to subside. Her vision began to darken, Warren taking notice of this, but her prayers were answered when she heard a loud knock on the door.

"Police, open up!"

Warren got up in a hurry, and Jennifer gasped for breath and she instinctively turned to her side when she felt a coughing fit coming on. At the time, she wasn't able to notice when Warren opened the door and greeted his brother, Ben. They looked so much alike, Jennifer was confused when she saw Warren standing over her in uniform, but things became clear when Warren walked up next to his brother. Jennifer propped herself up and tried to push herself as far away from them as possible, but her back hit the nightstand. Ben shook his head with a smirk before taking a step forward and effortlessly lifting her up by the arm. Jennifer snapped, her body suddenly going into fight or flight response. She threw a punch, and it connected perfectly with Ben's jaw. She realized the impact had made him loosen up the grip on her arm, and took the chance to get her footing right before kicking him in the groin. Ben doubled over with pain, and Warren looked down at his brother with concern asking him if he was alright. Without them realizing, Jennifer had unplugged the alarm clock off the wall to use it as a weapon, but Ben's rage suddenly made his pain almost bearable. He held out his arm to stop Warren from lunging at her before he grabbed Jennifer by the hair to painfully pull her back towards him. She screamed in pain, the alarm clock dropping to the ground in front of her as she attempted to relieve the pressure on her scalp. Ben's response was to push her on the bed, handcuff her hands behind her back, and turn her around so that she was facing them.

"Well that was entertaining, but time to wrap it up now," Warren said matter-of-factly. Ben replied with a simple nod before returning the favor of delivering a solid punch, and that was the last thing Jennifer saw before she was knocked unconscious.

[Shoe Thief]

Eric Miller

Dawn, one of Eric's favorite times of the day. People were a lot less active during this time. It helped that he was alone in the woods, not a soul to be heard. That's all he's been hearing recently, voices. They never stop. They weren't even in a form he could easily understand, it all sounded like gibberish. Though he learned eventually what some of the things meant. It was almost like taking high school Spanish, and being able to understand just enough to know what the person was talking about, but not in detail, and having no chance to know how to say anything back. But right now, non of that mattered. Now, he sat in a tree, a rifle in hand. He'd been camping in the woods for two days now trying to snag something. He wasn't too picky, neither was the 30-06 in his hands. But being short to make ends meet again he needed to find somewhere to make up funds. It didn't help that people were looking at him differently. He wondered how much they actually knew.

By the time the sun came up he saw a wild boar, that would do just fine. He lined up the iron sights on his rifle and locked on. But as he was turning the safety off he heard it, the sounds. At first he wondered if it was an animal. But the only animal that even came close to human sounds were apes at the zoos, once he was convinced a dog but only once. He slowly moved the rifle back into cover as the noises got louder, he could tell it was multiple people. But the sounds were too faint to tell what they were thinking. Who ever they were, they were far out. But close enough that if he fired a shot they'd know he was there. Was he in real danger? Or was he being paranoid as usual?

Eventually some of the sounds became a bit more clear. He could make out maybe three people? One was thinking something about beer, and about finishing this as soon as possible. He couldn't make out the next one so well, but he could sense anger, lots of anger. It scared him. The last one was thinking a lot about not getting themselves shot with their own gun. They were armed? He was starting to panic again, then he started to think, lots of people were hunters out here. He had nothing to worry about.

Then they got to his makeshift campsite. "He has to be here somewhere, stay in ear shot, and spread out." One of the bigger ones said in a low voice. They were after someone, chances are him. Was it a good thing he didn't come home last night? What would have happened if he did? "Let's just find him and get it over with, I don't want to be out here longer then I have too. Plus..." He pointed out the rifle case by the sleeping bag. "The Freak's armed. Do we really want to do this now?" Eric was in good cover in his tree, even if they looked up they may not see him. Though if they did he would have the high ground over them. But in a gun fight he would lose, he wasn't the best of shots, and the rifle in his hands only held a single shot. The trio were armed with much higher grade equipment. He saw two rifles, a shotgun, and the bigger guy with one of the rifles had a pistol holstered. "Better here then on his terms. Now let's go find him." They continued searching, the youngest one stayed behind to watch over his encampment. He the one panicking about how to handle the rifle. If things got messy, Eric could take the shot now, crippling the youngest one. Forcing the others to make a choice, go after him, or help their friend.

Eric wasn't sure he had it in him to shoot someone, especially since they had no idea he was watching, only a few yards away. Eric took aim with his rifle on the person watching his camp. His thoughts were still based around how to handle the rifle, and worrying if he was being watched. Kinda funny the Irony in the situation. Once the iron sights were locked onto the boy he spoke softly. "Listen up because I am only going to tell you this once. Drop your gun, and put your face to the tree. If you speak, if you move, I will shoot you. And it will hurt. If you cooperate you will make it out of this in one piece." He froze, Eric clicked the safety off on his rifle. "Do it now, or you will get shot." The boy wasn't even facing Eric, but he got the message. He set down the rifle, Eric could tell how scared he was. He felt bad for putting him through this. But it was his best bet to get out alive. Once the rifle was on the ground he put his face to the tree, where Eric soon jumped down behind him.

Eric kept his rifle aimed at his new prisoner as he grabbed his bag, no time for everything else. Well he was at it he grabbed the boys rifle and threw it over his back. Then he heard the noises of one of the other Hunters. It came out along the lines of... "That bastard." The only reason Eric would make it out was because everything else was silent other then the boys sobs. It took him a moment to realize what had just happened. He was in someone's sights. Eric took off running as the first shot went off, he wasn't sure where the hunter was but he knew he was close. He was in too much of a panic to care. But after a while he made it out of earshot of them. Once by a river he unloaded the boy's rifle and threw it in, pocketing the ammo. Then working hsi way back home, hoping it still stood.

[Thundercrash]

Some people said that the forest was quiet. And in a manner of speaking, it was true. Compared to something like a large city, with its traffic, construction, aircraft and other such things, the forest was quiet. And that was the reason that many people went out camping: to get away from the noise.

Christi, however, knew better. Compared to a city (or at least, how she thought a city would be like), the forest was quieter, but it wasn’t quiet. There was always something going on, something moving and making noise. Usually it was a bird; the soft/loud phwoomph of a wingbeat, or the unique music of a call announcing territory or keeping its flock informed of the general surroundings. Sometimes it was the shuffing of a small animal, like a mouse or a rabbit, as it made its way through the undergrowth. Some would expect large animals, such as a deer or a moose, to make a lot of noise, which was half true. They were actually the stealthiest animals in the woods, their steps always carefully placed to make the least amount of noise possible to alert predators. If they were making a lot of noise, it was because there wasn’t any point in hiding anymore, and speed had become more important than stealth. But even so, if one paid close attention, and were very quiet, then one might hear the soft whisper of leaves sliding over fur, and maybe even the creak of a branch being brushed aside. In the forest, absolute silence meant one thing only.

Up in her blind, Christi sat in total silence, ears cocked for all these sounds. The only noise that came from her was her gentle breathing, and every so often a soft tearing sound as she bit into another piece of jerky. She’d been up there most of the day, since before the sun had finally crested over the mountains, waiting for something to come along. Their meat freezer at the house had started to run below the minimum line, and since her father had still been passed out from the night before, and Derek was spending so much time in town, it fell to her to find something to replenish their supply. Unfortunately, it was looking like she was going to be going home empty handed tonight.

A soft snap made her eyes flicker, and she sat up. The birds were still making their evening calls, which meant there wasn’t a predator around. She strained to hear more, and caught the shuff shuff of the dry leaves on the ground being pushed around. Every two shuffs it would stop, then start again. Her eyes narrowed as she panned over the forest. Whatever it was, it was large…

There! A doe, daintily making its way between the trees. Christi slowly stood, slipping her foot into the stirrup of her crossbow as she kept her eyes locked just off center of the female. She paused when its head went up, ears flicking about. Hunting was as much about reading one’s prey, somehow they always knew when you were looking directly at them, but she knew that she hadn’t been detected yet. When the deer’s head went back down, she bent and grabbed the bowstring, pulling it up to the catch. Still keeping an eye on the doe, she slowly raised the bow and rested it on the railing of the blind, her gloved hand keeping the sound muffled as she reached for a bolt.

Up went the deer’s head, and she froze, breath held. Down it went, and she resumed, slotting the bolt into place as quietly as she could before raising the bow to her shoulder. She adjusted the scope, centering the dot on the deer’s chest. Sport hunters were adamant about aiming center mass, to make sure that the head was undamaged for a trophy; for Christi, it was just an easier shot to make.

Her breath caught as the deer’s head came up again, and this time it stayed up, turning one way, then another. It was nervous, something was amiss. She waited, holding her breath even after the deer’s head went back down. The first lesson that her father had ever taught her about hunting was to never assume that you are smarter than your prey…

Sure enough, the deer’s head sprang back up, this time its gaze seemingly centered dead on her. It was a trick she had learned about the hard way, an attempt to catch out a potential predator. She hadn’t fallen for it in years, and this time wasn’t going to be anything different. Seconds ticked past, the deer staring at her, her staring at a branch about a foot and half above it. Finally, it lowered its head, still tense but apparently deciding that it was just being paranoid. Christi refocused, her finger curling around the trigger as she slowed her breathing. 1… 2… 3…

A breeze came up behind her, rustling the branches around the blind. The deer’s head came up, and right as she squeezed the trigger, it bounded away. Christi cursed in her mind as the bowstring thwipped, her bolt burying itself harmlessly into the ground.

Shoulders slumped in defeat, she grabbed her backpack and began clambering down the camouflaged ladder. Stupid, worthless. Should’ve tried one of the other game trails. Stopping to retrieve her bolt and check it over for damage, she began the long walk back home.

[AcerRo]

***BuckHead***

"Events that rocked the world." The female anchor said. "Just two short weeks ago, a mysterious event that has left in bewilderment. How it happend, or what exact happened, is a complete mystery. Our own Jennifer Nettles has the story. From outside the Mandarin Oriental Jennifer?"

"Yes, Thank you Tina." The Field Correspondent said. Its just like you said Tina. No one knows what happened. Officials are keeping quite about the investigation and there is very real concern that this may have been a terrorist attack. The annual Wildlife Banquet that raised over fifty thousand dollars for the World Wildlife Fund has been one of Atlanta's most exclusive charity events. Security was at all time high yet somehow, more than half of the people killed, and no one has any idea how." Jennifer said with the trademark speech of a news journalist.

"According to eye witness accounts that spoke on the condition of anonymity. One said it was it was like something out of a Saw movie, another said it was war zone. Lifeless bodies were everywhere, some were dismembered...? some torn in half and one..." Jenifer paused for a moment, unsure of what she was reading was correct. She even went so far as to look off camera for a reassuring look from a coworker.

"Jennifer is everything alright? What's going on?" Martina Liana asked.

"Uh yes, excuse me. According to eye witness accounts that have been multiple sources. One man... All they could find of him was his feet. It was almost like he just exploded. Witness described this horrific event as being asleep. Only to wake up to a horrific nightmare. No one can recall hearing an screams or seeing anything out of the ordinary. It's almost like it happened in the blink of an eye." Jenifer said becoming only more uncomfortable as time went on.

"What's the mood around the city? How are people reacting this... Frightening and horrific turn of events." Martina asked. Martina's body language betrayed her. It was she wanted this to over and done with. She was every bit as disturbed as Jennifer was. For many this, was the first time they were hearing any real news about it the event. News of the death had spread quickly, but details were extremely scares.

"People are terrified over what happened here. People are leaving the city fearful for their own safety. The few survivors of the events have mostly become shut ins and who could blame them? These events have rocked not just the city but the entire country. City officials have asked the FBI to help with the investigation. Even the International community has offered gotten involved. Interpol, England's MI6, Germany's BND or Federal Intelligence Service just to name a few, have all offered to help in anyway they can. It should also be noted that events similar to these have happened elsewhere. Harlan County, Kentucky. However details of what happened there are much more scares." Jennifer words came out somewhere between stoic and somber.

"Do officials have any leads or suspects at this time?" Tina asked, her last question for this segment. As the words left her lips a slight relief over came her. This was almost over.

"At this time we really don't know. Investigators are looking at this from every angle, and pursue every possible avenue. There are medical experts trying to determine what exactly killed the attendees. There are however a couple of names that keep popping up. Nathan James Hunter who worked security for the event and Jennifer "JJ" Jureau of New York City. These two are wanted for more questioning, officials currently do not believe they were in anyway responsible for what happened. If you spot or have any information about these two do not approach them and call the police." Jennifer seemed as if she saw this as fulfilling her civic duty.

"Thank you for time Jennifer. That was Jennifer Nettles our Field Corespondent. Again Nathan James Hunter and Jennifer Jureau are only wanted for questioning. They are not currently suspects. Please do not approach or attempt to apprehend them. If you have any information relating to their whereabouts please call the police... Coming up after the break, celebrity news.

[Subject Zero]

Nate

---

---

"Stupid pigs!"
There were some odd sounds coming from the door leading into the stairwell. Faint smashing and crashing sounds, followed by annoyed grunts and groans and the occasional laugh. As Warren and Ben rounded the corner to the service stairs, they saw a man in the doorway, blocking their path. One Nathan James Hunter stood with his back pressed against one side of the doorframe and a foot on the other. He held his phone in both hands and seemed to be focussing intently on it. "Steal my eggs will ya?" he asked no one in particular, the question quickly followed by more crashing sounds and a slight chuckle of evil glee from Nate. He glanced up for a second and did a quick double-take as he realized Warren and Ben were there. Holding up a single finger, he informed them "Be with you in a second guys." before returning his focus to the phone. More crashing sounds were followed by a smug smile from Nate. "I told them not to mess with my babies."

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Nate stood up straight and straightened his jacket. He didn't even touch the loose tie around his neck. "Now..." he began, holding his head tall and at least trying to pull off an air of respectability. "Do you want to hand her over now or after you're unconscious and possibly stacked in a compromising but admittedly hilarious position?"
Both Warren and Ben stared at Nate for a second, then each other, then back at Nate. Eventually Ben spoke up. “Sir, this woman is under arrest for assault and is being taken into custody.”
“Oh I see.” responded Nate in a strangely high pitched tone. “Well I'm no lawyer but even I know that it's not exactly legal to arrest a woman after you assault her.”
The douchebag brothers shared a look until the elder douche chimed in “What is he—What are you talking about?”
“I was watching the whole thing.” Nate quickly answered before the end of Warren's question left his mouth. “I mean not in a creepy, pervy kinda way but...Well maybe it's a little creepy but...All you need to know is that I have photos...Incriminating photos.” He narrowed his eyes at the pair in an accusatory manner. He didn't actually have photos. He had no idea what had happened in that room but he got a bad vibe from these two and...well he had been hired to protect the little princess anyway.

Seemingly getting mad at this obnoxious blonde roadblock to their evil and creepy plans, the cop dropped his end of Jennifer and took a step forward, leaving his bro to struggle with the unconscious woman to keep from dropping her entirely. “Sir, you are obstructing police business. Step aside now or I'll be forced to move you.” He was at least committed to the bit. So committed in fact that he pulled his baton from his belt.
Nate's response to that was a hearty laugh. “Oh, he's gong to hit me with his little stick. That's adorable.” He turned his head as though addressing someone behind him and added “He's going to...” Then he realized that no one was there and looked slightly embarrassed.
“This is ridiculous!” Warren practically yelled as he finally dropped Jennifer's limp body to the floor. “Just hit the fu--”
His sentence was cut short as Nate's phone connected with the bridge of his nose after being chucked across the space between them. Seemingly in shock and not noticing the blood slowly trickling down his nose, Warren staggered back a couple of steps, paused, then finally fell onto his ass. Ben stood, wide eyed and staring at his brother on the floor then turned back to Nate who had a smug smile on his face.

“After it is then.” said Nate as he cracked his knuckles.

“You son of a...!” yelled Ben as he lunged in with his baton in a downward striking attack. Nate easily avoided the blow and ducked the backhand that followed. Ben continued attacking and Nate continued dodging until his attacker finally connected with the wall.
“I gotta say, this is really disappointing.” complained Nate as he bounced up and down in the sneakers that looked weird with the black suit he was wearing. “The last cop I fought actually landed a couple of blows.” That only seemed to anger Ben who swung again and Nate once again dodged out of the way, swapping positions with him. “This is really embarrassing.” he said with a sigh. “For you I mean.” He was distracted enough then that he didn't notice Warren approach from behind and wrap his arms around him an entirely unromantic manner. Nate was less upset by the fact that he had been caught than he was that Warren was now dripping blood onto his shoulder. “Hey!” he complained, right before Ben finally connected with a baton to the gut. Warren released his grip and Nate doubled over as he struggled for air. He managed to avoid falling over completely but crouched near the floor for a second and raised his hand as though asking for a timeout. Fortunately his opponents were overly confident or just dumb...maybe both...and stopped their attack, giving Nate a second to recover. “Alright,” he began as he raised his head, smile now gone. “I guess we're doing this.”

In a blur of motion, Nate grabbed hold of Ben's wrist and twisted until he dropped the baton, thrusting upwards with a palm strike to the chin at the same time. Feeling Warren approach from behind again, he kicked out and caught the other man in the gut, causing him to buckle over this time. Ben was quickly back in the fold and threw a heavy punch Nate's way. Nate dodged and caught his arm, forcing him around until he slammed into the wall and fell backwards. Warren leaped over his brother and threw a flurry of punches at Nate which he deflected with his own arms until a sweeping punch finally landed on his ear. The ear. Of all places. Both men stopped moving and Nate looked furious. As though hitting someone in the ear was against the rules. At the look on Nate's face, Warren began to actually look scared and his entire body clenched. Nate responded with a sudden and vicious headbutt which seemed to knock Warren clean out. He then spotted Ben trying to get back to his feet but this time he was reaching for his gun. Nate reacted by kicking the nearby baton up into the air and directly at Ben, knocking the gun from his hand. This was quickly followed up by a drive by kick to the face. Douche bag number two knocked out.

Nate stopped to catch his breath for a second, breathing in slowly and then letting it out through his nose. His attention shifted to the small blood stain on his shoulder and he touched a finger to it. He made a “Tsk” sound of annoyance as he rubbed the blood between his forefinger and thumb. “This suit was expensive.” He complained to the unconscious Warren. “I'm sending you the dry cleaning bill.” He followed that up with a light kick to Warren.

Nate then heard a familiar sound and his attention shifted to his phone lighting up on the ground with an incoming text message. “Huh.” he said with a look of surprise. Wandering over and picking it up, he added “Sturdier than it looks.” He then opened the text, which read;

“Status update.
Target secured?”

“Yeah, I got her.” Nate said aloud as he typed his response. He stopped for a second as he looked over at Jennifer lying unconscious on the floor. Better check her. He slid a foot under her shoulder and rolled her over with it. “You're not dead, are you?” he asked as though she could respond. She was beaten and bruised for sure but he noticed her chest move up and down, proving that she was still alive...Also that she was pretty well stacked. “Good enough.” Nate said to himself with a shrug as he finished his message.

“Yeah, I got her.
Moving to rendezvous point.”

He then looked over at Warren and Ben and his smile grew. “Well I did give them a choice.” he said before following through on the second part of his offer. Ben was rolled over onto his stomach and his butt hoisted up into the air. His brother was draped over him from behind. Nate stopped short of stripping them though, based entirely on time concerns. If he had more time though...But he did take a couple of photos.

With that piece of hilarious and not at all immature piece of business out of the way, Nate hoisted Jennifer up onto his shoulder and began whistling as he sauntered through the door and down the stairs, playing with his phone again as he went.

[AcerRo]

The sun was up before he arrived at the Sheriff's Office. After answering questions of the sheriffs who were clearly out of their depth and a lot of coffee. Eli was escorted to the jailhouse, he got to ride upfront for once.

Eli was never one to go seeking out trouble, but heaven forbid if he ever found. It was nothing for him rush headfirst into trouble. Deep down he loved it. His antics were well known around the county and beyond. As a result of his wild streak, Eli knew just about everyone that wore a badge for miles around.

Corruption ran pretty rampant within law enforcement. Money here, a favor there and anything could be overlooked. It was hard for Eli to abide that but he'd be lying if he said he didn't benefit from it, on more than a few times.

As he walked into the jailhouse, he couldn't help make a note of everyone, who they are and where they were. When he saw Dickie he couldn't help but laugh. The two hated each other and one never missed a chance to make life harder for the other.

Eli leaned over the front the desk and locked eyes with Lorraine. An older woman, who was nothing more than average in most every respect. Still flattery worked on her better than most. "Hello Sweetie, you're looking wonderful as always." Elijah said with a smile.

"Oh Eli, you are too sweet. What can I do for you?" Lorraine said just as happy as she could be.

"Linehouse said he was gonna put me in the back. Safekeeping for all the crazy goings on up the hill. Should even have some company before too long." As soon as he finished speaking, his escort walked in behind him.

"Stick him in the break room Lorraine." He said he as signed some paperwork. "There is gonna a few more coming in for questioning and such." As he looked over to Eli he motioned for Eli to go back to break room. "Dickie get your shit and go get the Miller boy. Woodworker from Florida. I'll go and get the Raines girl" He ordered.

Lorraine stood up without a word and went to walk Eli back. Eli couldn't help. "Go on Dickie, get the kid. Oh and while your out, I like my coffee with two creams and sugar. Dry cleanings should be done on that one off main street." Eli said as he walked past. He wanted to so bad to look at this face, knowing just how angry Dickie was gonna be. He resisted as Lorraine walked him to the break room.

Eli knew both of them just not that well. Both of them seemed like decent kids. The girl had it rough but who didn't around here? Eli shut the door and put his stuff in front of the door. He was a light sleeper, the bag acted as a make shift alarm. As Eli sat down he couldn't help but get tired. With his feet extended he slowly drifted off to sleep. Something he hadn't gotten much of recently.

[Xandrya]

Jennifer

The dull ache was what woke her up. Jennifer was careful when she rubbed her jaw with her hand, and it was then she learned the area was tender to the touch. She was annoyed at the fact that her hands were still handcuffed together, but at least they were restrained in front of her rather than behind her back. Still groggy, she looked around the room to determine where she was, although it definitely wasn't the hotel room where she had confronted the twins before losing that fight. She took a few guesses as to where she may be, and the possibility that those pricks were holding her hostage couldn't be ruled out.

With a sigh, Jennifer kicked off the covers and dragged herself out of bed. She searched around the room for anything that may help her protect herself and increase her chances of survival. Frustrated after a couple of minutes of searching and coming up empty-handed, she made her way to the door and started to pound on it loudly enough to get someone's attention.

"Hey, let me out of here!"

She pounded on the door again and positioned herself about a foot away from it. Her plan was to swing her clasped hands at whoever walked inside the room and hope that the hit would stun them long enough for her to run out and make her escape. The plan wasn't perfect, but she had to at least try.

[Shoe Thief]

Eric Miller

The last few hours were a blur, and a bit crazy. When Eric got back to his shed of a home he threw the rifle onto the bed and started locking the door behind him. After catching HS breath he looked at the rifle. If people were after him that rile held only one bullet in it. He had a shotgun though, his uncle's old twelve gauge. Eric ran for the bed where he lifted the mattress and pushed it off the bed, then removed a couple pieces of plywood from the frame reveling the shotgun, a .22 rifle, and a collection of ammo and other supplies. Eric had been a bit paranoid from a young age, after gaining his abilities he prepared even more, started buying ammo with his savings and other really cheap survival supplies. Most of which would only have a lifespan of a few months when he started using them, maybe weeks depending on a few factors.

He grabbed the shotgun and placed it on his desk, the grabbed a box of shotgun shells. After he had his gun and some ammo for it he returned the rifle to it's spot under the bed, and put it back together before loading his gun. Almost as soon as he finished he heard the noises again, thoughts. People were close, at least one but it couldn't be much more then that. Eric crept his way to the window in his home and saw the sheriff's car rolling up. Were they on it now? Eric wanted to run, but his place only have the one door, two if you counted the fact that his front wall was a door. But the actual door was apart of it still.

With the shotgun in one hand hidden from view as he opened the door casually trying to keep focused. Part of him was wondering if he was hearing his own thoughts but as far as he could tell these two officers had little intentions on hurting him. Eric calmly set down the shotgun behind the door as the officers approached him. "Sup peoplez, you here to buy or just looking?" The officers didn't seem to be expecting this response, but they went along with it and talked for a but, they asked him to go with them, Eric didn't like that idea. In that process he tripped backwards taking the shotgun with him. Next thing eh knew he was in handcuffs with a bloody nose as his gun was loaded into the back of the car.

At the station Eric was ready for war, and by ready for war he was hitting his head on the bench he was handcuffed to trying to get the thoughts of everyone inside out of his head. Being handcuffed didn't help. "You have--" *Thud* "No right--" *Thud* "TO KEEP ME HERE!" *Thud*. This time though he was starting to get dizzy, now his head hurt in another way. He was tempted to ask for an Excedrin but he wasn't ready to give in to his captures. Though he was tempted, so very tempted.

His bench was outside the break room, inside he saw Eli. Why was Eli here? wait... had Eli turned him in for all the underground work he had done? Eric was starting to worry, he had done jobs for Eli in the past, most of which were under the table to avoid taxes and to save a few extra bucks on both ends of the deal. Had he been turned in?! Oh shit... Then again, Eric had done work like that for at least two other people in this building. Hopefully that wasn't an issue. Eric just casually waved trying to hide the pain from hitting his head, everyone thinking, and his intense fear.

[Subject Zero]

Nathan Hunter

---

---

This was giving him a headache.

No it wasn't. It couldn't be. Getting a stress headache was too much like his father and he definitely didn't want that. No, this had to be something else. Maybe he was getting a tumor. Yeah, a big, fat tumor pressing against his prefrontal cortex. That would be great.

As he sat staring at the TV screen, Nate narrowed his eyes and prayed for a tumor. But he knew there was no tumor. It was the god damn stress. The past few weeks had been weird, even by his standards. The cute news anchor was currently informing the world about a night that Nathan would sooner forget about. He had barely made it out of that charity gala with his life. And that life had been insane ever since. Sure, he had dragged the client he had been hired to protect out of the rubble alive, albeit minus a couple of feet, and on any other occasion he would have considered that night a win. But given that the police were now looking for him and he was going slowly insane from post traumatic stress disorder and a possible tumor surely meant that he should mark it in the loss column.

And that wasn't even mentioning...them.

Sure, they were cool, smart, charming and sexy as hell but they were still weird.

He slumped back into the couch, almost sinking into the cushions and sighed. When he heard a clatter and the sound of garbled communication coming from the kitchen, he slowly turned his head in the direction of the door. What would happen if he left right now? Would they follow? Would they find him? Part of him wanted to find out, if only to test a theory. But a larger and probably smarter part told him to stay. For now anyway.

His attention was quickly drawn elsewhere though when he heard the bedroom door being attacked from the other side. Oh right...Almost forget about her. He shifted slightly to look over his shoulder at the bedroom door behind him as Jennifer yelled to be released. This raised one of Nate's eyebrows in confusion and he yelled back “It's not locked. You just have to jiggle the handle. It sticks sometimes.”

He made a mental not to make some improvements. Or maybe just find a better safehouse.

[Xandrya]

Jennifer

"Oh."

Jennifer was surprised by the casualness of the man's voice coming from the other side of the door. Before heading out, she figured it'd be a good idea to wrap the blanket around herself so that she didn't go out there half naked. Not that her safety wasn't at stake, but she'd much rather confront the guy with a little bit more dignity.

Once she opened the door, she took a peek outside and found a stranger she'd never seen before sitting on the couch. By the looks of his relaxed posture, Jennifer figured he wasn't much of a threat. Not right now, anyway.

"First things first, could you undo these handcuffs?" she asked, carefully holding out her hands in front of her to prevent the blanket from slipping off her shoulders, "Unless you're working for them, in which case, I might as well go back into that room." She wasn't being serious, but Jennifer thought a little humor might make her more likeable.

[Thundercrash]

The sun was well up into the sky by the time that Christi made it back home. The truck was still there, which meant that both her father and brother were home. Daniel could be anywhere, but at least her father was probably still sleeping off the night before. She paused as Jack rushed towards her from around behind the house, barking. Stopping to rub his head with her hands nuzzle her face between the German Shepard's ears, she smiled. "Hey there, boy. Are you happy to see me?" Her eyes stung as she blinked, and she gave him the last piece of jerky in her pocket. "There you go. Good boy. Good boy." As she stepped through the door, she wrinkled her nose at the alcohol-soaked air. Having spent the last of their savings from the past two months, Arthur Raines had decided to have himself a one-man pity party, compliments of the house. Although to look at the place, one could be forgiven for thinking that half the boys in town had been there. Empty bottles were strewn all across the floor, the front window had been smashed, one of the chairs had been over-turned. The whole bottom level of the house had been completely trashed, with the party ending in an unmoving heap on the floor in the middle of the room, a bottle still in his hand. Sighing, Christi laid her backpack and crossbow by the door, grabbed the lone garbage can from beneath the sink, emptied it outside, and began the oft-repeated process of cleaning up.

As she worked, every so often she'd glance at the south wall of the house. On the other side, she knew, was a half-finished skeleton of an expansion. In one of his rare lucid moments, her father had told her that they had started building it when they found out her mother had been pregnant with her. The plan had been to make it a room for Daniel, while she would eventually get his old one upstairs. Of course, her mother dying had put a halt to those plans. Daniel was still upstairs, and while for the first few years she had stayed in her father's room, most of her life had been spent in the workshed outside with Jack.

She was just walking in with an armful of two-by-four sections to cover the window with when her father finally stirred, pushing himself up off the floor. "Ugh." As he sat up, he blinked at her, as though not really seeing her. "Wh're the fug w're you?"

Christi swallowed. Nope. Still drunk. "I-I was out hunting." She laid the pile of wood on the counter, clutching her arm nervously.

"Mmph." He wiped a hand over his face. "Jya get a'ything?"

She shook her head. "N-no. I almost di-"

"W'LL TH'N WHA GOO ARE YA!" She flinched as the bottle whizzed past her head, smashing through the previously unbroken window in the door. Her father climbed to his feet, his eyes blood-shot and looking for more of it. "Fuggin stupid girl, can'sh ya do a'ything right!" He rushed over, seizing her by the arm and roughly smacking the side of her head.

Christi sagged in his grip, half-stunned by the blow. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Daddy, I swea-" She was cut off by another blow to the head. Lost in his own drunken rage, her father didn't hear a single word she said, in fact she doubted he even knew what he was angry about.

She didn't know when she had done it. At first, she didn't even realize her knife was in her hand. All she knew was that suddenly he had stopped, leaning on her and staring at her as if seeing her for the first time in his life. Slack-jawed, he stared at her, and her at him, eyes wide in terror. Ever so slowly his hand came up and brushed her cheek, his fingers touching with more tenderness than she had felt from him since she could remember. Off to the side, she could dimly hear Jack barking and whining.

A ghost of a relieved smile crossed her father's lips, and his eyes closed as he fell away from her. She stared down at his body, Jack running to his side and whining, then down at the knife in her hand, and suddenly she felt sick to her stomach. A small part of her thought she heard somebody crying half-sensical words, and in muted surprise realized it was her.

She turned, staggering, then froze. Her brother was standing on the stairs, eyes wide in shock. Christi looked at him, at the bloody knife in her hand again, then back to him. "Danny, I-"

Shock turned to rage, and Daniel stormed towards his sister. "You BITCH! What, it wasn't enough for you to take Mom away? You had to kill Dad too?"

Christi stumbled away from him, tears starting to pool in her eyes. "Danny, please, I didn't mean to! It was an accident, I swear! I didn't... I wouldn't... please!" She brought her hands up, waiting for blow to come.

It didn't. Instead, Daniel suddenly stumbled and swayed, eyes widening in surprise as the room seemed to spin around him. His feet went out from under him, and he fell, striking his head on the side of the table. Christi clapped her hand over her mouth, and for a moment thought that she had killed him too. When he groaned, she didn't know if she was feeling relief, or fear.

Grabbing hold of the table, Daniel struggled to rise. "Ugh... whua..." Immediately he slumped back down, one hand pressed against his bleeding head, then leaned over and vomited on the floor. "What the... what the hell..." He finally managed to look up at Christi, frozen nearby. "Why..."

For a moment, brother and sister locked eyes. Dawning comprehension mixed with fear slowly grew across Daniel's face, and a yawning pit of dread opened in Christi's stomach. "You're like her."

Christi shook her head. "No. Danny, no..."

Her brother's expression gave way to such fierce hatred and utter disgust that she gasped. "You're like her, aren't you." Again he struggled to rise, causing her to take a step back, but he fell down again. "That's why..."

She started moving slowly, taking small steps backwards, then turned and broke into a run. She paused only to grab her backpack and crossbow on the way past, and just kept running, crying as she went. She was only faintly aware of Jack running beside her, barking, and her brother screaming after her from inside the house. "YOU'RE DEAD, CHRISTI! YOU HEAR ME? YOU'RE DEAD! WE'RE GONNA FIND YOU, AND WE'RE GONNA DO TO YOU EXACTLY WHAT WE DID TO THAT HELTON BITCH! YOU CAN'T RUN! CHRISTI!" She didn't have a plan, didn't know where she was going, and in that moment, she didn't care.

As long as it wasn't here.

[Subject Zero]

Nate and J.J

Nathan Hunter
&
Jennifer Jureau

---

A collab between Subject Zero & Xandrya

---

Nate smirked at the idea of working for those clowns. "What, tweedle dee and tweedle dumbass? They could never afford my services." He pushed himself up from the couch and began strolling around towards Jeniffer, fishing something out of his pocket as he went. "No I was hired by your business partner. You know...whatsisname...with the face." he informed her, not realizing that that was less than descriptive. "He wanted me to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't get into trouble or take up Scientology or whatever...And wouldn't you know it, you did just that...The trouble part, not the Scientology part I mean." He balled up his fists and made a gentle punching motion at the air as he explained "I took care of your delightful little friends. God only knows what they had planned for you."

"Here" he said as he took hold of her wrists and stuck the key he had fished from his pocket into the lock on the cuffs. After they were off, he gave jen a smile and added "But y'know, I bet we could have more fun with these on." He then presented her with the key before holding both of his hands together for her.

Jennifer couldn't help but smile at the remark, although playing along would work to her advantage. "Hm, you're right. You're not that bad-looking yourself" She took off the handcuffs and proceeded to lock one of them around his wrist before dragging him by the small chain back towards the bedroom. "And I don't even need to know your name..." She gave him a wicked smile as she pushed him on the bed, but not for the reason he had in mind. With a swift quickness, she locked the other cuff to the bed post and stepped away from the man in order ot keep the key out of his reach.

"Sounds like a likely story, but I'm going to need some proof. Not that I don't trust you...well, I actually don't, but that's neither one of our fault." The blanket was a heaping mess around her feet, but Jennifer didn't care. This guy had offered her sex like 30 seconds ago, so the comfort line had definitely been crossed by this point.

Nate rolled his eyes in disappointment. "Your loss." he remarked with a small sigh. He knew she would never have actually gone for his offer but it was worth a shot, right? Where a normal person would normally react aggressively to being handcuffed to a bed, Nate simply lay back and closed his eyes. It was hardly the first time he had been in this situation. The only difference was this time he had backup.

"The lack of gratitude from people these days." came a remark from behind Jennifer. In the bedroom doorway, with his shoulder pressed against one side, stood...Nate? Or someone who looked exactly like him anyway. "Here," he said as he casually extended a phone her way. "Give him a call if you don't believe us. Or just call the cops."
"But they're already looking for you." added the Nate on the bed. "I mean I did beat the crap out of one of them to save your life. You're welcome by the way."
The other Nate, lets call him Duplinate, smiled and blew a short blast of air from his nose like something was amusing. "Well that and that whole debacle a couple of weeks ago at the charity gala."
"Nathan James Hunter and Jennifer "JJ" Jureau are wanted for questioning." said Nate, quoting the news anchor. "You're not responsible for that massacre are you?"
"Because I know I'm not." said Duplinate, finishing his brothers sentence.
Nate sighed and muttered "Doesn't matter. A lot of wealthy people died that night and they're looking for someone to blame. They'll find a way to pin it on us...They always do."

It all made sense now. Jennifer slumped back against the wall in an effort to calm herself down. "Well, I guess we don't have any other choice but to skip town. That's my plan anyway, don't know what you want to do." She tossed the key to Nathan #1 who was sitting on the bed. "But you two are off the hook from now on, so you don't need to look after me anymore. If there's any overdue amount left to pay for your services, then I can write you a check."

Jennifer proceeded to search the drawers for any shorts or pants she could wear while coming up with a plan on how to get back at Harrison. How dare he have someone watch her without her consent? Not that she didn't appreciate the help back in the hotel, but it still doesn't give him the right to do that to her. Eventually, Jennifer found some skimpy shorts, and even though she disapproved of the garment, it nonetheless fit her just fine.

"Well, if there's nothing else you two need, then I'll be on my way now. Thank you for saving my life back there, and uh...keep up the good work."

As Jennifer rummaged around in the drawers, Nate uncuffed himself and sat back up. He had fully expected her to be annoyed by the insinuation that she needed a bodyguard/babysitter but if the situation she found herself in earlier was any indication, she definitely did.

When she informed them to keep up the good work, the duplicate replied "Oh we intend to." He held a hand up in the air to stop her leaving and added "As much as I appreciate you offering to pay me, the job's not over until the employer says so and that's not you." In any other situation, he would probably have just let her leave and called the job but he had a vested interest in keeping her around for the time being. "You don't have to stay here but if you're leaving, we're coming with you."

Nate chimed in then, saying "Look, as far as I'm aware, you and I are the only ones who walked out of that gala alive and in one piece...more or less." He shot his twin a look and got a smirk back. He stood then, dropping the cool guy act and being as honest with her as he possibly could. "My life has been nuts ever since then. This guy is proof of that." He gestured to Duplinate, who had lost the confident smile too. Nate continued "You think he's my brother? He's not! I don't know what he is."
"I'm actually three midgets in a trenchcoat." offered Duplinate, despite not wearing a trenchcoat.
"Go see if four is finished with the car." Nate barked at him. The duplicate rolled his eyes and rolled around on the shoulder that was leaning on the doorframe until he was out of the room. When he was gone, Nate shifted his attention back to Jennifer and continued "I'd be willing to bet that you've been going through some weird stuff too. Something happened that night. Something I don't have answers for. But I intend to get them. The news says the same thing happened out in the sticks at some hillbilly shindig or whatever. I'm going there to try and figure this out and...I think you should come with me,"

"Well, if it's any consolation...I think something happened to me there as well." Jennifer finally commented after a long silence. She stared at her feet for a second and continued "I vaguely remember one of the guests lying on the floor after he'd been shot, and me kneeling over him trying to stop the bleeding. When I pushed his shirt out of the way and made skin contact, I began to feel a sharp pain on my side, in the same spot he had his wound." Nate noticed her face scrunch up in confusion at that, even now. "I also noticed his wound getting smaller, I mean, it was happening right in front of my eyes but it still didn't make sense. That's when I got up and made my way out of there. I had a small injury when I left, but the blood wasn't that bad. Nothing some paramedics couldn't fix. Nathan," she said in a serious tone as she sat across from him on the bed, "I haven't told anyone what I just told you, but I suspect we may have some..." she stopped for a second, trying to decide whether the next word would make her sound crazy, "abilities that are unique to each individual. You have your twin, or whatever he is, and I have the power to heal. Let's test it out!"

Before he could reply, she rushed to the kitchen and came back a few moments later with a kitchen knife. "Give me your palm," she demanded as she held out her hand, "if I'm right about this, then I'll go with you on your quest for truth or whatever you prefer to call it."

Nate eyed Jen from the corner of his eye as she asked for his hand. She planned to cut him? Based on a theory that she could then heal him? That sounded like the plan of a lunatic. And yet he still found himself slowly extending his hand towards her. "This is the weirdest date I've ever been on." he remarked in an attempt to alleviate the tension as she took his hand. "Well...Maybe the second weirdest."

Jennifer took a deep breath as she held Nate's hand in her own, preparing herself for what she was about to do. She winced as she began to make a cut across Nate's palm. Nate's only reaction seemed to be slight amusement at hers. He had received far worse injuries than this in the past. He thought about screaming in pain, just to freak her our but thought better about it. Never mess with a woman holding a kitchen knife. A lesson he had already learned.

With the cut made, Jennifer took the blade away and again took a deep breath. She placed her hand atop the wound on Nate's and focussed on it. Both felt an odd tingling sensation and Nate remarked "I feel like I should make some comment about about giving a tingling feeling but--"
"Quiet." she demanded, still focussing on the wound. After a moment, she removed her hand and Nate was surprised to notice that the cut on his hand was completely gone.
"Wow" he remarked, genuinely impressed. Jennifer seemed to light up, rightfully proud of herself. Nate then noticed that she had a small cut on her own hand, exactly where she had cut his. It was smaller than his own wound but it was still going to need a bandage. "Wait here." he said, before quickly leaving.

Jennifer stood for a moment, laughing gently in sheer amazement at what she had just done. But then she realized her hand was bleeding. "Ow!" she muttered, snapping back to reality.

Nate was quickly back in the room with a bandage which he wrapped around Jennifer's hand with a proficiency and speed of someone who had done it many times before. "That was amazing you know. You can actually heal people." He smiled at her. A full smile this time. Not a smirk after some smartass comment. He was genuinely impressed. Bandage on, he held her hand in his own and said "You're kind of amazing."
"Thanks." Jen said, smiling back at him. "I wasn't sure that would actually work."

Nate's expression slowly shifted from happy and amazed to shocked and angry. "You weren't sure!?" he complained.
"Well I mean--" Jennifer began before being cut off by Nate.
"You know what? Never mind!" he barked as he threw his arms up into the air. "Lets just go!"
He was out the door before Jen even had time to respond to his sudden and somewhat irrational outburst, leaving her standing there, confused. She stared at the kitchen knife in her hand for a second then thought about something. "Wait. Where are we going?" she yelled after him as she followed him out of the bedroom.

[Xandrya]

Jennifer

"Hey! Don't you walk away from me!" Jennifer rushed out of the bedroom after Nathan, her mood shifting just as rapidly as his. "I did this for us!" she added, using the knife to point at her wounded hand that a minute ago he was gently bandaging. Her actions may have come off as a bit over-the-top, but she was simply trying to get the point across.

"What's wrong with you anyway?" she asked as she used the back of her healthy hand to give him a quick shove, knife still being held in a tight grip inches away from his face. "One second you're nice and friendly with me and the next you turn ice cold. Either treat me like you're actually interested in me, or quit making little suggestive side comments. I know I'm basically your job, but I refuse to have someone treat me like a rag doll for their own amusement!" Jennifer was breathing a little bit hard at this point, her cheeks slightly flushed. She didn't know whether Nathan #2 was in the same room as them, listening in on their argument, but she didn't care. In fact, she would have welcomed him as a potential witness because she was pretty sure that Nathan #2 would side with her if it came down to that. Sometimes people liked to play games, but not Jennifer. She found Nathan to be very attractive, but she would not waste her breath on him if he didn't feel the same way towards her.

[Subject Zero]

Nathan Hunter

---

---

Nathan scooped up his bag that had been left next to the front door and slung it over his shoulder just as Jennifer began yelling at him. He turned around only to receive a light shove that seemed a lot more threatening than it would normally have been without the knife inches from his face. When she was done, he quickly snatched the knife from her and held up an accusatory finger. "You know what?" he began, raising his voice. "You're absolutely right!" At this point he seemed to be agreeing with her but for some reason was still shouting. "I don't know why I'm still yelling!" he admitted before realizing that he was yelling and holding a large kitchen knife, which probably made him look like a dangerous psychopath. He quickly tossed the knife over onto the couch before continuing, this time in a much calmer voice. "Look, my head's a little fried right now with all the clones and the cops and the crazy shenanigans and whatnot. Maybe I did overreact."

Seeming much calmer now, he placed his hands gently on the tops of Jennifer's arms in a reassuring manner then ran them down her arms until he held both her hands together in his own between them. He smiled a soft and friendly smile at her, right before he slapped the cuffs back on her. "But you're right. I should stop treating you like you're more than a job." He continued to smile at her like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. He waited just long enough for what he had just done to sink in, then scooped her up onto his shoulder. "Suggestive side comments it is." he commented before opening the door and heading out.

[Xandrya]

Jennifer

"No, that's not what I meant! You can't-" but Jennifer was not able to finish her sentence before Nathan picked her up with ease to place her over his shoulder. The nerve of this guy...

"Of course you're going to stick to making little comments, that's about as far as you'll be able to get with me." For a moment, Jennifer wondered whether she should attempt to get down. She could place her arms around his neck to get some leverage, but she was still restrained and that left her at a disadvantage. Not that she was afraid of Nathan hurting her, but getting on his bad side could mean that the handcuffs stay on for longer. "God dammit, Nate, I don't even have shoes on!" She knew he wasn't going to go back in the apartment, but maybe there was a small part of him that still cared for her comfort. "You know what, forget it. This time I want to be spared from one of your smart-ass remarks."

[AcerRo]

The crashes and thuds woke Eli up. He snapped awake and had to realize where he was before he hurt someone. Eli waking up abruptly was never a pretty thing to see. It normally involved something getting broken and someone getting hurt.

When he saw the Miller kid waving at him, Eli couldn't help but laugh.The smile and jovial nature of Eli quickly dissipated as he walked closer to the Miller boy. He toted a pretty decent ass whoopin. The boys head was proof of that. It would have been one thing if the kid wasn't hand cuffed but that only added Eli's growing anger. If there was one thing he could not abide it was a bully.

Eli grabbed the Miller kids face and pushed from one side to another. Inspecting the damage done to the kid. "Looks like you went through the ringer... Don't go run off anywhere. Imma fix this shit right quick." Eli said as lightly pushed the kids face and went to find Dickie. He was mid stride before a thought hit him. He turned to Eric Miller before speaking, "You were at that crazy party and Ol' man Johnson's farm, right? You uh... You were hanging around Tille Helton right...? Anything weird going on in your neck of the woods?" Eli didn't wait around for him to answer. He needed to deal with Dickie before he got too distracted.

As he walked off, in search of Dickie. He was so happy to see he was in front of more people that Eli happened to know pretty well. The Elston brothers. They "owned" one the biggest weed patches in the south. "Well if it aint the Elston boys! How does the day find you two?" Eli said with grin and hand extended for both of them to shake.

"Get in to trouble again Eli?" Ezar, the older of the two asked him, taking Eli hands for a strong shake.. "Oh just gotta answer a few questions about some shit going down on my front steps this morning." Eli replied.

"I heard something strange up there, something about two dead bodies was it?" Wytte the younger brother asked with a very curious look about him. Eli quick shook his hand before speaking "Crazy ass brought a body with him then burned himself to death. Shit that happens in these eh?" Eli said like it was just another event.

"How's the family business boys? You guys are going on what? Three generations now? Mighty impressive to make something last that long. Right Dickie?" Eli said now his eyes locked to Dickie.

"We have don't know what your talking about Eli, we just run a little store." Ezra quickly said.

"Hear that Dickie? They don't know what I am talking about? Liars, thieves and drug deals each and everyone of the Baileys. But they ain't no hypocrite, and they damn sure don't go beating on no kids while handcuffed." Eli said with a look that begged Dickie to do something about his accusations. As he took at step towards Dickie and pushed past the Baileys.

Dickie was quick to take a step back and put this hand on his pistol. Something Eli was all to happy to see. "Go ahead Dickie, skin that shit and go to town." Eli said taking another step towards him. Dickie opened his mouth to say something but Eli was was quick to slap. Cutting off any chance Dickie had to say anything. "Come on Dickie, bully me. Try doing what you did that kid to me. I am begging you to jerk that pistol and go to town." Eli said growing more and more angry by the second.

It was surprising to see that Dickie had the balls to pull his weapon. It was also pretty stupid. With Eli so close and do real distance or speed in Dickies favor. A punch was all that was needed to end the dust up. It should have been that simple but Eli was never one to stop at good enough. He didn't stop at one punch, or two, or three. Eli didn't stop till Dickie was the one on the ground. Even then his distaste for Dickie grew, Almost like a compulsion Eli used Dickies own handcuffs on him. Leaving him a mess on the floor.

When Eli turned his attention to the Bailey Brothers. "Boys, we can go if you want but being the smart busyness men you are. I think we can avoid any unpleasantness, unless you guys are just feeling that kinda froggy?" Eli said with raised eye brows and look that invited yet more trouble.

Ezra was the first speak. Laughing as he tossed his hands up. "You're the one Eli. Come on Wytte, lets leave these to there own." Wytte grined and gave a slight wave as as he turned to join his brother.

As the Baileys left, like a cue from a movie director Lorraine came around the corner. Her head down reading from a folder. "Dickie you wanna join Hunter in looking for that Raines girl? Her brother said she stabbed her brother and let out into the woods." She a bit fluster before looking up at Eli standing over Dickie. "OH DEAR LORD ELI WHAT DID YOU DO." She screamed. The Baileys let out a laugh as the exited the bulding.

"Oh come on Lorraine you know what happens when I don't get my morning coffee." Eli said like this was an everyday thing. Dickie could only let out a moan of pain. He did't let her say anything before he walked over to her and ushered her away from the of Dickie. "I'll tell you what darling, how about this? How about you get that Miller boy over there and put him in a car. I'll take him with me and find that girl and you can tend to Dickie. Huh? How about that?" Eli said as softly and sweetly as he could.

"Now you know I can't do that Eli. Do you kno-" Eli cut off her frantic protests. "None of us are under arrest, and we are free to go. All I am saying is that we can go fetch her much quicker than Hunter. Girl sees any sign of cops she just keep running. I'll find her and bring her back here before anyone one is the wiser. Now come on Lorraine, let us go." Eli said with eyes that begged and pleaded.

"Don't make me regret this Eli. She said stern.

"I love you Lorraine. The good Lord never made a sweeter woman." Eli said as took her folder and started reading looking for the girls last direction. With that information Eli quickly went to get his bag that was in the break room. He looked at the Miller kid and smiled at him. "We're going on a field a trip home boy. Be nice to the lady." Eli said as he made his way to the vehicle. As he got in the driver seat he pulled a map from his bag and gave it a look. He knew these hill better than most but a map was always a handy thing to have when trying to figure out where someone would run. His map was a bit different than most. It had the location of just about everything miles. Anything that was note worthy was on that map.

As Eric Miller was gently put in the passenger seat and Lorraine tossed him both the keys the to vehicle and Eric's handcuffs. "Eli, you best becareful." Lorraine said as she shut the door. Eli only waved as he study the map looking for his target location.The girl was scared, frantic and running. He, like many others, knew that girl had it pretty. Eli was happy that drunk got he deserved. Rumors of her getting hit were pretty common place.

"Well kid, we're going to do some huntin." Eli said as he tossed both the map and the keys to handcuffs in Eric's lap. Eli wouldn't say much if anything for the rest of the trip. When they arrived at just the right place Eli quickly got out with his bag in hand. As Eli looked out in the trees, he pulled a few things out of the bag. A knife for Eric, a handgun, holster and a few mags for him. "You get the knife Miller. Anything happens just get low. Come with me now." Eli said as he put the mags in his back pocket and his holster on his hip. It wasn't his preferred way of carrying but it'll do for now. He racked in a round and smiled as he walked into the woods without a word. It only took a few seconds for him start singing.

It only took ten, maybe fifteen minutes for Eli get to his ideal location. An old mine shaft just a few miles from the Raines house. He picked this spot to wait for her because it pretty much the easiest place to get to. A great place to gather thoughts and figure out what to do next. Now all he had to do was wait on her and hope he was right.

[Subject Zero]

Nathan Hunter

---

---

"Shoes?" asked Nate as they passed through the door that led to the stairwell. "You're barely wearing clothes." He chuckled slightly at that as he glanced over at the short shorts she was wearing, his eyes lingering for a second on her backside that was currently inches from his face. He actually felt slightly bad about that, but only slightly, and quickly looked away. The smile on his face only lessened but didn't disappear entirely. "Don't worry about it." he informed her as they began to make their way downstairs. "I had one of my guys swing by your place while you were out and pick up some of your stuff for you. It's in the car waiting for you. You should really think about improving your security by the way."

Nate practically skipped down the stairs, jostling Jennifer more than was entirely necessary but he kind of enjoyed messing with her. The smile on his face and the chipper attitude belied his true feelings. He was on edge, paranoid even, about what might happen. Nate had a background in special operations for the military. He was used to tense situation. But this felt different. This wasn't some foreign power he was competing against, trying to outwit guys with big guns and bigger egos. This was far more personal. Something was happening with him. Something that he couldn't explain. There was something dark about this and it made him uneasy.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the door was opened for them by another Nate, who raised an eyebrow when he saw Jennifer on Nate's shoulder but didn't say anything about it. The door led to a quiet and dark back alley, illuminated only by the headlights of a nearby car, next to which stood another Nate. This one did comment on Jennifer's situation. "So we're fleeing the city with a woman in handcuffs while the local police are looking for us...It's just like old times."
Nate dropped Jennifer to her feet and replied "First of all, we're not fleeing, we're relocating."
"Ooooooh, okay." responded the duplicate with more than a hint of sarcasm.
"Second of all," said Nate "Shut up and get in the car." As the duplicate rolled his eyes and complied, Nate turned to Jennifer and added "That goes for you too."

[Rawk]

What’s in it for me?...

Yeah, it’s a loaded question for sure, but one I’ve been asking myself since I was a kid. And why shouldn’t I? Shit, I don’t see any reasons not to milk this sorry existence for all it has to offer, but I don’t go that far. Just enough to appease my own curiosities I suppose, or maybe I do push things further beyond the edge of the world, where you feel like one more step could mean you’ve just ended it all. Nah, I know I’ve slipped off that edge plenty of times, but I just keep falling with no fucking view of the ground below. I haven’t hit anything yet. I’m untouchable...

...Where the hell was I go with all this?

Vincent, you asshole...

A song from Filter, something from their early album, played softly in the background, streaming out of the many surrounding speakers in the back patio area. The large swimming pool glowed a soft bluish-white from the sublevel lighting along it’s perimeter, casting a stark shadow over everything floating on the surface. The time was...who really knew, but sometime after midnight and way before the morning sun was ready to show its face. Vin slowly drifted along laying on a bright green inflatable pool raft and dressed solely in a pair of white washed jeans, his tattooed arms outstretched, making the mythical wyvern creature inked on his chest almost appear as though it were in flight. His body, however, was unmoving, yet his eyes were open and staring intensely up into the starlit sky. Plastic red cups, empty liquor bottles, half inflated beach balls, and a myriad of men's and women's clothing were left floating in the pool or hanging off the large rocky cascading waterfall. This had been a good night. A night that would be easily replaced by massive hangovers, puking up everything still left in our stomachs, and most likely getting shit stolen. Yeah that hurt the most, and yet it was the inevitable byproduct of inviting complete strangers to your top-level apartment for an all night “fuck the world and crash” party.

Oh yeah, it's all worth it in the end, right?

“Hey, Vinny!...” The faint female voice, layered in some kind of British accent, echoed loudly from across the patio, snapping Vin from his reverie, almost causing him to tip over into the cold water.

“Who? W-What the fuck?..” His words came out slurred yet surprisingly coherent, as he turned his head to find the source of the interruption.

“You're Vinny, yeah? Shite, didn't ya hear me the first five times?”

Vincent focused and caught sight of the tall, leggy dark-skinned girl crouched down at the edge of the pool, her long dreadlocks partially covering her face and half naked body. She steadied herself with one hand while holding a mobile phone in the other.

“Eh…yeah...Vin. Don't call me ‘Vinny’, I hate that. And who the hell are you? And where is everyone else?...” He said with a confused expression, looking around the empty patio area as he pushed himself along the wall, floating closer to the mystery girl.

She stared back at him, her head cocked a bit with a sour look across her face. “Really?...we met last night at the opening of your tatt shop over in Buckhead, genius. And I don’t know, people were leaving throughout the night. Something about having to work in the morning. Shite, I need to work in the morning...” The girl then held up the phone, which Vin noticed was his. “But, that doesn’t matter now, someone claiming to be your ‘brother’ is on the line and needs to speak with you…”

Vincent tried to sit up on the unsteady raft, only to lay back down, more so from his own lack of balance and coordination. He scooped up some water, splashed it on his face, and wiped off the excess from his eyes. “My..My brother?...what the...I don’t even have a brother. And why the hell did you answer my phone?”

The woman gave a sideways smirk as she massaged her pounding forehead. “Look, I don’t know, it was sitting next to me and kept ringing, so I answered it. Do you want this bloody thing or for fuck’s sake I’m going to throw it in the pool!…”

“No!...yeah, I mean…yes, give me the phone please.” He reached over to grab the phone from the girl, who stood up, and staggered over to one of the lounge chairs.

Vin took a deep breath, trying his best to clear his head from all the chaos bouncing around, before putting the receiver end up to his ear. “Yeah? Who is this?”

There was a brief pause on the other end, before a male voice spoke, his tone somber and cracking. “Vincent…”

“Shit...Benny...what happened?” This was a guy Vin thought he’d never hear from again, not since the incident with his sister, Trish, Vin’s ex-fiance who left him for some rich chump.

“Dammit Vin, I’m over at Mercy Hospital, and Trish...she passed away an hour ago man. Her heart gave out due to a mix of prescription drugs and booze. Vin, I fucking told her to stay clear of that shit! I-I just don’t know man...”

Silence between the both of them seemed to last an eternity. Vin laid his head back against the plastic headrest on the raft, staring up at the starry sky yet again, and wondering if he’d even feel anything for what had happened to her. As much as he didn’t want to, and as much as she hurt him in the end, he felt it. He felt the sucker punch of life once again, and it hit like a mother fucking monster truck.

“...Vincent?” Benny spoke up, clearing his throat in the process. “Look man, I just thought you should know. But, I gotta go bro...”

Benny was gone, and the phone came to a rest on Vin’s chest as he kept his eyes fixed toward the night sky. Reaching his right hand over to his left shoulder, he rubbed the inked portrait image of the girl who broke his heart all those years ago, slowly closing his eyes to calm down the raging onset of a coming migraine from hell.

And, as if by some twisted and perverse coincidence, the surrounding speakers streamed an all too familiar song by Alice in Chains that they both shared back in Seattle when things had been different. When life seemed to make sense, and the rules didn’t matter.

“Shit, Trish...not like this…”

[AcerRo]

Life in the military was always somewhat difficult. For those who fought, it was much more difficult. That was always a truth that people in combat roles accepted. There were always thing that had to be accounted for. It was all so easy to miss, someone on the phone, a person who walked up and down the block a few too many times. 

As a nameless, faceless man stood on the corner, watching for Nate and JJ to leave. Eye on conformation that they where indeed there. "Conformation on targets, heading northbound towards  I-75 . Both targets are in the car." The nameless, faceless man said.

Men in nondescript black SUVs were starting their vehicles and began to watch  Nate and JJ very closely. "Copy that we are en route." One voice said into a radio. "We just need eyes on them, do not stop or intercept them. Keep your distance and try not to spook them. Do you copy?" Other voices chimed in with conformation that they understood the orders given to them.

As they followed one of the men couldn't help themselves. "Do you think they did it?"

"Don't see how anyone could have pulled that off. I didn't even think it was possible." Another form the backseat chimed in.

"Innocent till proven guilty. They are just needed for questioning. Nothing more." The driver said.

The conversation continued until a man dressed like another in the city if Atlanta approached Nate and JJ's car. It looked like another guy just crossing the street. Atlanta was never the safest place it the worked and what the man did proved it.

There closer the man got. The quicker and angrier he got. As he came to the window of the passenger side. He started hitting and kicking car with everything he had... And peopled where only gathering around.