Topic: Hell A'Knocking

Lucky Duck

Date: 2012-06-24 19:41 EST
"There is no salvation in becoming adapted to a world which is crazy."
- Henry Miller, US author (1891 - 1980), "The Colossus of Maroussi" (1941)


"Is here any news from Chris?"

"No, Sir, not yet." The barrister's faithful manservant stood in the room and stared into the growing silence and watched the small blinking red light on the table. He felt the man sigh rather than hear it.

Lucien wrapped his hand over the blinking device on the desk, never looking up at Gwyr. "Keep me posted."

Lucky Duck

Date: 2012-06-24 20:19 EST
Dude, I got you a new PDA and I can't find it so I keep calling, hoping to hear it. So if you hear it ringing pick it up?.then again I guess if you hear it ringing I wouldn't be leaving you a message right? Anyway I'm sure I'll see you before I find this thing. Love you.

Calloused finger brushed over the device as the message ended. The man didn't see nor hear his man leave the room. He didn't notice the room seeming to grow dimmer and the silence grow heavier. He sat in the weighty still silence as the last echoes of her voice quieted and the red light came to life again on the device, blinking against his hand again.

A hushed breath was let out as the man sank in his chair. The blinking device was turned over and over in his hand, the weight of the device offering a measure of comfort.

Hey, if anything happens I?ll see you at the lighthouse ok? The lighthouse was one of several locations they could rendezvous, one of several locations no one knew about, no one knew how to get to, where they could safely lay low. So, as soon as the carriage was gone, he had transported himself to the lighthouse to wait for Kate.

Lucky Duck

Date: 2012-06-24 20:29 EST
The wind was blowing at the lighthouse, a storm was building and moisture hung in the air. The building itself was quiet, no lights on, nothing moved, everything as they'd left it the last time they'd been there.

Fingers tightened around the device and he closed his eyes, resting his head back.

Kate! He had called out for her, fighting the winds and shouldering his way into the lighthouse. The sound of the winds rushing inside and rustling the curtains was the only thing that answered him. Kate! He had bellowed climbing the stairs to their room, hoping against hope, trying to drown out Liv's words that played in his ears.

Kate!

In the deafening silence that had answered him, the weight of the reality that Liv was flouting came crashing down on him.

Lucky Duck

Date: 2012-07-29 01:51 EST
It really is a pity that she sent you out like she did. You could have died with her.

Gwyr thought the lighthouse was empty when he arrived late that evening after getting word from Chris. Lucien had sent word to Chris about Kate and running into Liv and Chris in turn got word to Gwyr to check on the barrister who was at the lighthouse. However, when the faithful manservant arrived, the place was dark and still and the only sounds and signs of life were the winds that whipped up from the oceans below.

He found Lucien sitting in the dark, on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed, staring at the blinking PDA.

Liv's words played over and over again in Lucien's head. She had sent him out of the townhouse. He stopped hearing the ringing in his head. He stopped feeling the burn in back. He stopped noticing the twinge at his ribs with each breath he took.

That one got you. He heard her chuckle echo in his head. Think about it, she knew, she knew. IF everything was going to be ok, if she thought whatever was coming was survivable why would she have sent you out?No, you're wrong.
He closed his eyes as he heard Liv's chuckle turned into an outright laugh. Wavering aren't we? Well at least you know she loved you enough to save you or she just didn't want to spend eternity with you and saved you because of that.

He didn't hear Gwyr when the man called out to the barrister and approached him. All he could hear was Liv's taunting words and see the steady blinking red light in his hand.

Lucky Duck

Date: 2012-09-16 02:10 EST
A man can only do what he can do.
- Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

Liv had done him a favor.

He had cloistered himself in the lighthouse, staring at the device. He had barricaded himself away from everyone, recovering from the blast concussion, pouring over the initial reports, waiting for Kate, or at least word of her that didn't say she was dead. He was drifting.

It had come with one of the reports Gywr delivered to him. A probate challenge filed by Liv and other filings requesting control of all of Kate's assets.

Desperation turned to rage. Drifting turned to focused action.

He bought the rubble remains of the townhouse and blocked off the tunnels beneath it. He returned to the city and got his reports in person. And above all, he did what he did best. He filed motion after motion and challenge after challenge in court. He was going to bury Liv in red tape and paperwork.

Liv had done him a favor.

Lucky Duck

Date: 2012-10-29 23:28 EST
"You look like hell. She wouldn't want you like this."

Lucien had spent several days building a legal wall against Liv's moves for Kate's holdings, subsiding on coffee and little more. He didn't reply to Chris' observation to his appearance instead he got to the heart of the matter. "What news have you?"

"She's not there, she's nowhere. The townhouse was damaged beyond repair and some of the people inside didn't even leave bodies. She's not in any of her usual or unusual hiding spots." He looked across the table at him. "She's gone"

His fingers tightened around the pda he held in his hand. "Did they find her...body?"

"No, but...." He didn't hear the rest of Chris' reply. If Kate's body hadn't been found, then he refused to believe that she was dead...that she was gone. Lucien grabbed a document off the top of the stack of papers and handed it to Chris. "That's a copy of the document I filed two days ago. I own the townhouse. I want it cleared of the watch and everyone else."

Chris tried and reason with the barrister He didn't want to believe that Kate was gone either, but everything pointed to her death. But Lucien would have none of it. "I want everyone cleared out," Lucien reiterated. He didn't offer a response nor rebuttal to Chris' arguments and reason. Instead he handed Chris another file. "Liv threatened to take the holdings. I have started filings to keep her buried in red tape and paperwork."

It took a moment before Chris replied. "She wants the castle, that's it you know."

"The castle belongs to Kate and you," he answered Chris succinctly. "I'll see her dead before she sets foot in the castle."

"Lucien, you have to get some rest." Chris shook his head looking at the man sitting across the table. "What do you think is going to happen?"

"I am sleeping when I can," he replied. He pushed up from the table and picked up the pot of coffee along with another mug, filled up the mug and offered it to Chris while he topped off his own. "Liv promised me hell. I promised to take her to hell with me. So that's what's going to happen."

Lucky Duck

Date: 2012-11-27 02:43 EST
The pounding bass echoed and beat in his skull.

The sharp crack of the gunshot rang in his ears.

The fire was red and angry. The flames were mocking and greedy.

Thundering pulses of crimson, deafening screams of the dying and explosion of brick, mortar, glass and fire invaded the dark expanse of black silence he wore on him.

They kept telling him she was gone. That she was dead. There was no way she could have survived. If she had been alive she wouldn't have stayed out of contact and sent word by now. They told him to move on. That she shouldn't want him to be holding on to a memory as he was.

But he refused to accept that she was gone. He refused to believe that she was dead. And if they weren't going to help him, he was going to find someone to help him find her.

Lucky Duck

Date: 2013-01-26 01:33 EST
"One must always hope when one is desperate..."
Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 ? May 8, 1880) French writer


He didn't know how he got there. If he was asked later, he wouldn't be able to tell you what route he took, what he saw, or even what the weather was like that summer evening. He may vaguely recall Kitty was finishing up her shift. He might remember walking through the inn and up to the room he kept at the inn, although he wouldn't be able to say what it was he went up to the room for. He wouldn't remember what he drank, if asked later (although the odds on favorite was that he was knocking back scotch).

He had but a singular thought. One purpose that moved him to action. One reason for being there at the inn that night.

The tempered smile faded behind the beard as quickly as it formed at the gentle jest from his friend. He nodded as he absently turned the wedding band on his finger. A weighty silence lingered for another breath or two between Gypsy Witch and Barrister, before he leaned across the table and begged her help privately.

The man ran his hand over his face and dropped his attention to the marred surface of the table between them. He listened as she spoke, the burden of what was asked of her, carried in tones gently and softly. In hushed whispers, heads bowed over the table, they spoke...one desperately holding onto the hope against hope, the other bearing the weight of the man's frail longing and offering reassurance with her touch.

He left the place in Lilliana's wake, absently flipping the blinking device in his pocket. He clung to Lilli's words, clung to the device in his hand. Such was the nature of hope. It came in the form of a warm touch, a sunrise, a friend's jest, a blinking device.

(My thanks to CherubicMagic's awesome player. Her post related to the exchange can be found here... We All Search For Something. Yes, I am very behind in my postings).