(OOC: I apologize in advance for the length; my typical post will only be a couple paragraphs, but I always do more for starting a thread.
Part one is here: http://159.65.241.122/index.php?threads/6011)
She didn't know how long she was out. She just remembered some strange dreams, a sharp pain in her left arm the feeling of restriction on her wrists and ankles, and a bad taste in her mouth. Then things started to swim back and come into sensation, and she got the feeling it was really, really dark out, and that she was up against something hard. It took her a few seconds to figure it out: she was still in her pajamas, but her arms were tied at the wrists above her head on a tree branch, she had a blindfold on and a cloth gag in her mouth, and her ankles were tied together as well, but since she was so short they had her bare feet on some kind of stool beneath the tree. She was feeling really groggy, and there was a throbbing pain in her left arm that was becoming slightly more obvious as she started to come awake more and more. From the smells, and the sounds, she guessed that her sudden movement had just caused some sort of animal to run away, and she was outdoors somewhere, in the woods. Her head was feeling extremely heavy, however, so as she figure out her situation, she felt herself slipping off into dreamland again.
It was the fall that woke her up next. She could feel that time had passed, and with her head still slightly groggy she felt a little slow, but she knew that suddenly she hit the ground, hard. Her hands had been untied from the tree branch and tied behind her back again, her feet were untied, and there were now crickets chirping. There were also three voices, all male, two of which she felt she recognized, which meant they were probably Mike and Jake. It wouldn't surprise her in the least. It took her a moment or two to focus on what they were saying, and it went something like this:
Unknown older man: ".... your damn sweet time getting her here! What the hell were you two idiots thinking? I don't give a shit even if she does have the Crescent Scorpion, it doesn't mean she's from Lori's bloodline!"
Jake: "Don't even bullshit us. We saw your reaction, old man. She's got your interest. You know damn well as we do she's a Merrow."
Older man: "I. DON'T. CARE! You can't just kidnap somebody and bring them here because they have a tattoo! Breaking and entering, assault, kidnapping, keeping her in a drug-induced coma, taking her out of the country, and then tying her up in the middle of the woods for half a day- that's just what I know you're guilty of! I don't care who she is, or what she's capable of, I don't want any part of this! Take her and get the hell out of my sight! Now!"
Jake: We are not leaving without what you promised us! Either you pay us now or we-"
Mike: "JACOB!"
Jake: "WHAT?"
Mike: "Do you smell that?"
Lorelei suddenly noticed it too: it had been really gradual, but now that it was mentioned, it was everywhere: the smell of a morgue. Of rot, and of death. A chill ran through her body.
That's when something very large and angry crashed through the upper branches of the tree above Lorelei. She knew, because it snarled like a hunting tiger when it came out of the trees and showered her with branches and leaves. Mike or Jake started screaming and shouting expletives, and there was the sound of ripping, not just clothes, but also flesh. The smell of fresh blood hit Lorelei, and the sound of gunshots was reverberating through the air. In the midst of it all, a pair of rough hands grabbed Lorelei and tossed her over somebody's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, which she realized had to be the older man, because right next to her ear, she could hear him shouting, "GODDAMNIT, IT'S THAT FUCKING CAT!" From the way he ran and the way his body felt, she could tell he was in great shape, much better than she would have expected, and he ran for maybe three minutes before he suddenly stopped and just about tossed Lorelei down, then grabbed her shoulders and yanked her to her feet. He didn't untie her hands, and he didn't take off her blind or gag, but from the feel of pavement under her feet, she wasn't in the woods anymore. He yelled at her over the sounds of snarling and gunshots behind her, which was getting closer, "START RUNNING, MERROW! IF SHE CATCHES YOU, YOU'RE DEAD!" He pushed her forward, and she didn't need any further prompting: she was scared out of her mind, had no idea what was going on, and from the sounds of the scream behind her, whoever had the gun had just been caught by the cat.
Lorelei felt like she was running blind, in a quite literal sense, for somewhere between three and seven minutes. She stopped when she heard an approaching car and the blaring of a siren, the screech of tires and the sudden shout of "WHAT THE FUCK? as a door opened nearby. She heard what sounded like a police radio, and she felt rough hands grab her and yank off her blindfold. Squinting against the sudden light, she realized she was on a highway, it was indeed a cop car, and as soon as her gag was out she heard screaming, which she realized was coming from her and which she couldn't find herself in control of. After that, it all seemed a blur. The officer who had found her started shaking her, and tried to say something, but with his accent, and her hysterics, she couldn't really comprehend what he was saying. Somehow, she found herself handcuffed and in the back of the squad car, while the officer was saying something into the radio; it looked like he had been in a fight, because his uniform was slightly roughed up, and part of her hurt a little, and her voice was getting hoarse. She realized she was entering a panic attack at about the same point the officer shut the door and raced over to another squad car that was coming up the road, and as she struggled to control her breathing she found herself blacking out again.
The next thing she knew was being escorted out of the squad car at the hospital. She was escorted through the lobby, straight into a doctor's office, where they made her drink something, and then they started doing a basic medical examination. At some point in clicked what they were doing, and she co-operated, and as she was escorted out of the room back into a private section of the waiting room, where they handcuffed her hands to the chairs on either side of her, she heard the doctor say that she was in shock and it might due to give her a few moments. It wasn't until she was sitting down she realized she was still in her pajamas, she was filthy with dirt, she felt and smelled like she hadn't showered in a while, there was fresh blood on her- some of it hers, unfortunately- and that not only did the soles of her feet hurt from running there was a pounding in her head, a sore throat, and there was a bandage wrap on her upper left arm. For the most part she kept her gaze focused on the ground as she tried to hear a bit of what people were saying. She only caught little snippets like "two dead in the woods" and "mauled by some kind of large cat", and the most important thing to her was when she heard two officers near the counter saying that she matched the description of a missing persons report from two and a half weeks ago, listed as "Miranda Baker".
She was sitting there for maybe forty minutes before somebody came up and tried talking to her.
Part one is here: http://159.65.241.122/index.php?threads/6011)
She didn't know how long she was out. She just remembered some strange dreams, a sharp pain in her left arm the feeling of restriction on her wrists and ankles, and a bad taste in her mouth. Then things started to swim back and come into sensation, and she got the feeling it was really, really dark out, and that she was up against something hard. It took her a few seconds to figure it out: she was still in her pajamas, but her arms were tied at the wrists above her head on a tree branch, she had a blindfold on and a cloth gag in her mouth, and her ankles were tied together as well, but since she was so short they had her bare feet on some kind of stool beneath the tree. She was feeling really groggy, and there was a throbbing pain in her left arm that was becoming slightly more obvious as she started to come awake more and more. From the smells, and the sounds, she guessed that her sudden movement had just caused some sort of animal to run away, and she was outdoors somewhere, in the woods. Her head was feeling extremely heavy, however, so as she figure out her situation, she felt herself slipping off into dreamland again.
It was the fall that woke her up next. She could feel that time had passed, and with her head still slightly groggy she felt a little slow, but she knew that suddenly she hit the ground, hard. Her hands had been untied from the tree branch and tied behind her back again, her feet were untied, and there were now crickets chirping. There were also three voices, all male, two of which she felt she recognized, which meant they were probably Mike and Jake. It wouldn't surprise her in the least. It took her a moment or two to focus on what they were saying, and it went something like this:
Unknown older man: ".... your damn sweet time getting her here! What the hell were you two idiots thinking? I don't give a shit even if she does have the Crescent Scorpion, it doesn't mean she's from Lori's bloodline!"
Jake: "Don't even bullshit us. We saw your reaction, old man. She's got your interest. You know damn well as we do she's a Merrow."
Older man: "I. DON'T. CARE! You can't just kidnap somebody and bring them here because they have a tattoo! Breaking and entering, assault, kidnapping, keeping her in a drug-induced coma, taking her out of the country, and then tying her up in the middle of the woods for half a day- that's just what I know you're guilty of! I don't care who she is, or what she's capable of, I don't want any part of this! Take her and get the hell out of my sight! Now!"
Jake: We are not leaving without what you promised us! Either you pay us now or we-"
Mike: "JACOB!"
Jake: "WHAT?"
Mike: "Do you smell that?"
Lorelei suddenly noticed it too: it had been really gradual, but now that it was mentioned, it was everywhere: the smell of a morgue. Of rot, and of death. A chill ran through her body.
That's when something very large and angry crashed through the upper branches of the tree above Lorelei. She knew, because it snarled like a hunting tiger when it came out of the trees and showered her with branches and leaves. Mike or Jake started screaming and shouting expletives, and there was the sound of ripping, not just clothes, but also flesh. The smell of fresh blood hit Lorelei, and the sound of gunshots was reverberating through the air. In the midst of it all, a pair of rough hands grabbed Lorelei and tossed her over somebody's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, which she realized had to be the older man, because right next to her ear, she could hear him shouting, "GODDAMNIT, IT'S THAT FUCKING CAT!" From the way he ran and the way his body felt, she could tell he was in great shape, much better than she would have expected, and he ran for maybe three minutes before he suddenly stopped and just about tossed Lorelei down, then grabbed her shoulders and yanked her to her feet. He didn't untie her hands, and he didn't take off her blind or gag, but from the feel of pavement under her feet, she wasn't in the woods anymore. He yelled at her over the sounds of snarling and gunshots behind her, which was getting closer, "START RUNNING, MERROW! IF SHE CATCHES YOU, YOU'RE DEAD!" He pushed her forward, and she didn't need any further prompting: she was scared out of her mind, had no idea what was going on, and from the sounds of the scream behind her, whoever had the gun had just been caught by the cat.
Lorelei felt like she was running blind, in a quite literal sense, for somewhere between three and seven minutes. She stopped when she heard an approaching car and the blaring of a siren, the screech of tires and the sudden shout of "WHAT THE FUCK? as a door opened nearby. She heard what sounded like a police radio, and she felt rough hands grab her and yank off her blindfold. Squinting against the sudden light, she realized she was on a highway, it was indeed a cop car, and as soon as her gag was out she heard screaming, which she realized was coming from her and which she couldn't find herself in control of. After that, it all seemed a blur. The officer who had found her started shaking her, and tried to say something, but with his accent, and her hysterics, she couldn't really comprehend what he was saying. Somehow, she found herself handcuffed and in the back of the squad car, while the officer was saying something into the radio; it looked like he had been in a fight, because his uniform was slightly roughed up, and part of her hurt a little, and her voice was getting hoarse. She realized she was entering a panic attack at about the same point the officer shut the door and raced over to another squad car that was coming up the road, and as she struggled to control her breathing she found herself blacking out again.
The next thing she knew was being escorted out of the squad car at the hospital. She was escorted through the lobby, straight into a doctor's office, where they made her drink something, and then they started doing a basic medical examination. At some point in clicked what they were doing, and she co-operated, and as she was escorted out of the room back into a private section of the waiting room, where they handcuffed her hands to the chairs on either side of her, she heard the doctor say that she was in shock and it might due to give her a few moments. It wasn't until she was sitting down she realized she was still in her pajamas, she was filthy with dirt, she felt and smelled like she hadn't showered in a while, there was fresh blood on her- some of it hers, unfortunately- and that not only did the soles of her feet hurt from running there was a pounding in her head, a sore throat, and there was a bandage wrap on her upper left arm. For the most part she kept her gaze focused on the ground as she tried to hear a bit of what people were saying. She only caught little snippets like "two dead in the woods" and "mauled by some kind of large cat", and the most important thing to her was when she heard two officers near the counter saying that she matched the description of a missing persons report from two and a half weeks ago, listed as "Miranda Baker".
She was sitting there for maybe forty minutes before somebody came up and tried talking to her.
