So. How did it come to this? Filthy, ragged clothing, handcuffed to a chair in a local hospital while a man in a cop's uniform stood guard over her. Lorelei didn't even know where she was, what day it was, or, really, anything that was going on anymore. It was all too much in too short a time to process it all.
It was only three or four days after her six month anniversary as a cashier at her latest job in the latest city. For the first four months of the last year, she had been driving between all the cities where bodies had been found of five her relatives within the last ten years. Looking for something, anything, to hold onto and to start looking. She never stayed more than two weeks in any one city, never stayed for more than three nights in the same hotel, avoided all internet, had thrown away her phone, only paid in cash, didn't talk to anybody more than she had to. She'd never gone anywhere without a disguise of some sort, even if it was just a baseball cap, sunglasses, or a hooded shirt. Something that let her just seem to blend in, made her harder to recognize, in case anybody was looking for her. At every city, in every investigation, she found nothing, or as close to it as she could. Five bodies in four months, and none of them were killed the same way, had been in the same places, had known the same people- the only connection they seemed to have is the scorpion tattoo. Other than that, nothing. Absolutely. Nothing.
Finally, in New Mexico, on her way to the sixth body, in California, she had to buckle down and be serious. She was running out of money. She found a small apartment, got a job, and conducted private searches on the local library internet based off the information she'd already had. She just needed a starting point. Just one. That's all she wanted. Just a place to start, and then she could go from there.
So, naturally, on her Monday, the calendar's Tuesday, she had gone into work feeling even more depressed than usual. She had made her declaration to go and find somebody. Find anybody. Find anything. Rather than making progress, she was now halfway across the country, stuck in the same place for the last six months in what she considered a dead-end job, going nowhere fast and with nothing to show for it. This morning she'd even skipped her daily run. It just didn't seem worth it at the moment, and since she was working a late-night dead shift, today was going to be hell anyway. Standing around, listening to people she barely knew talk and joke with each other in the background, seeing the five or six couples out on dates during the middle of the week and maybe the odd customer or two passing through or getting done with work after ten at night, and being left out of all of it. For two more months, until she had enough money to leave for her next destination. She had to endure this for two more months, and then she'd be on her way to Nevada. That was probably the only thing she had to look forward to lately. She was almost ready to go to the last known location of her Uncle Zach. That was the one she had been saving for last, creating knots in her stomach of all kinds of twisted. That was the one person she already knew it would absolutely destroy her if she found out he was dead, and there weren't any leads for how. That was the one she was hoping to find nothing on, but at the same time, that was the one she had to find something on. It was the most important one. She would not leave without finding something. Not on that one.
As expected, tonight was slow. Mostly she just stood around, looking bored, while customers came and went. She had to put on a small act now and again, fake happiness, wear a forced smile when the customers came up to her. Friendliness was easy to fake. Thankfully, her shift was almost over. Two hours left. Then, home, and sleep. The only customers in the store were a guy picking up some groceries, a girl browsing the candy, batteries, and pharmaceuticals, and a pair of brothers, she supposed; they looked like college athletes or perhaps from the local armed forces. One had brown hair, the other was blond. They looked normal enough, but there was just something about them that Lorelei didn't like. They'd already been in the small cafeteria area adjoining the store, sitting on the benches, talking about some recent party or another and how the girls had looked and behaved. Lorelei couldn't help but feel a little disgusted. Thankfully, the cafeteria had its own attending staff, so Lorelei didn't have to deal with them, for the most part. That's when fate intervened, and she heard the blond one start to talk about her. She tried not to look in their direction or give any indication she could hear them- not that they seemed to care- but she couldn't help but feel a little angry.
"Holy shit, are you seeing that cashier over there? She's fuckin' tiny! Looks like she's in middle school!"
There was a brief pause, and it sounded like the brown-haired one was thinking while snicking his tongue. "Mm, nah, I'd say at least eighteen. Probably closer to twenty. She's just a midget. Kinda cute, though. I wouldn't mind seeing what she looks like buck."
The blond man snorted. "So you think she's legal? Damn. Should be fun. Small ones are the best, you know? Doesn't take much to make them come, right?" He started laughing, and Lorelei was about to turn around and yell at them when the guy getting groceries came up to make her purchase. After she was through, her other customer came over, and almost as soon as he was done and out the doors, the two brothers seemed to show up out of nowhere, putting a couple of energy drinks on the counter. The blond one gave her a smile she didn't entirely find friendly while looking at her name badge just a little too long for her liking. It was something more like predatory. "Hello, ah, Miranda. I'm Mike, this is Jake, how's things going for you tonight?"
Lorelei forced herself to keep a smile and act friendly. "Good evening and welcome, I'm fine, were you finding everything alright today?"
The one named Jake laughed and Mike nodded. "Just fine? Psh. Shouldn't put yourself down like that, honey. You're way hotter than that."
Lorelei's smile became more forced as she bagged their items, asking with a note of finality in her voice, "Was there anything else I could get for you today?"
The slightly taller one, Jake, nodded and said, "Yeah, um, two packs of Marlboro, red for me, green for him, and your phone number, thanks." Ignoring the request for her number, Lorelei turned around and reached up for the cigarettes above the other side of the registers. Normally she'd get the ladder, but today she didn't care. She wanted them gone. She felt her shirt rise up a little bit in back when she reached up, and almost as soon as she did, she heard a hand slam on the counter and an angry and rather feral-sounding snarl. She stopped and turned around, looking confused, and she saw the blond Mike suddenly glaring at her like she'd pulled a gun on him while Jake had a hand on his chest and was staring right at Mike, like he was silently telling him something while holding him back. She quickly grabbed the two packs of cigarettes and rushed back to the counter, where she noticed Mike's hand was laid flat, pressing down hard, like he was about to leap over the counter right for her. She pretended not to notice as she scanned the cigarettes and put them in their bag with their drinks. "Was that everything for you this evening, sirs?"
Jake turned to Lorelei with the same anger Mike now seemed to have. "That tattoo of yours. What's the story behind it?"
"It was a gift for my sixteenth birthday from my brother. One of his friends had a tattoo just like it, and when he showed me the design I fell in love with it."
"She's LYING!"Mike snarled again and made to move toward her, causing Lorelei's heart to feel like it skipped a beat as she took a step backward. Mike would probably have come flying over the counter at her had Jake not been there to restrain him. "HEY! EASY! Easy! Knock it off!" After he had Mike back on his side of the counter and pretty much thrown out the door, Jake picked up the bag and glared right at Lorelei. "Tell your brother to watch his ass. That tattoo is the same as a gang sign where I'm from. Get rid of it if you don't want to wind up dead." Then Jake left, and Lorelei waited as she watched them leave the store before she called the store manager.
The manager told her to take the week off work after Lorelei told the story of what happened, exaggerating a few details to make it seem like they had actually threatened her life while leaving out the part about the tattoo. There hadn't really been anybody else in earshot, but the people in the cafeteria had seen enough to be able to support her story. For the next four days she didn't leave her apartment, and she had taken an extra hour driving home to make sure she wasn't followed. That was her paranoia kicking in. She kept her blinds and curtains closed and her door locked. On Saturday night, though, she woke up in the middle of the night when she heard a loud crashing noise near her front door. Jumping out of bed in her pajamas, a tank top and a pair of shorts, she had grabbed a curtain rod she kept under the bed, thrown her bedroom door open, and had rushed into the main room to see the door had been kicked open, splintering off one side. Panic started to course through her and she turned and rushed back to her bedroom to get her burner cell. As soon as she went back into her bedroom, though, she just barely had time to see a dark object coming right at her, she felt a sharp pain first in her stomach and then on the back of her head, and then things went black.
(Part 2 is here: http://159.65.241.122/index.php?threads/6010&pid=86275#pid86275 )
It was only three or four days after her six month anniversary as a cashier at her latest job in the latest city. For the first four months of the last year, she had been driving between all the cities where bodies had been found of five her relatives within the last ten years. Looking for something, anything, to hold onto and to start looking. She never stayed more than two weeks in any one city, never stayed for more than three nights in the same hotel, avoided all internet, had thrown away her phone, only paid in cash, didn't talk to anybody more than she had to. She'd never gone anywhere without a disguise of some sort, even if it was just a baseball cap, sunglasses, or a hooded shirt. Something that let her just seem to blend in, made her harder to recognize, in case anybody was looking for her. At every city, in every investigation, she found nothing, or as close to it as she could. Five bodies in four months, and none of them were killed the same way, had been in the same places, had known the same people- the only connection they seemed to have is the scorpion tattoo. Other than that, nothing. Absolutely. Nothing.
Finally, in New Mexico, on her way to the sixth body, in California, she had to buckle down and be serious. She was running out of money. She found a small apartment, got a job, and conducted private searches on the local library internet based off the information she'd already had. She just needed a starting point. Just one. That's all she wanted. Just a place to start, and then she could go from there.
So, naturally, on her Monday, the calendar's Tuesday, she had gone into work feeling even more depressed than usual. She had made her declaration to go and find somebody. Find anybody. Find anything. Rather than making progress, she was now halfway across the country, stuck in the same place for the last six months in what she considered a dead-end job, going nowhere fast and with nothing to show for it. This morning she'd even skipped her daily run. It just didn't seem worth it at the moment, and since she was working a late-night dead shift, today was going to be hell anyway. Standing around, listening to people she barely knew talk and joke with each other in the background, seeing the five or six couples out on dates during the middle of the week and maybe the odd customer or two passing through or getting done with work after ten at night, and being left out of all of it. For two more months, until she had enough money to leave for her next destination. She had to endure this for two more months, and then she'd be on her way to Nevada. That was probably the only thing she had to look forward to lately. She was almost ready to go to the last known location of her Uncle Zach. That was the one she had been saving for last, creating knots in her stomach of all kinds of twisted. That was the one person she already knew it would absolutely destroy her if she found out he was dead, and there weren't any leads for how. That was the one she was hoping to find nothing on, but at the same time, that was the one she had to find something on. It was the most important one. She would not leave without finding something. Not on that one.
As expected, tonight was slow. Mostly she just stood around, looking bored, while customers came and went. She had to put on a small act now and again, fake happiness, wear a forced smile when the customers came up to her. Friendliness was easy to fake. Thankfully, her shift was almost over. Two hours left. Then, home, and sleep. The only customers in the store were a guy picking up some groceries, a girl browsing the candy, batteries, and pharmaceuticals, and a pair of brothers, she supposed; they looked like college athletes or perhaps from the local armed forces. One had brown hair, the other was blond. They looked normal enough, but there was just something about them that Lorelei didn't like. They'd already been in the small cafeteria area adjoining the store, sitting on the benches, talking about some recent party or another and how the girls had looked and behaved. Lorelei couldn't help but feel a little disgusted. Thankfully, the cafeteria had its own attending staff, so Lorelei didn't have to deal with them, for the most part. That's when fate intervened, and she heard the blond one start to talk about her. She tried not to look in their direction or give any indication she could hear them- not that they seemed to care- but she couldn't help but feel a little angry.
"Holy shit, are you seeing that cashier over there? She's fuckin' tiny! Looks like she's in middle school!"
There was a brief pause, and it sounded like the brown-haired one was thinking while snicking his tongue. "Mm, nah, I'd say at least eighteen. Probably closer to twenty. She's just a midget. Kinda cute, though. I wouldn't mind seeing what she looks like buck."
The blond man snorted. "So you think she's legal? Damn. Should be fun. Small ones are the best, you know? Doesn't take much to make them come, right?" He started laughing, and Lorelei was about to turn around and yell at them when the guy getting groceries came up to make her purchase. After she was through, her other customer came over, and almost as soon as he was done and out the doors, the two brothers seemed to show up out of nowhere, putting a couple of energy drinks on the counter. The blond one gave her a smile she didn't entirely find friendly while looking at her name badge just a little too long for her liking. It was something more like predatory. "Hello, ah, Miranda. I'm Mike, this is Jake, how's things going for you tonight?"
Lorelei forced herself to keep a smile and act friendly. "Good evening and welcome, I'm fine, were you finding everything alright today?"
The one named Jake laughed and Mike nodded. "Just fine? Psh. Shouldn't put yourself down like that, honey. You're way hotter than that."
Lorelei's smile became more forced as she bagged their items, asking with a note of finality in her voice, "Was there anything else I could get for you today?"
The slightly taller one, Jake, nodded and said, "Yeah, um, two packs of Marlboro, red for me, green for him, and your phone number, thanks." Ignoring the request for her number, Lorelei turned around and reached up for the cigarettes above the other side of the registers. Normally she'd get the ladder, but today she didn't care. She wanted them gone. She felt her shirt rise up a little bit in back when she reached up, and almost as soon as she did, she heard a hand slam on the counter and an angry and rather feral-sounding snarl. She stopped and turned around, looking confused, and she saw the blond Mike suddenly glaring at her like she'd pulled a gun on him while Jake had a hand on his chest and was staring right at Mike, like he was silently telling him something while holding him back. She quickly grabbed the two packs of cigarettes and rushed back to the counter, where she noticed Mike's hand was laid flat, pressing down hard, like he was about to leap over the counter right for her. She pretended not to notice as she scanned the cigarettes and put them in their bag with their drinks. "Was that everything for you this evening, sirs?"
Jake turned to Lorelei with the same anger Mike now seemed to have. "That tattoo of yours. What's the story behind it?"
"It was a gift for my sixteenth birthday from my brother. One of his friends had a tattoo just like it, and when he showed me the design I fell in love with it."
"She's LYING!"Mike snarled again and made to move toward her, causing Lorelei's heart to feel like it skipped a beat as she took a step backward. Mike would probably have come flying over the counter at her had Jake not been there to restrain him. "HEY! EASY! Easy! Knock it off!" After he had Mike back on his side of the counter and pretty much thrown out the door, Jake picked up the bag and glared right at Lorelei. "Tell your brother to watch his ass. That tattoo is the same as a gang sign where I'm from. Get rid of it if you don't want to wind up dead." Then Jake left, and Lorelei waited as she watched them leave the store before she called the store manager.
The manager told her to take the week off work after Lorelei told the story of what happened, exaggerating a few details to make it seem like they had actually threatened her life while leaving out the part about the tattoo. There hadn't really been anybody else in earshot, but the people in the cafeteria had seen enough to be able to support her story. For the next four days she didn't leave her apartment, and she had taken an extra hour driving home to make sure she wasn't followed. That was her paranoia kicking in. She kept her blinds and curtains closed and her door locked. On Saturday night, though, she woke up in the middle of the night when she heard a loud crashing noise near her front door. Jumping out of bed in her pajamas, a tank top and a pair of shorts, she had grabbed a curtain rod she kept under the bed, thrown her bedroom door open, and had rushed into the main room to see the door had been kicked open, splintering off one side. Panic started to course through her and she turned and rushed back to her bedroom to get her burner cell. As soon as she went back into her bedroom, though, she just barely had time to see a dark object coming right at her, she felt a sharp pain first in her stomach and then on the back of her head, and then things went black.
(Part 2 is here: http://159.65.241.122/index.php?threads/6010&pid=86275#pid86275 )