Spook
Christina pulled up the driveway of the farm and RK jumped up on the dash board.
"Careful there, cat." She stroked his ears briefly as she pulled up in front of the farmhouse. It was a big, wellkept and tidy looking building. There was roses twining over the front door and a herbbed out the front. Christina smiled briefly, and got out of the car as an older Negro woman opened the front door. "Judith."
"Christina." The older woman nodded with dignity. "The house is just the way you left it."
"Thanks. How's Jupe?"
"He's fine, just fine. His knee's bothering him some, but we're both fine."
"And the kids?"
"Doing well at school."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"There's plenty of food in the pantry, and I baked some pies. There's a pan of biscuits in the oven, and fresh bread. I turned the beds over and there's fresh milk from the cows, eggs as well."
"Sounds great."
"Least we can do, Christina. I'll get going now." The woman shook Christina's hand, then walked away.
"So. Come on in and look around." Christina moved around to the back of the car and started getting things out. "We'll be here for a couple of days while I organise a few things. Just please, don't kill my caretakers."
Christian
Christian cracked his knuckles as he looked around, then got out of the car.
Leaning his elbow against it, he pursed his lips as he surveyed the farmhouse. Well... it was different. Having only visited farmhouses to kill occupants, he'd never really stopped at one before.
Spook
RK bounded out of the car and pounced in glee on the herb bed, purring raptoursly.
"Catnip," Christina explained as she went past the car, duffle bag strap on her shoulder and shotgun in her hand.
RK leapt in the air and pounced again, then went zipping off.
"Funny as hell when some cats get into it."
Christian
Christian didn't reply.
When she finally made her way up to the house, he followed docily.
"When do you wanna get out of here again?"
Spook
"Day after tomorrow, probably," Christina said cheerfully as she entered the kitchen. Warm and cozy looking with a huge wooden table down the center of it and washed stone flagging for floor, it almost looked like it came out of a history textbook for pioneer living. "I like this house. Judith and Jupe keep good care of it for me, and I don't get to come back to it very often."
She ran her tongue over her lips as she looked at the two pies on the table.
"They'll be good. There'll be cream in the fridge, and plates and cutlery are in the dresser. Bedrooms are up here."
She walked through the archway into the living room, which had a huge comfy looking couch and quilts on the walls. A bookcase filled with books, coffee table and upright piano filled out the rest of the room. To the left, there was a formal dining room.
Christina walked through to the hallway at the far end.
"There's four bedrooms, pick whichever one you want. Bathroom at the end of the hall."
She disappeared into one of the bedrooms and dumped her bag on the antique cast iron bed.
Christian
Christian shivered a little as he looked around, feeling more than a little uncomfortable and out of place in the cosy surroundings.
Give him the city anyday.
"No problem," he sighed, looking down as he moved some strands of hair out of his eyes.
He glanced at the pies, then went to chose a bedroom.
Spook
Christina hung some of her clothes up, then grabbed the shotgun. "You up for a little target practice? Or I can start teaching you how to fight?"
She stood in the middle of the living room and put the gun in the rack, before going out to get the last of their things and close the car up.
RK raced inside, spun around, then ran up the hall to Christian's bedroom. He pounced at Christian's feet. "MEW!"
Christian
"Woah."
Christian jumped back a little as RK pounced. He knew the cat liked him, but it didn't change the fact that he wasn't an animal person.
"Sounds like fun. The fighting that is," Christian replied, hurriedly making his way back to the livingroom.
Spook
RK whirled around again and raced out of the house, going between Christina's legs.
"Whoa!" She tripped and sat down heavily. "Ow. Damn cat." She stood up again, rubbing at her sore butt. "Anyway. I have a training room set up in the basement."
She left and went to a little door off the kitchen. Flipping a switch, a row of flourescent lights turned on, revealing a large underground room with wall to wall mirrors. The floor was padded and a punching bag hung in the corner, and gym equipment across the room from that. The far wall had hand to hand weapons hung up against it.
"Whaddaya think?" She went down the stairs.
Christian
Christian screwed his face up, still feeling uncomfortable about the whole thing.
"It's... interesting," he admitted, looking it over as he followed her down.
Spook
"Something easy to start with..." Christina mused as she went to the far wall and her fingers danced over the weapons. "You're pretty good with knives already..."
She walked back over to him and picked up his hand, studying it.
"Need more callous on those knuckles, really."
She dropped it and then walked around him, considering.
"Toned enough though. You can use the weights and stuff to keep up your muscle..."
She walked over to the punching bag and executed a spinning kick, slamming it back on it's chain.
"When you can do that without pulling a muscle, I'll be happy. Warm up first though."
She walked into the center of the room to start stretching.
Christian
"I can bench press almost twice my weight," Christian said, looking down.
He patted his stomach.
"It's a bit of a curse being this skinny, but a blessing in the same. Means I can get into tight places and still be strong enough. Then again, I was probably..."
He took a deep breath.
"...Planned, that way."
He shook his arms out, and began to stretch his legs.
Spook
"Eh. Parents aren't that great." Christina looked up from her splits, and grinned briefly. "I killed mine."
She rose off the floor supplely, then kicked her boots off into the corner. Too heavy to work out in, though they were good in a fight. She stood up and raised her leg so it was flat against her chest and counted ten. Then she did the same with the other one.
Christian
"Yeah well... my parents weren't too bad," Christian said from the floor as he stretched, "from what I remember. At least they were parents."
He looked over at one of the mirrors, then moved his sunglasses onto his head. The flurescent lights weren't helping him to see when they were on.
Spook
"My parents were very, very bad parents."
Christina bent to place her hands against the floor and spread her legs slightly to keep her balance.
"But you really don't want to hear about my admittedly terrible childhood."
She flipped over so she was standing on her hands and she bent her arms then straightened them again about five times, all the while keeping her body as straight as an arrow and pointing at the ceiling, feet gracefully curved.
Christian
"Yeah... ditto..."
Christian hung his head and shook it. He spread his legs and leant forward, placing his chin and chest on the ground in front of him and reaching his arms out in front.
Spook
Christina walked over out of her handstand, muscles loose and relaxed. "Ready to spar now?" She settled into a fighting stance. "I usually find the best way to learn is by doing, so...just come at me, and we'll see how you go." She blanketed his powers, so that even if he ot tempted, he couldn't use his telekinesis to help him.
Christian
"Man..." Christian moaned, finally standing up.
He jumped up and down on the spot to get his legs working again, then cracked his knuckles.
"How do you expect me to come at you?" he spread his arms in question, "the last time I even punched someone was last year. I'm not gonna say I don't want to hurt you, cos I know you'll stop me anyway."
Spook
"I just want to see what you can do," Christina explained. "Then we can work out from there what I need to fix. You're plenty strong enough, if you can manage to connect. That's what I'll be working on."
She settled onto her backleg and made a come on gesture, tilting her head slightly and smiling. She loved to fight. It made her feel alive. Which reminded her...mental note, next time you go into a bar, start a brawl.
Christian
Christian stood back with a hand on his hip, studying her stance.
With a grin, he stretched his arms, then got into a similar stance. Set to make an attack on her upper body, he dropped to his hands like a breakdancer, his right leg swinging and taking both hers out from underneath her.
He grinned when she hit the floor.
Spook
Christina 'whoofed' as she hit the floor. She got up on an elbow and studied him. "And you say you can't fight..." She started to get up and then suddenly, it was like something exploded in her head.
Her hands went to her head and she screamed as she started to convulse, back arching and her skull slamming into the floor. Bloody tears rolled from her black eyes and she bit her tongue. Red started to run out of her mouth, nose and ears as she kept spasming, a terrible tortured wail coming from her lips.
Oh, oh GOD!
Christian
Christian's eyes widened, as he jumped over and fell to his knees beside her.
"CHRIS?!"
He took her head into his hands so she wouldn't hit it, not knowing what else to do. Without her, he couldn't get back...
"Don't you die on me Greenie. Don't you dare. Chris?!"
Spook
RK leapt from the top of the stairs to the floor in a skitter of paws, yowling with fear and concern. He went to Christian and Christina.
Her fingers curled and uncurled as her back arched. Eyes wide open and unseeing, fixed as if upon some invisible horror, Christian screamed.
Rk licked her fingers, and wailed along with her, golden eyes gleaming with worry.
Oh God, it just hurt so bad. Please just let me die. Let me die. PLEASE. Just. Let. The. Pain. Stop.
Christian
"Come on, come on, come on..." Christian fretted.
He looked around the room frantically, not finding anything that could help them.
"Come on girl, I don't wanna have to kill you now. As much as I'd like to. $#!+!" he cursed.
He laid her head on his lap, holding her shoulders up from the ground, not caring that he was getting her blood all over him.
Spook
Christina arched her back again, bending almost double then she collapsed in a boneless heap. Blood ran from her eyes, ears, mouth and nose.
RK nosed at her limp hand and wailed.
Oh good...the pain stopped.
Christian
Christian gulped when he realized the spasms had died down, and moved some hair out of her face.
He tried to wipe most of the blood away from her eyes, before opening open eyelid.
"Greenie?" he began softly, "can you hear me?"
Spook
Christina didn't want to wake up. All awake had brought her was pain, and more pain. No waking. Sleep was good.
RK mewed miserably and licked her motionless fingers.
Never wake again...
But she had to.
Christina coughed blood out of her mouth and looked blearily at Christian. "Well, that was the kinda fun that's not," she said in a cracked voice. "What the hell happened, and how can I make sure it never *ever* happens again?" She closed her eyes again, head pounding with a headache.
She realised fuzzily that she was lying wth her head in his lap. Felt...nice. Like he actually cared for her or something. She knew he didn't, but it was nice all the same.
Christian
"I have no idea what the $#!+ just happened," Christian basically breathed.
Now that she was awake, he slid out from underneath her and sat back onto the floor.
"But... you'd better get yourself cleaned up."
Spook
"Mmph." Christina rolled onto her hands and knees, then managed to make her way shakily to her feet. "F*ck, that hurts like a bitch." She staggered over to the stairway and one hand to her head, one hand on the stair rail, started up them slowly.
RK stared at Christian. Well, aren't you going to help her?
Blood still dripped down her face, and Christina wiped her eyes so she could actually see.
Christian
Christian groaned when he actually noticed the blood over him, then fell down onto his back.
Now what the heck was going on?
He closed his eyes, trying to think it over. That wasn't anything like epilepsy... It had to be a reaction to something, or... maybe something he'd never heard of.
Spook
Christina made her way to the bathroom, only collapsing in a heap a few times. But she gritted her teeth and kept going. She wouldn't let CHristian see how badly this had affected her...though the blood might give him a clue.
Mostly what she felt was scared. What was going on? What had triggered...whatever the hell it was?
Blood swirled down the plughole as she washed her face.
RK stared at Christian for a moment longer, then headed upstairs to see what had happened to Christina. Blood droplets were scattered in her path and occasionally where she'd leant against a wall, a bloody handprint stood out in stark relief.
Christian
Christian groaned again, rubbing his face on his arm where there wasn't any blood.
Opening his eyes again, he spotted a nearby towel. Going to get it, he wiped most of the blood from his skin, then began to wipe it off the floor.
Spook
Christina washed the blood from her face and her neck, before grabbing her shotgun. She needed to think.
She set up some targets and soon, she was firing them off the wall with pinpoint accuracy.
RK curled up at her feet as she loaded, aimed and fired, face thoughtful.
What the *hell* was going on?
Christian
Christian looked up as he heard the gunfire.
With a grunt he managed to get the last of the blood off the floor, then made his way upstairs to find the bathroom. He threw the towel into the washbasket then tried to get as much blood out of his clothes as he could. If Spook hadn't still had his powers disabled, he could have used his atom manipulation on them.
With a sigh, he headed out the back to where he could hear her. Leaning against a post on the veranda, he crossed his arms and watched.
Spook
Christina knew he was watching her. She fired off a few more shots, ears ringing from the explosion near her ears. She set the butt of the rifle against the ground and turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow slightly.
Her eyes were showing facets of green among the black, but she didn't know that yet.
"So, any thoughts on what just happened?"
Christian
Christian put his sunglasses over his eyes again and looked around the yard.
"My best guess is that either you're coming down with something, or it's a reaction to something."
He sighed.
"Whatever it is I hope it's not contagious."
Spook
"Thanks for the concern, Chrissy baby. I'll try my hardest not to infect you, if it's contagious...probably not." Christina rubbed her hands across her eyes.
RK mewed and she looked down at him.
"Yeah, cat? You have an opinion you want to make known as well?"
She turned back around to face the targets and slid two more shells in. She raised the gun to her shoulder and two more cans leapt into the air, before tumbling to the ground, punctured by the bullets.
Christian
Christian rolled his eyes, thinking it'd be better to keep the distance between them just in case.
"RK seems to have an opinion for everything," he stated without looking at either of them.
Spook
"RK is an extremly opinionated animal."
Two more cans leapt into the air.
"But then again, he is a cat. They tend to be that way."
She went and stood the cans up again, then walked away to keep shooting.
"So. Any thoughts at all on what happened down there? Or are you just as in the blank as I am?"
Christian
Christian frowned.
"Are you losing your short term memory?" he began, "I just said... it's either a disease you're getting or a reaction to something."
He stood back against the pole and began to scratch his back.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with Kansas, but if it was I dunno why it wouldn't have started sooner."
Spook
Christina's hands shook slightly as she reloaded her gun. She fired. And missed.
"DAMMIT!"
RK mewed in anxiety and pressed up against her legs. She ruffled his ears, staring at the can she'd failed to hit. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd missed something she'd deliberately aimed at.
"Well, that's just fanf*ckingtastic, that is."
Christian
Christian shrugged.
"Nothing we can do about it until we get a hint as to what's going on. Unless you wanna go see a doctor, which I sincerely doubt," he chuckled.
"Pride over wellbeing."
Spook
Christina turned slightly to face him.
"Pride? Take it more as, let one hint of blood hit the water and watch the sharks gather. There's plenty of people out there who won't hesitate to kill you if they can kill me as well."
She shook her head and shouldered the shotgun.
"I need a drink. A lot of drinks."
She headed inside.
Christian
Christian sighed and went to sit down on the step.
"Yeah, and the only way they're gonna have a chance at killing me is if I'm hanging around you," he murmured so she couldn't hear, then put his head in his hands.
She was just going to get herself drunk again. Typical. Who knows if what happened to her had anything to do with kero? Well it couldn't be any good for it, whatever it was.
Screw her. If she wanted to kill herself, so be it. He'd find his way back eventually.
Spook
Christina carefully put the shot gun away, then got out a bottle of Scotch. She didn't want to get stinking drunk. She just wanted a nice buzz, to distract her from the ache in her head. Everywhere, actually.
For the first time in her life, Christina seriously contemplated suicide. Just what the hell was the point in fighting anymore?