Taylor & Kirk
Kirk was just leaving a diner as he heard his cell phone ringing. He dug it out of his pocket and answered the call.
"Yeah?"
"Hey Steel..."
"Taylor? Hey, I've been meaning to ask you..."
"Steel I don't have time," Taylor said tiredly, "I need to contact Mouse. Can you either give me the number or put me through somehow?"
Steel hesitated, stopping in his tracks.
"We have to be careful here. Do you know for sure that your phone isn't bugged?"
"It's not," Taylor insisted, "he has the... umm... He has telepaths watching the house, that basically pick up the immediate thoughts of my family. I... they can't touch me, and they can't trace the phone line."
"Ok man. I'll send your call through."
"Thanks Steel."
"No problem. And you owe me a few explanations..."
"Yeah I know."
The call was finally put through.
Clarissa
"Yo, tis Riss," Clarissa said as she picked up the phone.
"That you, Steel?"
Taylor
"Not exactly..." Taylor began carefully.
His right eye twitched slightly as he tried to predict her reaction.
Clarissa
"No, tis Taylor," Clarissa said cheerfully.
"WOtcher calling for?"
Taylor
"Ah..." Taylor scratched the back of his neck.
"I need to talk to Mouse. Urgently. And you might need to be there when I do. It's about Blakesley."
Mouse & Clarissa
"She might not exactly be in the mood to talk," Clarissa said slowly.
Bets looked up from her place on the ground and stared steadily at Clarissa. Mouse nodded to the scream of music in her ears.
Taylor
"Yeah well like I said, it's urgent," Taylor watched Flavian carefully.
"I just got off the phone with the old bastard."
Mouse & Clarissa
"Hang on a sec."
Clarissa put the phone down and went over to Mouse. She took the girl's headphones off.
"Hey!" Mouse protested.
"Phone for you."
"Fine."
Mouse got up and picked up the phone.
"Hello."
Taylor
"Hey, ah... we need to talk," Taylor brushed quickly over the introduction.
"Who exactly is there?"
Mouse & Clarissa
"We don't," Mouse said, feeling the tears start again.
"We really, really don't. Riss!"
She dropped the phone and fled the room.
"Dammit, Jane!" Clarissa shouted.
Bets snarled at her.
Taylor
"DAMMIT!" Taylor cursed.
He covered his mouth for a moment, then waited for someone to pick up the phone.
Mouse & Clarissa
"I don't want to talk to him!" Mouse yelled at Clarissa as the older woman made her come back into the room.
"You, sit. You don't have to talk, just listen," Clarissa said grimly, seating Mouse forcibly on the couch.
She switched the phone over to conference mode.
"Go ahead, Taylor. It's just me, Mouse and the dog."
Malamute. Bets corrected her frostily.
Mouse wept silently.
Taylor
"Thankyou RIss," Taylor breathed.
He stalled for a moment, realizing he hadn't exactly worked out what to say yet.
"Well in short... I... something happened last night that Blakesley got a load of, and he called me this morning."
He rubbed his face, trying to think of how to put it.
"We were talking, yelling, whatever, for absolutely ages, and... I guess he slipped up."
He gulped and closed his eyes.
"This whole screw up... the night of the blood rain, the whole thing with Zac, all the misunderstandings... none of it should have ever happened. Blakesley has a God on his side, who's taken a liking to us. Taken a liking to screwing around with us I should say."
He opened his eyes again.
"But I mean think about it Mouse. If you were in your right mind, you never, never would have let any of this happen. I know you, and you couldn't have."
Mouse & Clarissa
Mouse put her hands to her mouth, feeling like she was about to throw up.
"Well, shit," Clarissa observed.
"No wonder everything I try goes haywire. Mind if I bring in someone who hangs out with gods on a regular basis?"
Taylor
"I... huh?" Taylor looked confused.
"What do you think that would accomplish?"
Mouse & Clarissa
"Mouse, get to a bathroom before you hurl over the floor," Clarissa sighed.
Mouse got up and fled, one hand pressed to her mouth.
"Maybe just get clues on who, and if who, how they can be appeased. You know?" Clarissa continued.
Taylor
"Yeah... I guess," Taylor shrugged.
He hesitated, biting his lip. He'd head Mouse leave the room.
"Riss... don't let Mouse hear this," he began softly, "but if I come around, and you get suspicious at all - even the smallest bit - don't let me anywhere near her, ok?"
Clarissa
"Will do," Clarissa said.
"Bets, talk to him for a bit, ok?"
Clarissa went to find Mouse, check on her.
Bets huffed and climbed up on the couch near the phone.
'Lo, Alpha.
Taylor
"Hi Bets," Taylor smiled a little, speaking only in malamute.
"I know you'll tell me the truth. Anything weird going on over there?"
Bets
Mmm.
Bets thought about that for a minute or so.
Werewolves in the city. On the howl one of them died. Strange things watching the house, still. Things that stink like death. They follow the little one with the scent of water and blood around her like flies. She can't help it though, I think. Just attracts them.
She shifted slightly on the couch, hearing Clarissa endavouring to calm Mouse down.
I'm with pup.
Taylor
"Don't communicate too openly with the outside world yet, Bets," Taylor warned.
"Other than that, congratulations."
Mouse, Keltie & Clarissa
Bets grinned toothily.
I'm rather happy about it myself.
Clarissa brought Mouse back in, the young girl looking pale and sick.
"Sit, I'll just get you something to drink."
She put Mouse on the couch gently and went to get a glass of water. Keltie walked in, running a hand through her damp hair.
"Sae, tis th' young stallion. Riss has told me what be ahoof and I'll see what I can dae about it."
Taylor
"And so you should be," Taylor replied to Bets, just listening as Mouse entered the room again.
He bit his bottom lip, not knowing what else to say.
Mouse & Keltie
Bets moved to put her head in Mouse's lap gently, eyes looking up at her with worry. The emapth ruffled her fur distractedly, blinking slowly.
"Gods. Again."
A corner of her mouth twitched as fingers traced the upraised tattoo on her arm Bastet had emblazoned there.
"I'll see if I can find out who tis," Keltie said, getting to her feet.
"Won't be but a few moments."
She went out into the backyard, and whinnied softly, calling. The earth answered and Keltie closed her eyes, letting it speak to her. Then she slowly fell forwards, blood running from her nose.
Clarissa left the room quickly to find out what was wrong when both she and Mouse felt the nygel suffer silently. A blazon of pain detectable to empaths but that was the only way someone would know something was wrong.
Taylor
"For some unknown reason this God particularly likes us," Taylor said softly.
"She had her eye on you, and... kinda met me through you so to speak."
Mouse, Keltie & Clarissa
"Figures," Mouse said bitterly.
"People just love to play around with my life. Even when they say they're doing it for my own good."
Clarissa went out and shook Keltie's shoulder gently.
"You alright?"
"Try to make the earth not speak to me, will she?" Keltie growled as she got back onto her feet.
"Not bluidy likely!"
She changed into her equine form and planted four hooves firmly on the ground, head high before she whickered again. This time, three answering whinneys sounded. One from the air, one from below their feet and one that sounded like flames crackling. Clarissa wisely moved away to watch as a pegasus dropped from the sky in a flurry of feathers, some...horse climbed out of the earth, a dun brown in colour and shaking soil from its mane and tail, and a firey gleaming copper horse pranced forward from seeming nothingness. The four of them conferred before the other three left again, leaving Keltie to shift back into her human form and go into the house.
"A right hornet's nest," the nygel sighed as she entered.
"It's Ashtoreth."
Taylor
Taylor pursed his lips with a frown, trying to figure out where he'd heard that name before.
Mouse, Keltie & Clarissa
"I know I've heard that name before," Mouse sighed.
"Details?" Clarissa asked.
Keltie wiped the blood off her face with a grimy hand.
"Ashtoreth...The Burning Sun, the One who Outshines the Day, Terrible Beauty, Merciless Defender, She Who Must Be Appeased," the nygel rattled off the god's titles.
"Well, she sounds nice," Clarissa said.
"She buggered off a few eons back, to govern a world all to herself," Keltie said bluntly.
"She'd only know herself why she's come back again. And if she's here, she's here to rule. She doesn't like being second, does the Burning Sun."
Taylor
"That doesn't explain why she's f**king with us particularly," Taylor shrugged, watching the fuzzles still on his bed.
Mouse & Keltie
"Probably just because she can," Keltie said.
"How do we get her to stop?" Mouse asked.
Keltie shrugged.
"Stop being interesting. There's very few gods ye can petition to stand against her, most are as valuing of their skins as ye be of yourn."
Taylor
"Well then why are we so interesting?" Taylor frowned again.
"We don't know what exactly she's drawn to, so... how can we stop something that we don't know we're doing?"
Mouse & Keltie
Mouse nodded slightly.
Keltie sighed.
"I'm not sure. Ashtoreth's ways are mostly strange to me, ye ken. She's not of Eire, being from the lands of Carthage originally. And then she left."
Taylor
"So we're back to square one," Taylor raised his eyebrows, sitting back against the wall again.
"Just being screwed around with. God I'm so sick of this sh*t..."
Mouse & Keltie
"Iffin the offspring of Bastet were still in contact with me, I could ask them. Being of Egypt, they might have more news of her," Keltie said.
Mouse snorted.
"And what makes you think they'd help anyway?"
Taylor
Taylor ground his teeth for a moment.
"Well if you come up with anything, let Steel know and he'll get it through to me. I've gotta go."
Mouse & Keltie
"See you then," Mouse said in an indifferent voice.
"I will dae tha'," Keltie said.
Taylor
"Thanks Keltie. Bye."
Taylor hung up, then got up from the bed.
He needed to see Tanya. Today.
Groaning a little, he grabbed the cordless house phone and took it back downstairs, before going to look for Ike.
Mouse
Mouse got up and went into her room, where she settled to sobbing quietly. Bets followed her and slid onto the bed and into her arms. She curled around the dog and cried into her fur.
Didn't it stop hurting ever?