Morning Coffee And Sweet Surprises (Closed to Poprockz)

[Poprockz]

"Over time, he is going to slowly give us more privileges.... to try and run is a suicidal idea.... That's why he has the dogs. Not to keep us in, but to protect us from what might come after us."

Over the course of Cora's informational monologue, Sayori's expression had simply become more hopeless with every sentence. So the General had moved them to a very special place, designed by him to be inescapable. There were no neighbors, and no one would come to visit unless they knew the General personally and he had invited them over. Eventually they would be free to roam as they liked, simply because he knew they couldn't run away without him scooping them back up again to return them back to their own slice of hell.

Their only hope was to be rescued by someone who could actually make it in and out without raising suspicion, who could protect everyone from the wildlife, and who even realized they were there and needed saving. That would likely never happen. Sabastian could protect them, as could Quint, but Kuznet's men would be upon them before they could get very far at all. The only good things about all of this were that she wouldn't be alone, and that she would be allowed to at enjoy the sunlight on her skin. At what point would even the sunlight start to feel hollow though.

"Thanks." Sayori said in a small voice, not sure quite what to say beyond that. What more was there to say?

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Bowie bobbed his head when Vin thanked him, knowing that he had done a good job to get the long haired one to a safe placed. With that, he curled back up on Vin's lap, simply resting as the two men talked.

"I don't know exactly what happened, or why, but yeah. That motherfucke- *coughing fit*
He tricked me Dave. I don't know why he did it, but he...wanted me to take him to Cora."

So it was Cora the General was after? What was their relationship, and why did he want her? She was a beautiful woman, but he didn't understand why seemingly a stranger would want to capture her like that, going to such great lengths.

It was a sobering thought to think that if he had tried to prevent something from happening, that it would have landed them in even deeper sit. This was dangerous stuff. He knew back when the soldier first approached him that it would be dangerous being associated with rebels, trading information and supplies, but he never got used to it. He used to be a simple bartender who did magic tricks, not having to worry about who would vanish next or which one of his friends would be beaten to pulp.

"Hey." Dave said firmly, putting a and on Vin's chest and firmly pushing him back against the wall. "Rest. Your body is really fucked right now, and I'll be damned if one of your likely broken ribs punctures your lung or something." He had a no-nonsense look on is face, the sort where he was deathly serious and willing to enforce this "request."

"It's probably very early morning right now, still dark. After the day is over, I'm going to take you to the rendezvous point and get you out of here. The people who have a camp who are against the corruption in the military, "rebels" you might say, are going to pick you up and take you to their base. Talk to them. See if they know anything or are able to help save her. I don't know what he wants with her, but it can't be insignificant and it can't be good."

 

[Drobabes]

It would be a few hours before dinner, and seeing as Cora had nothing else to say, she simply came over to the king sized bed and laid down on one side, scooting near the edge and holding herself as the hours passed. She remained almost completely still during those few hours that they simply 'waited', the rise and fall of her chest and the occasional blink of her eyes being her only movements. When at last they finally heard the door handle click, she sat up in bed and smoothed out her dress, and then looked expectantly to the door.

Kuznet strode in slowly, his eyes appraising his two little dolls as he came to the bed. He smiled down at both of them, and then he reached out to Cora, running his fingers down the back of her neck and letting the ribbon slide over his skin.

"Mm, I missed this."

She didn't look up at him, her posture remaining completely still and perfect. Just like a doll.

"You have no idea, my little Cora, how difficult it was for me to stay away..."

His hand slid up her neck slowly, and then he gripped her chin and tilted her head back, finally meeting her eyes and smiling at the twin trails of tears that spilt from the corners of them. Very slowly, almost as if he were savoring every second it took to reach her, he bent down to lay a very soft kiss against her pouty lips.

Her eyes close just a few seconds before he reaches her, and despite her almost perfect ability to hold still, her whole body still quivers with fear and her hands bunch the fabric of her dress up into little fists. Finally, mercifully, he pulls back.

"Good girl" he breathes, his hot breathe making her stomach roll with disgust before he lets her go to stand back up.

"Now, Sayori, Cora. Follow me down and we will sit and eat."

He turned towards the door, fully expecting nothing but compliance.
____________________

Vin gave him a bit of a grouchy scowl as he pushed him back, but ultimately, he gave up and let Dave have his way. He was simply too tired and weak to argue.

"I don't know what he wants with her, but it can't be insignificant and it can't be good."

For just a second, a look came over his face that was very difficult to read, his expression blanking out a bit as he looked away before he nodded.

"Right, I will."

After that was dealt with, and Dave had given Vin a shot of Tequila to help him deal with the pain, Bowie helped to move the big man up to a room where he would be able to rest and recuperate. It hadn't been an easy task, but the alcohol helped to at least dampen the pain until they had him up in the bed.

Just before Dave left the room, Vin looked over and called out to him.

"Hey...thank you man. I'm sorry you got wrapped up in this shit. Once I'm back on my feet, I'll make sure this doesn't come back around to bite you."

After that, Delvin quickly gave into his exhaustion once more. Once he was asleep, he didn't feel the slight movement of Bowie moving down off the bed, nor hear him when he slithered out from under the door...

 

[Poprockz]

Sayori had been lost in thought, trying to process everything while also worrying about how Quint was doing when she heard the door click. She too looked up, seeing the large man approach leisurely as though he was simply admiring his collection. Though it seemed that Cora would get his attentions, the man touching her "affectionately" as he professed how much he had been longing to have her with him once more.

It wasn't lost on Sayori the way Cora trembled, knowing that she hated his very existence, repulsed by the way he touched her. She watched as he kissed her so gently, almost wanting to look away at how disgusting it felt to watch. He was such a sick man, but it seemed he had gotten exactly what he wanted.

"Now, Sayori, Cora. Follow me down and we will sit and eat."

She couldn't say she was really hungry at the moment, but she knew what he had said wasn't a question. Getting up, she too smoothed her skirt before following him out the door, hesitantly looking around the house as they went to the dining room.

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"Even if it did come back to bite me, I won't regret helping your sorry ass. If it weren't for you and Tommy, Jessy and Randy wouldn't even be alive right now." Dave grinned affectionately and gave him a wink. "I appreciate the thought though." With that, he exited the room and locked the door, pocketing the key and making his way downstairs to his station at the bar. He was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, but that wasn't uncommon in the base as the laundry wasn't done quite as frequently.

------

Damien had been stalking around the base, his rage having died down to an ever-present drone at the back of his mind. When he found that bastard though... He was going to make sure he never hurt Cora again. It was in the afternoon, the man still searching every building, nook, and cranny he could find. He had already been denied entry to several military buildings, and thrown out of a restricted area. God, the sun was so fucking hot, he wanted to scream at it to stop burning and slowing him down, he was starting to feel dizzy from it.

The lack of food, water, and rest finally hit him, the man collapsing in the hot sun, much to the surprise and concern of several civilians. A couple of them approached, trying to figure out how to help. Taking him to the medical staff was discussed, but they didn't quite know the extent of his neglect. To them, it just seemed like he had been careless and gotten heatstroke. For that reason, they decided that taking him to the bar for some water would be the best option.

The exhausted man was helped up and two man walked him over to the bar, depositing him into a booth and going to the bar to let Dave know. At the mention of a heat-stroke victim, he got some water in a glass, putting a straw in it to make sure he didn't have to lift the glass and didn't simply inhale the water. Bringing it over, he set the water down on the table and leaned over to see the status of the man, his eyes widening as he realized who it was.

He looked like utter shit, but it was Damien. His heart beat quickly and he glanced upstairs before looking back to him. Vin would want to see him; after all, it was quite possible that Damien had been looking for his missing friends if he didn't already know what had happened.

Stirring, Damien blinked and looked up at Dave, equally surprised that he was there in front of him. Part of him wondered if he was hallucinating, but he didn't give it too much thought.

"Hey, Damien. I think you're really dehydrated, so please drink some of that water, okay?" Dave gave the glass a little nudge toward him.

"I don't need it. I have to go..." The man tried to get up, but was then boxed in by a scowling Dave.

"You DO need it, and you are going to drink it if I have to literally pour it down your throat. IF you drink all of that water without drinking it too fast..." He lowered his voice so that no one else could eavesdrop. "I'll tell you where Vin is." His scowl turned into a softer look, expecting for Damien to feel a bit more lighthearted at the fact that his friend had been found.

With that sentence having been uttered, Damien's gaze snapped up to meet Dave's his eyes becoming like saucers. Dave knew where that slimy fuck was, and all he had to do was to drink the water. Nodding, he leaned down and started drinking as quickly as he could, resulting in Dave bopping him on the forehead and saying, "hey. I said DON'T drink it too fast. You'll make yourself sick."

This earned Dave a glare as he slunk his head down once more and took more patient drinks of the water. When it was gone, he looked at Dave expectantly and said, "well? I drank the water. Happy?"

"Very." It seemed like Damien was in a really bad mood, though he imagined it was due to his dehydration and the events of the last several days. With a soft smile, he reached in his pocket and withdrew the key, putting it into Damien's hand. "Room three upstairs. He's resting, so you might want to let him rest for a while longer, but I'm sure he'd be happy to see you again." With that, he patted Damien on the shoulder and went back to the bar to make some drinks for a couple that just showed up.

"Room three..." he said under his breath. He had finally found that traitorous bastard. It took him a moment to get up, his legs being unsteady, but he was eventually able to make his way up the stairs and toward the room. He was panting slightly from the effort, his hand going to his belt. A knife had been nicked from the cafeteria by him, wrapped in napkins and tucked into his belt before he had tied it with a shoelace. Now, he got it out, unwrapping it and approaching the door with an almost soulless look in his eyes.

 

[Drobabes]

The hall that they stepped into seemed to only be the second floor, as to their right was another set of stairs leading up and what looked to be another bedroom just before it. In actuality, it was another bathroom, built more for relaxation than function, as there was no shower but rather, a very large bathtub with a grand view of the tree canopy outside of a window that was almost as large as the whole wall. The door was shut at the moment, though, so Sayori would not know this until later.

As they descended the stairs, Sayori would be able to see that the house was wide and open, with more lavish furniture and large windows. It was the type of house that one would have seen pictures of in magazine while waiting in a doctors or dentists office. The furniture was sleek and modern, and the colors were all a mix of soft blues, whites, and the occasional slate grey or black marble of countertops. It would have been very comforting and welcoming we're it not for the fact that it was a wolves den.

Near the front door, there were more pictures of Quint and Cora, though this time they lacked the beautiful blond women or the Native American man. In their place, it was Kuznet who stood behind them, a hand on each of their shoulders in various poses as they all smiled for the camera. There were not an ungodly amount of pictures here, as there had been in her birdcage, but there was still quite the arrangement, seemingly artistically trying to portray a timeline.

In one of the pictures, near the end, it contained Cora, Quint, Kuznet, and Francis. They were all dressed in winter gear, camouflage, and it seemed as if they had been perhaps going on a hunting trip. Or, maybe fishing, as Quint was holding up a large bass in the picture and grinning quite wide. Francis was standing behind him, seemingly caught in the middle of one of his loud laughs, as he too had a large smile and his teeth were gleaming as he looked towards Kuznet, who had an almost human grin on his face. Below Kuznet, Cora was sitting on a wood stump, smiling up at her brother, and while she didn't exactly look happy in the true sense of the word, she at least looked comfortable and relaxed.

As they walked by it on the way to the kitchen, Cora couldn't seem to help herself. She paused in front of it briefly, her eyes tearing up as she reached a shaky hand out to touch the frame, her fingers lingering just over the fish as she looked at her brother. Her shoulders seem to shake a little, and then she quickly takes her hand back and takes a few quick steps to catch up with Kuznet.

Once they were past the front room, they entered a spacious kitchen where a somewhat large, but not huge, dining table awaited them. It was very tall, and despite Cora's own height, she still had to hoist herself up a bit onto the large wood chairs, letting her bare feet come to rest on the little wood bar between the legs of the chair. Briefly she glanced over to Sayori, her expression a bit dead, before she looked away.

A moment later, Kuznet brought out a large porcelain bowl, sitting it down between the two girls before removing the lid to reveal a steaming soup of some kind. From the smell of it, Cora guessed it was perhaps chicken with freshly picked carrots from their small garden. The large man ladled out an appropriate portion into each of their bowls, and then he turned to make his way back to the kitchen. Only, he paused just as he was walking by Cora.

His eyes went down to her back, her left shoulder, and her own eyes became wide and almost wild with fear as she stared down. Up until this point, he had not seen her back, nor the delicately and beautifully woven black letters on her shoulder, still fresh and red around the edges from the pen burning them into her flesh. He turned, slowly, and as his fingers brushed her hair aside and then softly pushed the sleeve of her dress down, Cora began to shake and quietly sob, her breath hitching and catching in her throat.

The look on Kuznet's face seemed to burn with danger, his eyes sharp and not far off from the look he had given Sayori on that first day that he had bruised her delicate little jaw. His hand didn't clench his little Cora, however, but instead reached up and caressed the front of her neck as he bent over to whisper in her ear.

"We will talk about this later."

Her eyes closed, forcing the tears to spill over and land in her soup, and she gave him a small nod to confirm that she had heard him. When he stood up and left her, her hands came up to hug herself and she shook with the effort it took to get herself under control. But, control herself she did, and by the time he came back with a plate of freshly baked bread, she was breathing normally once more.
_____________

Bowie had been curled up in a ball in front of the door, but when he felt the vibrations of footsteps coming up the stairs, he lifted his head and flicked his little tongue in the direction of the top stair. The taste on the air was of the precious soft one, and it made him rise up to greet the tall one who he liked to climb, his little head bobbing with affection. When Damien came fully within view of the little reptile, however, Bowie suddenly stopped his bobbing and the end of his tail began to rhythmically vibrate against the hard floor, producing a sound similar to that of a rattlesnake.

It wasn't that the man looked sick, so much as that, his body posture was threatening instead of warm and welcoming. The way that he held the knife in his hand and the way he was trudging forward made Bowie feel nervous and scared, like Damien's behavior was unpredictable at the moment. And when Damien came closer, Bowie suddenly rose up to an even greater height and opened his little jaws to let out a loud, menacing hiss.

He did not understand what was wrong with the soft one, or why he seemed so dangerous, but he wanted him to stop.

 

[Poprockz]

Sayori followed behind them, her eyes continuing to take stock of the place. It was the type of place she might like to vacation in, it’s modern and tasteful furniture making her surprised that Kuznet would have such things. She wasn’t sure why, but she had expected for the house to be stark and mostly bare of any real human touch. It was probably all a farce, a way to trick one into thinking that he was a normal man, not one who would imprison people for his own sick pleasure.

Her own eyes passed over the portraits, a faint smile briefly crossing her face as she looked at the one with the fish. Quint looked so happy, probably having made some kind of joke to make Francisco laugh. Speaking of, she hadn’t seen the officer for days, the little woman wondering where he might have gone. Perhaps he was on a mission elsewhere or something.

It looked like Cora had really missed Quint, so at least she was glad she would get to see him again soon. She assumed Kuznet had already told Cora about him having been captured, his sister probably sad that she hadn’t been able to see him for all this time.

When they got to the table, Sayori climbed up onto one of the large chairs with a bit of difficulty, but she managed it. Fear was a powerful motivator to do things rather quickly. Once seated, she looked at the soup he brought, her mouth watering from the smell. Though, looking around it seemed like there was none being dished out for Quint. Why wasn’t he there? She had just opened her mouth to ask when she saw him pause and look at Cora’s neck.

The look on his face suggested that he was extremely upset, though she didn’t quite know why, having not noticed the tattoo herself. It was terrifying, and she couldn’t blame Cora for the look of utter fear she had on her face. Her own mouth closed and she looked down, thinking better of saying anything until she was spoken to.

—————————
Damien was so focused on going to the room that he didn’t notice Bowie until he lifted himself up and hissed at him.

His eyes went to the little snake, though his surprise was overwhelmed by a frustration and a need to get past so he could make Vin pay.

“Move Bowie. I have to get in. I have to...” he gritted his teeth and glared at the door, the snake and the door being the only things that stood between him and his revenge. Vin had never been their friend, he had just been using them to get Cora away and into the clutches of... well he didn’t even know who had orchestrated it all. He didn’t deserve mercy after what he had done.

The man started to move forward. Though he lowered the knife, having no intention of hurting Bowie.

 

[Drobabes]

Kuznet took his time slicing the bread, and then plating it up for each of them. Once that was done, he gave them both a simple look, indicating that it was time to eat.

Cora picked up her spoon and hesitantly began. It was good soup, not too salty or too spiced with overpowering flavoring, but with each mouthful she swallowed, she couldn't help but wonder if he had drugged it. She was simply waiting for the shoe to drop, for him to begin his sick games, as she knew he must be a bit impatient after not having touched her in over ten years.

At one point, her hand shook so badly that she dropped her spoon, causing a little splash. Very quickly she picked up her cloth napkin and cleaned it up, her eyes darting over to his large hands in anticipation of a slap. The slap never came, however, and while she didn't want to be hit, it only made her more nervous that he wasn't being cruel.

"The concert performance was very entertaining" he said, after she had picked her spoon back up. She froze for a moment, and then she forced herself to take a bite, stalling as she thought of how to respond and what he wanted. It didn't really surprise her that he had seen it, as, he had probably seen everything she had done these past years...

"I've...been practicing my singing..."

"Indeed, and it shows. Tell me, that last song you sang, did your little street mutt enjoy it?"

No. No, please no.

"I-I think he d-did."

The spoon rattled against her bowl as she tried to gather up a bit more, but most of it spilled back out, and she had to try again.

"Hmm. You know, I found it very interesting, observing him as you traveled together. He and I seem to share quite a few similarities."

Cora dropped her spoon in her bowl, and for a long moment, she just stared at it. Then, she pushed the bowl away from herself and put her hands in her lap, her head dropping a bit as she glared down at the table. She couldn't fucking do this, she just couldn't.

"He is nothing like you."

In less than the blink of an eye, his huge hand came up to grip the back of her head painfully, and then he slammed her face down on the table, hard. The whole table shook from the impact, and a bit of her soup spilt out of the side. His expression barely changed as he did it, and just as quickly as he had grabbed her, he let her go and simply resumed eating his meal.

Cora let out a shocked noise, and then she began to sob hard as her hands flew up to hold her now bleeding nose, her whole body shaking once again. For a second, she seemed to struggle with the decision to clean up the mess on the table first, or stop the blood from ruining her dress. Once she realized that her hands were not going to do the job of slowing that crimson river, she very quickly made up her mind and grabbed the napkin, stuffing it up against her face and muffling some of the noise of her sobs. Kuznet simply glanced down at her, before looking over to Sayori.

"Finish your meal. Both of you."

Cora, holding the rag with one hand, reached out with her other and brought the soup bowl back to her. She then began to diligently ladle the soup into her mouth, forcing herself to swallow between each ragged and shuddering breath.
_____________________

Bowie, sensing that something was still very wrong and not liking how angry Damien was being, raises himself up even higher. His little head almost reaches Damien's eyes, and then...something very strange happens.

Two small tentacles, tentacles that were such a dark orange they bordered on red, suddenly sprout from the sides of his head and fan out wide, stretching until they gave the impression of large cobra hoods. Their dark color seems to almost become iridescent under the light, a sheen being seen as they vibrate in warning and Bowie let's out the loudest hiss that was ever heard by the snake. Down his back, a row of his scales suddenly rise, creating a sort of mohawk shape that reaches all the way down to his tale, and the same shine can be seen underneath on his skin as the scales began to vibrate and clack together to create a deadly rattle. It's noise was so loud that it easily out-competes his hiss, the sound of it echoing off of the walls and being thrown all around them, like gunfire in a confined space.

 

[Poprockz]

Sayori followed Cora's lead and started eating, ripping off pieces of her bread and dipping it daintily into the soup before bringing it to her lips. She didn't spill, having held her spoon underneath just in case out of habit. With her portion of bread soon finished, she started to eat her soup with her spoon, glancing up occasionally to see Cora shaking as she attempted consume her own dinner.

At the sight of Cora dropping her spoon and cleaning up the little drips as though afraid for her life, Sayori's eyes flicked to Kuznet and then back to Cora, wondering if he was harsh when it came to messes. It made sense, seeing as how he liked things to be just so, and any deviation seemed to be worthy of a punishment. Though she wasn't quite sure how extreme the punishments would be, depending on what one did. One thing was for sure tough, she was going to be extra careful.

"The concert performance was very entertaining... Hmm. You know, I found it very interesting, observing him as you traveled together. He and I seem to share quite a few similarities."

At that point Sayori had simply been diligently eating as she had before in the prison, keeping her head down and her efforts focused toward finishing her meal. While she wasn't really hungry, she knew that it was expected of her. When Cora pushed her bowl away though, Sayori looked up in fear as Cora dared to say something so disrespectful.

It happened so fast, Sayori let out a squeak of surprise and fright, pressing her body against the back of the chair as she watched the blood start to drip from Cora's nose. She felt so conflicted. On one hand, she really wanted to get out of her chair and go to Cora to help her clean up and get the bleeding under control, and on the other hand, she was afraid of what Kuznet would do to her if she tried. Quint had once said that Kuznet didn't like it if someone helped a person who was supposed to be being punished, so she assumed that was the case here as well. It was distressing, seeing Cora in pain and not being able to do anything to help.

"Finish your meal. Both of you."

She met Kuznet's gaze briefly as he looked over to her, soon diverting her gaze down to her soup as she finished her meal. It was a blessing in some ways that she had already been almost done, as now her own hands were badly shaking. When at last she had consumed all of her soup, she set her spoon down in the bowl and simply sat there, her fingers anxiously fidgeting in her lap.

---------------------------------------------------

Fortunately, there was a small group of people playing music downstairs, so the rattling was assumed to be part of the music from the patrons, though the musicians themselves tried not to let on that they were bewildered about where the sound was actually coming from.

Damien was taken aback by the threatening display, his eyes widening as he took in the way the snake's body had morphed to become more intimidating. Though despite all of this, it almost seemed like Bowie was yelling at him to snap out of it. The snake wasn't attacking, merely trying to get him to back off. Did he know what he intended to do? Was he defending Vin? How could he defend someone like him?! Someone who had sold Cora out? Maybe the snake simply didn't understand or...

"You can start over... Make a new life, with me..."

"The only thing you can do now is try to live a life where nothing like that ever has to happen again."

"I don't think anyone deserves to be killed..."

"I wouldn't have wanted you to do anything differently. We didn't know she was turning. If she hadn't been turning, and you shot her, that would have been murder... You are not a murderer."

He remembered the intensity of her gaze despite how sick she was, the utter faith she had in him that he could be a better person if he only tried. His legs suddenly giving out, he collapsed onto his knees and bowed his head, starting to cry at the memory. This wouldn't be what she would have wanted; she would have wanted him to be better than that. More than that, he wanted to be better for her. He wanted to be the sort of person that Cora could be proud to be with, and this wasn't it.

Blinded by rage, he was being a fool. He realized that even though Vin had sold Cora out, more than anger he felt hurt. He felt hurt that he would do such a thing not only for Cora's sake, but because he thought that Vin had been his friend. Damien had cared about him, probably the only close friend he had since Toby. Sabastian was certainly a good friend, but he didn't feel the same kinship with the blonde as he did with Vin.

The knife dropped out of his hand and onto the floor, tears running down his face as he looked up at the snake, "what am I supposed to do, Bowie? She's gone... What the fuck am I supposed to do?" His tone was hopeless and desperate, the man feeling lost and alone.

 

[Drobabes]

Cora managed to force enough food down to make him satisfied, though she couldn't completely finish her meal as the taste of blood running down the back of her throat had made her gag a few times, and the pain in her face was making it difficult to open her jaw. Once they were done, Kuznet took the dishes to the kitchen and escorted them back up stairs, guiding Sayori to go sit on the bed.

When Cora tried to step forward to follow the other women, Kuznet reached out and gripped her shoulder, pulling her back against him and bringing his other hand up to run it over her hair. She clenched up as he did it, her eyes widening as they stared down at the ground.

"Now," he murmured, looking down at the top of her head as he toyed with her ribbon, which had become loose from his earlier harsh treatment.

"Is the tattoo on your shoulder the only one?"

She started to shake and her legs almost looked as if they were about to give out below her. When he wove his hand into her hair, and his fingers began to painfully dig into the flesh of her shoulder, she yelped and tried to pull away, only to have him yank her back by her ponytail.

"Cora," he warned dangerously, his grip in her hair yanking her until she was arching back.

"N-no!"

"Where is the other one?"

"On my thigh!"

"Hmm," he said, his head cocking down a bit to look inter her eyes.

"Do you remember what I told you before?"

"Ray, please!" she sobbed, her hands reaching up to his arm to grip him.

"I suppose I will have to remind you."

"N-no! No, please Ray I'm sorry!"

The General did not seem at all moved by her pleading, and suddenly she was swooped up into his arms before he turned to the door. With absolute terror in her eyes, Cora scrambled like a cat and reached out to the door frame, her hands gripping onto it over his shoulder as he made his way through. It was a useless fight with only failure as the outcome, but it didn't stop the fear from taking over and making her try nonetheless. All that she received for her efforts, was managing to rip a few of her fingernails backwards as he harshly yanked her through, giving absolutely no care as to whether or not he hurt her, and then slammed the door shut behind him.
_______________

As soon as Damien went down, Bowie stopped his dangerous display. His little neck hood went back in, smoothing out to be almost seamless where one would only know they there were there if they were looking for it, and his scales on his back laid back down into place. He then watched as the gentle man dropped the knife and began to cry, his next words being full of pain and anguish.

Bending forward, Bowie went down to the ground and slithered over, then raised his little head up to Damien's and put it against his forehead. It was here that the snake stayed, for a long moment, his little tongue only coming out intermittently in a slow manner. His amethyst eyes seemed to stare into Damien's dark grey, and if he could have, he would have communicated to the man that it would be alright, that everything was going to be okay in the end. Bowie could not speak, however, so all he could do was wait until Damien's breathing had slowed, and then, very gently, the snake moved to wrap itself around his torso and pull the man back so that he was sitting against the door to the room. Once there, Bowie raised himself up once more to give Damien a little headbutt, almost seeming to push him back with his body as if telling him 'stay, rest'. The snake then went down to the floor and slithered under the frame of the door, entering Vin's room.

...

The noise had woken him up, though he hadn't been able to identify what it was. Now that he was awake though, he knew he wasn't going to be able to rest.

For a long moment, he just laid there and stared at the wall. He was remembering what happened, how terrified she had been, and how confused he had felt when he had turned around. The whole time that she had been tugging him, he had been trying to talk to her, to get her to stop. He had thought that, maybe, she was just scared of the consequences of someone having found out, but when she had finally let go of his hand and he had turned around to ask those Officers for help...

His hand came out from under the blanket and smacked the cup of water away that was sitting on the little stand by the bed, it's glass shattering loudly as it hit the wall and flew all over the room. The next thing he did was toss the blanket off of himself and sit up, grunting with a mix of anger and pain as he reached out and grabbed his pants. If he wasn't so livid, he might have noticed that he was having a much easier time moving than he probably should have. As it were, that wasn't what was on his mind as he sat on the edge of the bed and yanked his pants up.

He saw Bowie come in, having slid under the door, but he didn't say anything to the snake. That was, until he tried to stand up to go get his shirt, and swayed so hard with sudden dizziness that he almost fell flat on his face. The snake raised itself up and pushed his body back against the bed, and even though Bowie was just trying to help him, it made him just all the more angry.

"Stop it Bowie! I need to get dressed and ready to go" he growled, but the snake was having none of it. As soon as he tried to get up again, Bowie's tail came up and whipped him hard against his shins, making him cry out in pain.

Shocked, angry, but not wanting to take his frustration out on the reptile, Vin reached over grabbed one of the pillows from the bed and ripped it in half. The stuffing went flying everywhere, but it wasn't enough to make him feel better, so he reached out for the other pillow. He got it between his hands, held it for a few seconds like he was going to rip it, and then he pushed it up against his face to muffle his yells of rage because he knew that Dave was taking a huge risk in hiding him here.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUUUCK!!"

He kept going until he lost his breath and his chest hurt too bad to do it any longer. And then...he let the pillow fall out of his hands as he started to sob.

"Bowie what did I do?!"

His hands came up to cover his face as he laid his elbows on his knees.

"She was begging me! She was begging me to just go, and I didn't listen! How could I be so fucking stupid, Bowie?! I knew someone was following us, I should have recognized the pictures, the recorder...or questioned how he got them! How did he get them? What was he doing in that bar? Was he waiting for us that whole time?!"

He cried hard again, the pain of it making him have to stop to take shallow breaths and calm himself a bit before he could continue.

"I did it again Bowie. I swore to myself that I would never let someone manipulate me like that again and yet he did it, so fucking easily. I led him right to her. Right fucking to her, Bowie! I didn't even...fucking think to question him. And I didn't let her talk. I should have trusted her...I should have trusted my friends... We never should have come here. I knew someone was following us, I knew the bases were dangerous... I drug us all into this Bowie. I'm so sorry..."

It was getting hard to breath again, the light leaking through his hands getting little dark spots as he looked down at the carpet. What the hell was he going to do? How was he going to help Cora, let alone find Sabastian...oh god, he had known. He had known about Sabastian, what if...he was the reason they couldn't find him?!

 

[Poprockz]

Doing as he wanted, she walked over to the bed and sat down, waiting for Cora to join her. Only, Cora never did. It seemed as though the General was very angry about the tattoos, Sayori watching with mounting anxiety as he questioned Cora about it. When he scooped her up, Sayori jumped to her feet but couldn't step forward, her expression fearful and concerned as he dragged her away and slammed the door.

Her little heart was beating quickly at what she had just seen, worried about what he might do to Cora. There wasn't anything she could to to help, a doll put back on the shelf to be played with at a later time. The woman trembled and walked over to the side of the bed, pulling the covers back so she could snuggle under them and pull them up around her. All she could do was wait for them to come back, not looking forward to seeing what he had done to Cora.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Damien watched as Bowie came to him, seeming to calm down now that Damien had come to his senses. He continued to cry, but soon felt the snake pressing against him as though trying tell him that he understood. Honestly, he didn't know how Bowie could even be here in the base, having last seen him out at the car. Maybe in his sleep deprivation he was hallucinating Bowie as a representation of his conscience.

God, he was so tired. He hadn't really slept for three days, so when the tears stopped and his breathing slowed, he had a hard time fighting the exhaustion that suddenly overwhelmed him. The feeling of Bowie pressing his smooth, scaly forehead against his was comforting, and it made him think that maybe it would be okay to rest, just for a little bit. Cora probably wasn't in the base, and he knew exactly where Vin was now. If Vin found him while he was sleeping, so be it. Even if the man was a traitor and decided to kill him, it would be a kinder end than simply wasting away with the knowledge that he would likely never find her now.

The next thing he knew, the gentle snake had pulled him over to the door and leaned him against it. He sighed, his body relaxing a bit with the knowledge that as soon as Vin came out, he would be alerted to it. His eyelids became heavy, Bowie's nonverbal suggestion of staying put not being something he could fight even if he wanted to right now. Staring at the carpet, not knowing when Bowie had left, he was about to fall asleep when he heard a "FUCK! FUCK! FUUUCK!!" from inside the room.

It made him jump, startling him awake again and causing him to press his ear against the door to hear what exactly had gotten Vin riled up. The more he listened, the more surprised he became. It seemed as though Vin had been tricked, mentioning something about photos and... a recorder? He looked down at the recorder clutched in his left hand, for the first time questioning whether maybe he too was being manipulated. Wouldn't it be convenient if they were turned against each other, their focus turned away from whoever their true enemy was? He had to admit that he too felt like a bit of a fool for doubting Vin, but... he was so happy to know that Vin was truly their friend.

Struggling, he was able to get to his feet, though he wasn't sure how long he could maintain it. It had been a rough couple of days and it all felt like it was catching up to him. Putting the key in the lock, he turned it and opened the door, walking in while leaning against the doorframe for support. Once there, he closed the door behind him and locked it, wanting their discussion to be private. For a moment he simply stared at Vin, not knowing what to say.

Finally, he said, "I searched... but I couldn't find anyone. I thought... it was you." He tossed the cassette in Vin's direction, the thing bouncing on the floor without breaking. Damien then felt his strength wane, sliding down the wall so he could sit against it on the floor, his bloodshot eyes still meeting Vin's.

 

[Drobabes]

It would be about an hour before they returned, footsteps coming up the stairs followed by the sound of the door being unlocked. When he strode in, he had Cora in his arms, but she was no longer in her dress. Instead, she simply had a thin dark sheet loosely draped over to cover her naked form. Her skin looked clammy with sweat, and her hair was oily. Along her jaw, and all along her shoulders, there was a pattern of bruises from where he had grabbed her, over and over, and as he laid her down on the bed, she barely even moved.

Kuznet's eyes moved down to look at Sayori as he stood up, peeling the sheet off to reveal even more bruises, some especially bad one's around her hips and thighs.

"Be a good little bird and clean her up before you go to bed."

After his instructions were given, he folded the sheet up neatly and took it to the bathroom, depositing it in the hamper before leaving the two of them alone once again.
_________________________

The key in the door made him look up, and when he saw Damien come in, he felt a whole slew of mixed emotions run through him. Relief, worry at seeing the shape he was in, guilt from what he had done, and...suspicion. He might have been tricked, but he had never gotten an answer from Cora, so despite how relieved he was to see Damien, he was also on edge.

His brown eyes stared him down for a moment, unsure of what to do next or even what to say. After another moment of hesitation, he finally just bends down to retrieve the recorder.

The action causes a terrible wave of dizziness again, and this time, he does fall off the bed, though he manages to catch himself at the last minute by placing an arm down on the ground. Once he was stable, he sat back and leaned against the bed, then brought the recorder over and hit play. For a long moment, he just sat there staring at it after it was done. Then, with a scowl on his face and his hand shaking, he sits it down on the ground beside himself, lest he break it from squeezing it too hard.

"That's not..." he starts, then looks over to Damien.

"That is not how that conversation went down. That motherfucker spliced that, and cut out parts of what I said! He..he..."

Vin brought a hand up to his forehead, closing his eyes for a minute to try to calm down before he continued.

"He caught me in the bar, and he brought out a file on you. He had pictures...of you and Cora, and she looked...I mean, she looked..."

Letting out a stressed breath, he let his hand fall down into his lap and then he looked at Damien with an expression that was both angry, and, a little scared.

"He tried to tell me that you raped her, and that you raped some other women. He had a recording of her, that other women, but she didn't...say your name. You didn't really do that, did you? Man, tell you didn't do it..."

His voice cracked at the end, and then he stared into Damien's eyes as if he was begging him to tell him he was wrong, that it had all just been a lie, all of it.

 

[Poprockz]

"Yes..." Sayori said softly in response to his instruction.

Her eyes went to Cora, looking over all of the bruises that now painted her skin. It looked like he had been really rough with her, likely slaking his lust and punishing her all at the same time. A pang of sadness went through her heart, the woman feeling sorry that Cora had to endure this all again after she had been free for so long. If only such a deranged man didn't exist, then the world would be a much safer place.

Pulling the covers back, she stood up and went into the bathroom, starting to fill the tub with water. Once it was full enough, she came out and went to Cora. It didn't take too much coaxing, but she was eventually able to find a way to get Cora to her feet, leading her over to the bathroom and helping her into the tub. From there, she started gently washing her. There wasn't much to say, both of them knowing what had happened.

Still, as she rubbed a sudsy loofah against Cora's arm, Sayori hummed softly, hoping it might comfort Cora. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jz706sJMjg

-----------------------------------------------------

"I..." He swallowed hard, preparing himself for what needed to be said. It was going to be difficult, but Vin needed to know the truth.

"When Cora and I first met, she was touching herself in a park. Obviously she thought she was alone and that no one would come by, but I saw her. I... took her. I kidnapped her and took her a cabin I owned nearby and I... I raped her." Saying out loud had been so difficult, the man's words thick with regret and shame.

"I had done it before to multiple women, and I always kept them for three days. I used to be a rich man, so I would use the threat of my influence to make sure that no one ever came after me for it... Her name is Sayori, the woman you likely heard on that tape with a dainty voice. I know because after I shared that first tape with you, I got another one with a warning. They knew I talked to you, so they were telling me that if I ever talked to you about any messages they sent again, they would hurt her. They... They already hurt her quite a bit it sounded like... She was one of the women I took to my cabin."

"That all being said, I... never expected to have a relationship with Cora. I never liked letting myself get too close because I knew that it wouldn't work. Who I am, what I've done... no woman would want to be with a man like that, and for good reason. But she... broke down my walls and I got attached. I think she developed feelings for me too in that sort span of time. Maybe it was Stockholms, I'm not sure. On the third day, she had snuck out and left me a note, wishing me... happiness of all things." He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair as he remembered.

"Before we went to the cabin, everything was still stable, but afterward everything was in chaos. She had left a phone trinket behind with her address, so I went there to spend my last days. I figured she had fled since the city was packed with zombies, soon to be packed with more. I spent a couple days there alone with Bowie, but she came back. She shot the television I was watching a dvd I had found on, and went upstairs. She could have shot me without me having ever known, but she didn't. We've been together ever since then."

"I love her, but I don't know why she still loves me, even though she has the choice to go elsewhere, or find someone else now. I never threatened her to stay with me, nor did I ever raise my hand to her. I didn't think I deserved her. I still don't. But... She said that it wasn't too late for me to try to be a better person."

He hung his head, looking away from Vin and sighing. This was it. The truth couldn't be concealed forever, and Vin was bound to find out eventually. Still, it hurt to know that he would lose Vin as a friend.

 

[Drobabes]

Cora sat numbly in the tub, having only moved enough to bring her knees up and wrap her arms around them. Her mind wasn't numbing out like it usually did after these types of...sessions, but she still felt defeated in a way. No, more than a way, she felt absolutely broken, as if she never should have tried in the first place.

"Cora, you haven't fucked anything up between us..."

Something about Sayori's soft humming triggered a memory for her. Perhaps because it was so soothing, it reminded her of Damien's own warmth, and his comforting presence.

"I don't care if you see the ghosts of your past.... Let's say he's alive somewhere, still keeping tabs on you. It sounds like you're afraid that someday you'll have to push me away to protect me from him. That's not how it's going to work with us, though...I don't want to go back to that world of grey where nothing matters..."

She closed her eyes, her chest shaking once more as she softly cried and laid her head down on her knees. Talking quietly to herself, she said, "I don't want to go back there either baby...but I don't know if I'm strong enough to do this again..."

Was he out there, somewhere, looking for her? Or had Ray already wrapped his sick claws around him and was just waiting for the right moment to strike and not only break her, but shatter her into such of a mess of pieces, that she would never be able to recover?
__________________

Vin sat deathly still as he watched Damien talk, his expression slowly losing the vulnerability and pain that had been in his gaze. As he went on to explain what he had done, Vin's hands began to form into fists by his side as a dark, deadly, scowl began to cloud his face.

For a very long moment, there was nothing but silence in that room. All Vin could do was sit there and scowl at him, his anger and hatred towards the man far exceeding anything he had felt on the that first night they had met, when Damien had drug him out into the woods to threaten him, or even when the General had tricked him. At least then, when he had been lied to, there was an inch of doubt, even just a sliver of a chance that Cora would tell him he was wrong. But now...the steely eyed man had confirmed it. He had told, himself, that yes, he had done those disgusting things. And not just to Cora, but to multiple women. By god, how many people had he hurt?

Suddenly, Vin reached out and grabbed his boot from the ground and chucked it hard towards Damien's head. Honestly, if he wasn't halfway beaten to death already, he likely would have already been across the room after Damien's first few sentences, but he was weak, and he had been shocked by what he had to say.

"You fucking piece of shit!"

Bowie, who had been laying between the two of them, suddenly raised himself up and began to hiss loudly, his scales on his back starting to raise and rattle just as they had with Damien. Just like with Damien, though, Bowie didn't make a move to strike, and especially as he knew that the long haired one was badly hurt, his injuries still being smelled throughout the air in the room. He wanted them to stop fighting, though, and as Delvin went for his second shoe, having nothing else nearby to throw, Bowie slapped it away with his tail and let his hiss become even more menacing.

"How could you fucking do that?! Do you know how much pain you've caused?!"

His body hurt so bad, but he tried to ignore it and get to his feet, though he didn't make it far as he fell against the table by the bed. The wood, being rather old and not built to withstand that kind of weight even for a short amount of time, collapsed as one of the legs broke underneath it. Vin grunted, the bruises on his side smarting and making him pant for a moment. Once he had caught his breath enough to move again, he reached out and ripped the broken leg off the rest of the way, a few of it's small nails sticking out from the end. Bowie came to sit right in front of him, his little side hoods starting to come out, and although it did shock Vin to see it, his eyes only had room to stare down Damien, death written all over his glare.

"Were you just fucking with us this whole time? Huh?! Pretending to be our friend so you could what, get where you needed to go and start over?!"

He started to shakily get up onto his feet, the piece of wood gripped in his hand as he took a few shaky steps around Bowie. The snake wasn't having it though, as he very quickly wrapped himself around the mans waist and started to tug him back. Had Delvin not been so weak, he might have pushed the snake off, or at least given him much of a fight at all.

"Do it all over again?! Did you sell Sabastian out too?!"

He was losing his steam, his breaths becoming more labored and, despite the way his voice spit venom at the man, Vin couldn't really get in enough air to truly yell. However, he definitely wasn't backing down, and despite Bowie trying to hold him back, he looked as if he wasn't going to stop until he had planted that wood stake right into Damien's chest.

 

[Poprockz]

"I don't want to go back there either baby...but I don't know if I'm strong enough to do this again..."

Sayori paused when she heard Cora speak, wondering whether she was talking to herself or hallucinating. Either way, it sounded like Cora was in a really bad place, the pain in her voice tugging at Sayori's heartstrings. It reminded her of herself, laying in that bed, covered in bleeding whip-marks. She hadn't felt strong then either, the shock and pain of what had happened tearing her up inside. Reaching out, she almost tucked Cora's hair behind her ear but stopped herself. That gesture probably wouldn't comfort her, not when that evil man was so fond of it.

Squeezing some shampoo into her hand, she lathered it into Cora's hair, massaging her scalp and taking her time doing so. When she was having a bad day, her mother used to take her to the hair salon, the hairdresser always taking such great care in making her feel relaxed. It reminded her of when she was a kid and her mom used to be the one whose gentle fingers put that gentle pressure on her scalp.

After a while of quietly washing Cora's hair and getting all the bubbles out, she said softly, "greedy hands will try to take from you that which they themselves cannot have. Your heart and soul are yours to keep Cora, so whatever you choose to do, remember that there's only so much of you someone can take without your permission."

-------------------------------------------------

Damien was able to throw up his arms to defend himself in time, but just barely, the shoe bouncing off him before he braced for more. This was what he deserved, to be treated with hatred and disgust, and yet it still hurt. He wished it wasn't true, that he could just laugh and tell Vin that he was just joking, but the past was something he didn't have the power to change.

"How could you fucking do that?! Do you know how much pain you've caused?!"

Of course he did, how could he not? It was one of the reasons he didn't think he deserved happiness. He had smiled, talked a big game, and acted as though it didn't affect him. He even tried to convince himself that he loved the chase and that he didn't care about how they felt, but deep down he could feel the weight of their pain. Damien had done so much damage; he was a thief, stealing their time, sense of security, and happiness. It was so selfish, so utterly unforgiveable.

"Were you just fucking with us this whole time? Huh?! Pretending to be our friend so you could what, get where you needed to go and start over?! Do it all over again?! Did you sell Sabastian out too?!"

He watched Vin try to get up, only to crash into the table. If he wasn't so utterly weak himself, he might have been tempted to get up and help him, but he knew at this point Vin probably didn't want his help. In fact, judging by the way Vin stood up with a the equivalent of a club in his hand, he assumed that Vin wanted to help him make his arrival into hell all the more expedient. Part of him wanted Vin to do it; maybe then he would have paid for some of his sins.

There was no fear in his eyes as Vin approached, only acceptance and a deep sadness. When he did speak, his voice was quiet, his head leaning back against the wall as he looked at Vin with his tired eyes.

"I did want to start over, but not like that. I wanted to be with her, to live with her until we were old and grey. I love her... Why would I want anyone else when she's the only one who accepts me? The only one who ever actually looked me in the eyes as though I was a human being? Life isn't worth living without her because it's all fucking meaningless otherwise. Yes, I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, pity, or trust, but I'm telling you, I have no idea where Sabastian is either and I sure as hell didn't sell him out because I already had everything I ever wanted in life standing right next to me! I was never pretending... I just..."

He looked away from Vin as his eyes watered and he blinked his tears away, not wanting Vin to think he was trying to garner pity. Damien didn't know what to say after that. What could he say? That he considered Vin to be a friend? That the time they had spent laughing and bonding was something he would cherish? What would that be worth to him now that he knew? He didn't deserve Vin's friendship, and he was a fool to think that he would ever truly have it. Vin was a good man, a far better man than he could ever hope to be and it was time to accept that this was the end for them.

The sound of a key turning in the door could be heard before Dave quickly came in and almost tripped over Damien. Upon recovering from that, he looked around the room, surveying the damage. Damien seemed too weak to make it much further than the door, so he assumed it was Vin throwing shit and making a ruckus.

He glared at Vin for a moment before saying, "my fucking pillows? Really Vin? Are you going to go get me some replacements at Bed, Bath, and Beyond?" After a moment or two of heated silence, Dave finished with, "I didn't think so. Calm your ass down and stop breaking my shit before someone hears you."

"Now." He turned to Damien, "I assume Wreck-it-Ralph has filled you in, but in case he hasn't gotten to it yet in between the glass-throwing and table-breaking, I'll let you know. Tonight, I'm arranging for him and now you also to be taken out of the base and into a group of people who are advocates for freedom and decency. I assume the military isn't going to notice you gone since they basically ignored you for three days."

Damien's eyes flicked to Vin and back to Dave, his lips pursing as he wondered if Vin was going to disclose his true self to him. While he wanted to remain free, he wouldn't blame Vin if he and Dave sent him to the military to be locked up. Still, he needed to let Dave know about the tape.

"They didn't... ignore me. When I used the restroom yesterday, I noticed an envelope hanging by a red ribbon near the vent with my name on it. It was swaying slightly as though someone had just put it there and it had a spliced cassette in it implicating Vin in Cora's disappearance." His hand gestured to the tape on the floor near the bed.

Dave's eyes widened, glancing at the door before putting his hand over his mouth anxiously. "Shit," was the only thing spoken for a minute before he shook his head. "So they have an interest in you. I'd be willing to bet that they've been watching you this whole time, which means they know you're here. If I get you out, they'll know I helped you. Shit..." He thought for a moment before sighing, "well, boys. It looks like we're all getting out of dodge tonight."

 

[Drobabes]

That soft scalp massage had it's intended effect, as before long, Cora stopped her crying. Her breathing became more even, and by the time that Sayori spoke, she was ready and willing to listen.

"Your heart and soul are yours to keep Cora..."

She remained quiet for a moment, and then she slowly nodded her head before finally sitting up a bit to look at Sayori.

"If you give me a rag, I can help... I know he told you to do it, but he didn't say I couldn't help" she said quietly before sniffling.
_________________

Love? How could he sit there and talk about loving someone when he had done such things? To innocent people who didn't, and likely couldn't, fight back? He didn't know what love was. He had no right, no fucking right.

Vin felt a pain in his wrist, looking down to see that Bowie had wrapped the end of his tail just below his hand. He was still hissing loudly, and now, it seemed, he was willing hurt him if it meant stopping the fight. Delvin tried to hang on to the makeshift weapon, but the more he fought and struggled against the snake, the harder Bowie pulled back and squeezed. Finally, he was forced to drop it, and not a moment too soon it would seem.

When Dave walked in, Vin looked up at him briefly but quickly turned his hatred back to Damien. He wanted to tell him. He wanted to keep ranting and maybe even have Dave distract Bowie long enough for him to get over there and actually get his hands on him. However, he had finally lost his steam, and as he sat back against the bed panting, his mind started running through his options.

Whoever had left the notes had left them for Damien, as he had certainly never received any himself. Nor had Sabastian, as far as he knew. They seemed to also have been trying to get Cora for a while now, as he suspected the attempted roofie at the military party was their first attempt. So, they likely had a vendetta against the steely eyed man himself, which meant that, sooner or later, they were going to come after him.

His brown eyes left the floor and met Damien's for a long moment, the scowl still set on his face. Though he was tempted to call him out for what he was, he knew that in doing so, there was a very real chance that Damien would land himself into the hands of whoever had taken Cora, and Vin didn't want that. If he was going to have any chance of helping her, then he was going to need bait. Likely they thought they could take their time, if they hadn't let him leave the compound yet, so it would be a viable plan option to take him with Dave and himself to the rebel base and get the enemy frustrated. Get them riled up so they started making mistakes, and, maybe, leave a trail to follow back. It would also give Vin an opportunity to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't hurt anyone else.

"They do have an interest in him," he said, sighing and leaning back, and then digging around in the pocket of his jeans.

"So interested that I bet if they can't just come pick him up when they want, then they might come out of the woodwork and leave a trail to follow."

Fishing out a pack of cigarettes, which he recognized was a fucking miracle they hadn't taken it off of him when they were caving his face in, he took his hand back from Bowie and shakily opened the pack. Inside was only one cigarette, half broken and smashed, and his lighter. It was something though.

"I'm going to smoke this cigarette, and you are not going to stop me" he said, looking up at Dave with a hard scowl before he pulled the broken half off and lit it up. Once he had it going, Bowie slithered away from him, seeming sated that he had calmed down and not wanting to be anywhere near the fire. His little body came over to Damien, sliding up into his lap and then laying his head directly on the mans shoulder. It drew Vin's attention back to him, and while he didn't like that the snake was over there with him, he didn't know if Bowie truly understood what Damien had done. Likely the snake only vaguely even understood what they were saying half the time. Or maybe he did and he just didn't see morality the way they did. Either way, it was a question for another time.

"You told me before that you didn't think anyone had a grudge against you. Is that still true?"

He knew Damien knew exactly what he was implying. Now that he knew what he had done, there was a real possibility that one of his former victims might be coming after him, trying to hurt him in a way that he had hurt them. Or, the less likely option...

"Or, did Cora know anyone? She looked..."

He didn't finish that sentence, his dark brown eyes looking away as he felt a pit of shame settle in his stomach. Maybe if he hadn't been so hell bent on doing what he thought was best, he might have been able to run with her and gotten them both out of there. Even if Damien had someone coming after him specifically, he couldn't forget the way that she had looked at him. And the way that she had screamed...

 

[Poprockz]

"Alright, let me just find something for you."

Sayori gave her a soft smile and turned to the sink, fishing around in the drawers before finding a washcloth she could use. Once she handed it over to Cora, she started washing her back before rinsing her off once more. She knew Cora probably had cum between her legs, but she would be damned before she violated Cora by cleaning her there if not explicitly told to do so.

With that, she got up and found a towel for her, wrapping it around Cora's shoulders as she stepped out of the tub. There was a little vanity in there with a mirror, so she had her sit down while she took out a hair dryer and set to work in drying her hair. Though loud, it was also very warm, Sayori brushing her hair gently as she worked. She was soon done, setting the hair dryer down and giving Cora one last brush before setting her hand on her shoulder. It lingered for a moment before she walked out of the bathroom, almost as though to say that she would be back.

The petite woman walked over to the dresser and sighed, grabbing two nightgowns. They were soft, one baby blue and one a light pink, both of which had little white hearts on them like polka dots of condescension. It made her scowl at them for a moment before laying them on the bed. Soon she was in her own, taking her dress and stockings and hanging them up on a hanger before putting it in the closet. There were an ungodly amount of dresses in there, all adorable and all repulsive. She chose to ignore them, bringing the blue nightgown over to Cora and setting the garment down on the bathroom counter.

"Do you want to go to lay in the bed with me? I'm not sure I'm tired enough to go to sleep after having slept for most of the day while they took me here, but I'm not sure I have the energy for much else."

---------------------------------------------------------

"Hmm..." Dave hummed thoughtfully as Vin spoke, watching as the man lit up in his room. Usually, he would have made that cigarette disappear and produced a lollipop from seemingly thin air for him, but it would seem his magic tricks weren't going to be warranted at this point. After all, he was going to be leaving with them tonight, so the smoke didn't bug him as much. He simply gave Vin a nod as tough to let him know he didn't mind.

Damien was surprised to find Bowie coming over, and more surprised to find him coming into his lap and resting on his shoulder. The little snake had only ever seen him treating Cora like a lover, probably not understanding the gravity of why Vin was so angry. If he knew... Those fangs of his might be buried in his neck.

"You told me before that you didn't think anyone had a grudge against you. Is that still true? ...Or, did Cora know anyone? She looked..."

Damien had almost winced at the look Vin gave him when he asked him about grudges, though when he moved on to whether it may have been a stalker of Cora's, his gaze focused on Vin's and he waited with baited breath for him to finish. She looked what? Scared? Angry? Worried? It would seem he would never know, as Vin didn't finish the sentence. It only made him more worried about it, a knot settling in his own stomach.

Though he did know exactly what Vin meant, whether one of the women was coming after him. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I suppose it's possible, but people who would have a grudge against me would simply try to ambush me and see to it that I don't get up again, they wouldn't be doing these elaborate schemes and kidnapping people."

Elaborate schemes. Indeed, it very much seemed like whoever it was had been following them for a long time, trying to get Cora once and now succeeding. They were dedicated, relentless, wasting time and resources all seemingly to either get Cora, or make Damien suffer. What if it did have to do with Cora though? Who would it be...

"The woods!" His eyes widened with a sudden realization. "When we were in the woods, Cora took off running as if she had seen something really disturbing. I followed her and she seemed disoriented; she looked like she had seen a ghost and started talking about her... guardian. You know that story she told at the campfire? It was true, the man seemingly having done some really fucked up things to her in her lifetime. She said that her brother killed him, but that she never got to see the body... Maybe she saw him that day, or saw someone associated with him."

 

[Drobabes]

She hated that Sayori had been tasked with 'cleaning her'. Though it felt nice to be taken care of, the fact that Sayori had basically been ordered to made Cora feel a little sick with disgust, wishing that she didn't have to do such a thing. Still...she knew that if she raised her hand and tried to stop the little women, Ray would only hurt her. He was already plotting ways to do it, from the things he had whispered in her ear as he...as he...

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she soon let it out when she felt that hand on her shoulder. A little curious, she looked over as she left the bathroom, only to return with a nightgown. Cora didn't hesitate to take it, just grateful to have something to cover herself with at all. When she was asked if she wanted to come lay down, her hazel eyes looked up and then she nodded.

"Yea. He said he would let us go down to the kitchen for breakfast tomorrow... But he's not going to let us out of the room without anyone else here..."

She stood and pulled the nightgown over her head and shoulders and then headed to the bed. Once there, she hesitated a moment, peeling the covers back just a bit slowly. She knew it was a comfortable bed, and she wouldn't be bothered while they were sleeping, but it still dredged up so many feelings.

What finally gets her into bed, after she stands there for another few minutes, was a memory of Sarah. Sarah and her oversized beds that could have fit a whole college frat party, and her love of white blankets because they were, 'easy to bleach the wine stains out of'. God she missed her. She really hadn't had much time to truly mourn, and it was moments like these, where it really hurt.

Once she was under the covers, she pulls her pillow down to her chest and hugs it close, her eyes seeming to just stare down at the mattress as she loses herself in thought.
_______________________

The look of regret slowly morphs to a look of shock at what Damien had to tell him. The woods? They had been watching them out at the lake? And the story she had told, she had talked about them being...children...

"What the fuck."

It wasn't really a question, more a shocked remark at realizing the heavy weight of what had really happened to her, and suddenly, things were beginning to click into place a bit. Telling him that she had written her brother a suicide note, the way that she always seemed to act demure and a bit shy around most people. Falling in love, if that's what it was, with someone who had raped her. Jesus, how much trauma had she gone through? Apparently enough for her brother to want to kill their adoptive parent, and he really couldn't blame them if that story she told was true, even if exaggerated.

Vin took a minute to recover, seemingly having been rendered speechless. Once he did recover a bit, he reached up and snuffed his cigarette out with his hand, and then he glanced up at Dave before looking back to Damien.

"Did she ever say anything else? We know they have to be in the military, right? Or at least know someone in the military. Tommy was given orders to kill that guy that night, and even though we didn't get the chance to talk before the base blew up, I'm pretty sure he was questioning what he did. And we know they had to have had some good equipment to hear us talking about it later."

 

[Poprockz]

"Yea. He said he would let us go down to the kitchen for breakfast tomorrow... But he's not going to let us out of the room without anyone else here..."

Sayori nodded, knowing that it was one of three people. She had only seen Jonathan so far, so she assumed it would be him that was lingering in the house to keep an eye on them. That didn't seem like it would be too bad. At least he didn't seem to take the same sick pleasure in being cruel quite in the same way that Niles did. She hadn't seen Niles in several days and she had to admit she would like to keep it that way.

Following Cora to the bed, she too got under the covers, scooting so that she was a respectful distance from Cora. Like Quint, Sayori also enjoyed cuddling, though she had just met Cora and imagined it would be unwelcome if she asked. If only Quint was there. It always felt so comforting to be held by him, the way his tentacles would cradle her along with his human arms. Would he still want to hold her like they used to now that she had taken advantage of him? Was he all alone somewhere in this house?

"Do you want to hear a joke?" She broke the silence, wanting to distract herself from the depressing thoughts about what Quint might be doing or how he might be feeling right now. "Why does Officer Niles get invited to all of the drug abuse support groups?" A pause was made before she followed it up with, "because whenever he attends, everyone becomes clean."

---------------------------------------------------------------

There wasn't much of a response from Dave, the man simply listening and assuming that an explanation would follow. From what he understood, it sounded like some creep had been hanging around Cora for many years and had now chosen to try to grab her amidst the chaos of the apocalypse. Based on Vin's reaction, it sounded like the story Cora told was filled with some disgusting shit.

"Did she ever say anything else? We know they have to be in the military, right? Or at least know someone in the military. Tommy was given orders to kill that guy that night, and even though we didn't get the chance to talk before the base blew up, I'm pretty sure he was questioning what he did. And we know they had to have had some good equipment to hear us talking about it later."

Damien tried to wrack his brain about all the details she had ever mentioned. She had said that he forced her to have a hysterectomy, that her parents had died before he had taken them in, and that he was generally a very twisted man. Other than that though, she hadn't really talked too much about anything else...

"You know, now that I think about it, I got a threatening message via cassette the morning after Cora thought she saw someone she recognized in the woods. I never put the two together. Anyway, as far as additional details, the only thing I can think of that would be helpful was that she mentioned he liked to carry her. Like he had to have been a strong man to be able to carry her bridle style without any trouble, so a military man would certainly fit that bill."

"You don't think..." Dave paused, almost seeming to doubt himself for saying so. "You don't think it might be the General, do you? The way he smiled behind your back, Vin... He had to have at least been in on it."

 

[Drobabes]

Her hazel eyes moved up from the sheets to meet her own, and although she honestly didn't want to hear anything funny right now, she held her tongue. If it made Sayori feel better to joke, then she would let her be.

When she got to the punchline, however, Cora didn't react how her brother might have. Instead of throwing her head back in laughter, or giggling, she just let a sad little smile touch her lips.

"That was a good joke, but I'm sorry you know him so well already."

Her voice was quiet as she spoke, and almost seemed guilty. In a way, it was. If it wasn't for Kuznet's obsession with her, Sayori wouldn't be lying in that oversized bed with her right then. She would be out there living her life, maybe spending her time trying to find family or just survive, and as hard as it may have been, at least she would have been free.

"How old are you?" she asks suddenly, seemingly just wanting to change the subject.
_______________

There was an obvious truth hanging in the air as Damien spoke, and yet, Vin was scared to face it. He had been scared to face it ever since he woke up.

"The way he smiled behind your back, Vin... He had to have at least been in on it."

His brown eyes looked up and he swallowed hard. The General.

He was strong, and not just in a physical way, but a political way. He would have had access to high tech equipment, money, resources...anything he needed really. If he wanted to, and if he was behind it, he could have easily scooped them all up at any time that he wanted. So the fact that he hadn't...

"Dave...when we left the base and traveled through those tunnels, he let me go. He purposefully let me go. I think..."

His hand was shaking a bit as he brought it up to brush his hair back out of his face, his expression becoming a bit fearful.

"I think he did it because he knew I might eventually meet back up with them. That motherfucker has been toying with us..."

How we're they supposed to go up against someone like that? A General, likely one of the only one's left in the country, with an immense amount of power and wealth to throw around under his belt. He literally had a whole fucking army base, no, more than one, under his control. At his beck and call.

 

[Poprockz]

Sayori had been hoping for something, maybe even just a little more brightness in Cora's smile. What she got though was an expression that hinted at sadness. Her own face fell a little bit, her cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment as she averted her eyes. She should have realized that Cora probably wasn't in the mood for jokes, not after what happened today.

"That was a good joke, but I'm sorry you know him so well already."

"Me too," she sighed.

"How old are you?"

"I just turned twenty seven a few days ago..." her voice seemed to drift off a bit, her hand going up absentmindedly to her neck only to find that the ribbon someone had tied around her neck was still there. She scooted to the edge of the bed and walked to the closet, waiting until she was at the closet to take it off and gently tie it around the hanger with her dress. With that, she returned to the warm bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. The bruises from the pearls were still there, but she felt like it might be a bit too much to talk about today.

"What about you? How old are you?" A soft yawn followed up her question, her dainty hand appearing near her mouth from under the covers to cover her mouth while she did so.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dave...when we left the base and traveled through those tunnels, he let me go. He purposefully let me go. I think... I think he did it because he knew I might eventually meet back up with them. That motherfucker has been toying with us..."

Damien didn't really understand at first, but then he made the connection- Vin and Dave must have had the General's help in escaping the base that went down, escaping out of a tunnel or something. He scowled for a moment, his expression becoming a bit darker. So it was this General who had her, then? The person of her nightmares, the person she was most afraid of in this world. If he had her, then she must be going through hell right now. His fists clenched at the idea of that sick man with his hands on her, her eyes looking as scared as she had in the woods- it broke his heart to think about.

While Dave opened his mouth to reply to Vin, Damien answered by saying, "I don't care if he's a King with an army. With enough planning and resources, there has to be a way to get Cora back from him." His eyes burned with determination, the man having finally found his heading.

"Well, we have to at least try. We can discuss more when we get to the base, but I have to get back down to the counter. Stay quiet you two." While Dave said it as though he was talking about both of them, he directed his gaze pointedly at Vin before leaving them alone in the room and going down stairs.

Once alone, Damien met Vin's gaze and he said, "I... need to help get her free. Afterwards you can take me to whatever authority you see fit or... do whatever it is you need to do. But I can't rest until I know she's safe. Please let me help. I don't care in what capacity it is, I just need to. Please." The man knew Vin could turn him in at any time, and he didn't have as much of a problem with that. What he did have a problem with was standing idly by while Cora was helpless somewhere out there.

 

[Drobabes]

She watched her get up, seeming having not realized the ribbon was still on, and when she took it off, Cora was a bit startled to see the nasty bruise that was around her neck. It looked as if she had been wearing a necklace when it had been given to her, and Cora could only guess as to where that necklace had come from. When Sayori laid back down, she moved her hazel eyes and gazed around the room a bit until she heard that little yawn. She couldn't help but smile a bit, despite it all.

"I'll be turning twenty nine in February. If anyone is still keeping track of the days."
__________________

"I don't care if he's a King with an army."

Vin glanced over at him briefly before looking away once more. When Dave then warned them to be quiet, he only responded with a little frustrated sigh and crossed his arms. He didn't answer, but he didn't ignore him either.

"Please let me help...Please."

"Why the fuck should I?" he growled, though he didn't raise his voice like before. It was a heated response, born of the burning anger and hatred he currently felt towards the tall man. It could be argued that in a way, he was letting him help, simply by being bait to draw the enemy out. However, he had no intention of giving Damien even an ounce of mercy at the moment, so he didn't acknowledge that point out loud.

"For all I know, you just want to stick around until we save her, and then you'll kidnap her again and really disappear."

His hands were clenched hard around where he was holding them on his arms, and the veins in his muscles were becoming more visible. He wasn't about to come after him again, at least not right at the moment, but it was difficult for him to hold back all the same.

"I'm not going to let you fucking do that."

It may not have been apparent, but there was a bit of pain behind all that anger. He felt guilty for not having fought, and not having slowed down to question the trap he was being led into. Even as the Officers had boxed them in, he had still been too slow to think, too slow to do...anything. If he had done anything, anything at all, they might have been able to get away...

 

[Poprockz]

"Hmm..." Sayori made a thoughtful sound. "I expect them to keep track just so they can keep an eye on winter and good times to plant."

She paused for a moment and her mouth opened as though she was going to say something. Sayori shut her mouth again and seemed to be debating something before she hesitantly asked, "can you tell me... what Sarah was like? I... hear about her sometimes and I wanted to know what kind of woman she was. You don't have to though, I just..." Her eyes looked away for a moment before coming back to Cora with an almost guilty look. "I just wanted to know."

What was Quint's late wife like? Sayori had always been curious about the woman, but she didn't want to bother Quint with her questions as it would probably just hurt him, especially with what they just did.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why the fuck should I? For all I know, you just want to stick around until we save her, and then you'll kidnap her again and really disappear.... I'm not going to let you fucking do that."

"You know I-" Damien stopped himself and looked away from Vin. He had been about to say 'you know I wouldn't do that,' but it wasn't as though Vin could really say he knew him now. Everything in their relationship had been on the premise that Damien was showing and being his true self, not hiding something so twisted. Now that it was out in the open, he knew Vin probably was questioning everything about Damien at the moment, thinking that he was probably just putting on a show.

"... I won't. But I don't expect you to take my word for it." He was quiet for a moment before looking back into Vin's dark, hate-filled eyes. Damien was used to that look, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt to look at, like staring straight into the sun. "When she's safe, you can take her somewhere else to a place where I would never find you if that's what needs to be done. Just please tell her what happened- I promised her I wouldn't disappear. If you can get her to tell me to leave, I'll respect that. I always felt like she would be better off finding someone who could really make her happy."

He sighed and moved around the corner of the entryway until he got to the nearest corner, propping himself up against it and closing his eyes. All the while, he cradled Bowie in his arms, careful not to bother the snake too much. "Now I'm going to sleep and leave you alone because I haven't slept for three days and I don't want to slow Dave down when the time comes."

 

[Drobabes]

Cora was a little taken aback, her eyes widening in surprise. How had she found out about Sarah? Then again, she also knew her name, so likely either Ray or Niles had been taunting Sayori during her time in their enslavement. Well if that was the case, then Cora wanted to set the record straight. What they had said had likely been twisted into disgusting, filthy, lies-things that Sarah did not deserve to be said about her. So, she took a little breath, and then brought the pillow down a bit so that it would not muffle her voice.

"Sarah was...my best friend...my only friend, for a very long time. She was like sunshine-if sunshine could be a person."

Cora smiled, her eyes becoming a bit misty.

"She was warm and bright, inside and out, but if you ever got on her bad side, she had a temper that could burn you like a flame. She...liked to sing. And dance. She wasn't self conscious, at all" she chuckled.

"If she felt like dancing in the street, then she would do it, and if anyone stared at her, she would just laugh and blow them a kiss. At home, she would dance around in nothing but her bra and underwear, and she would absolutely insist that you joined her. If you didn't, then she would start to sing the alphabet song, and she wouldn't stop until you begged her for mercy."

Cora laughed a little, a few tears spilling down the corners of her eyes as she hugged her pillow close. After a brief pause, she opened her mouth and spoke a bit more quietly. A little hushed, but not quite whispering.

"If you were down, she really enjoyed picking you up. She had this...I guess you could call it a ritual... She would strip down to nothing but her underwear, socks, and a really oversized shirt, and then she would take a few glasses of wine and bring you up onto her bed. And," Cora said, looking up to meet Sayori's gaze as her voice became cheerful for just a moment.

"She had a -huge- bed. Way bigger than this one. And it was soft, but not too soft. It was the type of bed that you felt like you could share secrets on...and that's what she liked to do above all else. She would bring you up onto that big bed, and she would let you spill all your secrets. Even if those secrets hurt to remember..."

Cora looked down again, her eyes seemingly spacing out once more before she sniffled a little.

"Sarah was the type of person that you could tell anything to, and no matter how foul, how degrading, or...how you felt about it...she would never judge you. She would just accept you for who you were, and she would still love you."
__________________________

He just kept glaring at him, daring him to finish that sentence. What he went on to say instead satisfied him, but just barely. Vin still wanted nothing more than to get up and beat him to a pulp, but it seemed as if they were at a stalemate for the moment. With how weak he was, combined with Bowie staying over there on his lap, he knew he wouldn't be able to do much of anything. So, he resigns himself to staying put, turning his gaze away to stare across the room when Damien went to his own side and biding his time.
__________________________

Sometime later, a female informant in civilian get-up showed up in the bar and shared some pleasantries with Dave before giving him the signal that it was time to go. After that, it didn't take too long for everyone to get ready.

Although Vin was still hurting badly, the time that he had spent resting gave him enough energy to re-coup and get ready to walk on his own two feet.

 

[Poprockz]

The petite woman laid there and watched Cora's face as she spoke. Though some of her memories seemed bittersweet, it seemed as tough the majority of it warmed her heart. Part of her wondered if that was the face Quint made sometimes when he would think about her.

So that was what Quint's wife was like. Based on Cora's description, she sounded like quite a spectacular woman, someone whose bright disposition and kindheartedness was hard to find. She sounded confident and sure of herself, truly a blazing fire in the dead of winter. Though she didn't know why, Sayori felt her heart pinch, pulling the covers just a bit closer to herself. It was odd- even though Cora was saying nothing but positive things and reminiscing about someone who sounded very special and dear to her, she felt a bit of a pit in her stomach.

That being said, Sayori offered her a little smile and said softly, "hm... She sounds like the type of special person you meet once in a lifetime. I'm sure she loved you both very much."

------------------------------------------------------------------

While someone made a bit of a distraction in the bar, they quickly brought Vin and Damien down to the cellar, Dave helping the woman carry them down with another man. The man had a cowboy hat on with a mustache, a pair of sunglasses hiding his eyes. He was the one who helped Vin, holding him up as though he weighed absolutely nothing while making it look as though he was simply helping if anyone cared to look.

When they got safely down into the cellar, the man turned to Vin and gave him a bit of a smile. "It's good to see you again Vin, though I'm sorry to see you in such a state." Reaching up and taking off his fake mustache, he removed his hat also to reveal his unruly curly red hair. Though he didn't remove his sunglasses, he didn't need to as Vin would recognize him quickly as Robert.

Damien glanced back, recognizing the man before looking away again. He wasn't much for conversation right now, focused only on summoning enough energy to keep walking; he really didn't want them to have to carry him out, though he imagined it would be easy for Robert to do.

"Did you gather the bottles?" Dave asked the woman as he opened the hatch to the tunnel, glancing over his shoulder before walking down the steps.

"Yeah. It's all in the backpack. It's a pity we couldn't have smuggled more out." She sighed, helping Damien into the tunnel as Robert continued to help Vin along with them.

 

[Drobabes]

"I'm sure she loved you both very much."

She smiled back, trying to blink away tears at the bittersweet memories.

"We loved her too..."

Cora reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes, and then her gaze wondered to the door. What did tomorrow hold? What did...the rest of her life hold, now?

"I think I'm going to try and sleep" she said, giving Sayori a soft look before rolling over onto her other side. It didn't take her long to fall into blissful unconsciousness, the stress and lingering effect of the drugs in her body taking their toll.

Over the course of the night she dreamt little, and what she did dream was laced heavily with fresh nightmares. It wasn't until the very early hours of the morning that her mind finally gave way to something sweet.

"Cora..."

She squinted her eyes a bit, the light through the window being just a bit too strong. Just before she opened them, she reached out across the sheets, her hand searching out for his familiar warmth. What greeted her instead was emptiness, the frigid air of the morning going to battle with the sudden crushing cold she felt in her heart. Her eyes tear up as she pulls her hand back under the covers, and it isn't until she hears another soft, "Cora", that she finally takes a look around the room.

Francis was standing just inside the door, wearing casual clothing and a black apron around his neck.

"It's time to get up. Shower, then come down and get some breakfast."

She didn't answer him, but her glare of hatred was enough. With a little nod, his eyes briefly glanced over at Sayori's sleeping form, and then he left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes a bit and let out a little sigh. She then turned to Sayori and gently put her hand on the women's shoulder.

"Miss" she said, as she hadn't quite memorized her name yet.

"They want us to get up."

________________________


Delvin had taken notice of how strong the guy was at first, though it was quickly forgotten as they got moving. Almost all of his focus was on Damien, not wanting to let the man out of his sight, even for a moment. He didn't trust him not to sneak off and try to get Cora on his own.

"It's good to see you again Vin..."

For the first time since they got moving, he finally let his gaze look away long enough to really take stalk of who was helping him along. When Robert pulled that mustache off and let his wild hair out, Vin's face lit up with a huge grin.

"Robert?! Ah fuck man, it's good to see a familiar face" he said, his voice momentarily cracking a bit with emotion.

"How did you get here? I mean" he chuckled, limping along.

"Not here, but...you know what I mean."

 

[Poprockz]

She nodded, quietly laying on her side as well, her body facing toward the window as she slowly drifted of to sleep as well.

That night, Sayori had an odd dream. She was walking with Quint in a beautiful park, leaning on his shoulder and smiling happily as he chattered away about something while they walked. Sarah walked to them from across the way and suddenly Quint jogged to her as though he had completely forgotten Sayori. She wasn't sure where he got it, but he suddenly turned to her and handed her a camera.

"Hey, it'd be super cool if you could take a picture. You'd be fine with that, right?" He grinned and pulled Sarah close, snuggling and tickling her side briefly as she giggled and playfully chided him for being so mischievous. Sayori just stood there with the camera raised, watching them laugh and enjoy each other's company from behind the camera. Though she was right next to them, it felt so lonely, as though she didn't exist to either of them. She wanted to be on the other side with them, but her feet were firmly rooted in place, the plants starting to twist around her ankles, pulling her into the ground.

She struggled, trying to grasp something, anything that might help her, but there was nothing. The grass would rip up, and her fingers would simply drag through the dirt. "I'm here! Please! Please help!" Sayori struggled harder, but it only continued to pull her down, Quint and Sarah continuing to chat as though nothing was happening. "Look at me, please!" The last thing she saw before she was dragged into the earth was the sun peaking out from behind a cloud.

"Miss? They want us to get up."

Sayori's eyes snapped open and she sat up quickly, looking around the room wild-eyed for a moment before they landed on Cora. She let out a breath, calmed by her familiar face. It was just a dream, and soon it would fade in her mind, she hoped.

"Oh... I suppose I should probably get up then." Her skin felt a bit clammy, the woman pulling back the covers and getting up before wandering to the bathroom. "I'll be quick and then I'll head down." And so she was, taking a brief shower enough to wash her hair and body before coming out. She had kept the water cool, wanting to distract herself from the images that played in her mind and the way they made her heart quicken.

Once she was done, she came out with a towel wrapped around herself, moving to the closet and pausing for a moment. Would he want her to wear her old dress or a new one? Since she didn't have any guidance, she simply put on the old one, tying the ribbon in place on her neck. With that, she hesitantly opened the door, walking cautiously down that same route until she smelled something delicious from the kitchen. Very quietly, she crept around the corner to see who it was.

"Francisco!" she said excitedly, a big smile on her face as she walked in. Though she soon stopped and cleared her throat, "I mean Officer Francisco, my apologies."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Robert grinned back at him, happy that the man was glad to see him. "Well, it's a bit of a story, honestly. So, my wife and I came to this base, just trying to stop off for a bit and..." His eyes went to the other two people, knowing that they hadn't been informed of his status just yet. They had settled for the cover-story that Robert was one of those people whose eyes were just extremely sensitive to sunlight.

Leaning in toward Vin, he kept his voice low so the others couldn't hear, "and who of all people do I sense, but Sabastian himself. I thought he was with you guys, so I searched around but couldn't find him. I smelled him on a young soldier named Tommy, and one thing led to another and I was suddenly involved with the rebels. They helped me break him out of an underground prison here where they'd been keeping him for several days." Robert hesitated and then said sheepishly, "I ended up having to knock him out to drag him away. There were two other prisoners that he refused to leave without and we just... didn't have time."