Mysterious Circumstances (pm to discuss joining)

[Othermoose]

Austin tackled Sully out of his chair. After a brief struggle Austin straddled Sully's chest and pulled the manticore spike he'd saved from the simulation and held it to Sully's throat. "I'll only ask once. Where. Is. April?" Austin growled, his voice low and dangerous.

Austin heard footsteps behind him as someone approached him. "Austin get off of him! You can't just break in..." "Fuck off David! This fuck has her and we both know it. One step closer and I end him." Austin growled not taking his hatred filled eyes off of the man. "If you don't talk in exactly five seconds I'm putting this through your retarded throat." Austin threatened pressing the spike more firmly against Sully's throat until a small trickle of blood ran down the man's neck.

"Tell him what he wants to know Sully. Did you take a girl from the woods?" David asked with a defeated sigh.

 

[slippedhalo]

Sully was confused. "No. I saw no girl...I got a wild pig this morning, before breakfast. Oh, and yesterday I met a nice woman and we got married." He said. "Well, she'll be my wife, I know it. But, if not, I know she'll make good beef jerky...well, no, what sort of jerky do you call people jerky? I would love to taste her thigh, barbecued, maybe...You know, later, not now. I wanna have at least two big, strong sons first..."

 

[Othermoose]

Austin gaped at the man in utter shock and disgust. He had April... He had her and was talking about eating her. About raping her. About things that even Austin's mind found utterly revolting. He stabbed the spike through Sully's shoulder pinning the man to the floor. Before Austin had hated the man and wanted only to inflict pain, but now he was just checking to see if this thing was even human. "Where is she? Where are you keeping your... Your wife." Austin asked in a dead voice.

 

[slippedhalo]

He'd pulled her back up onto the hook at some point before leaving. Probably because at one point he'd discussed a recipe he'd try, using her flesh, once she grew tiring or too old to bear him more children. She'd seen him at work with the pig and had no reason not to beieve him. He had rambled off long winded plans for about a dozen kids...At some point, she'd begun screaming, she couldn't stop...and then he'd hit her and she was hyperventilating until she blacked out....or was it the punch in the face which caused the black out? She couldn't be certain.

All April knew was she'd come to with one eye swollen shut and her jaw extremely sore atop her other pains and aches, and she hung there, hallucinating that she could hear Austin talking to her captor somewhere in space above her.

Confused, tired, scared, she began humming a lullabye to herself, one her favorite nurse, Wanda, used to sing to her when she was wasting away from cancer in that hospital bed she'd died in. Nobody in that life had been kinder to April than her oncology nurses...She wondered if the medics on this planet were kind and caring to those dying from the plague years ago. Would they sing to Kate and David's child on its deathbed? Would Austin care that this thought broke her heart and his inability to see how much she wanted to keep others from suffering directly related to her own experiences? Could he ever find empathy? Why, wondered April, was she thinking about Austin as she hung and contemplated a second death in less than two months? Oh...yes...His voice above her...April continued to hum, shaking off the illusion that anyone was floating above her.

 

[Othermoose]

Austin heard her. He heard her over Sully's whimpering, through the floor. Maybe not even hearing, but sensing her. She was alive. Austin slammed his fist into Sully's face before getting off of the unconscious man. "April! I'm comming!" Austin shouted trying to find the source of the faint humming. It sounded as if it was comming from under the table, so Austin kicked it aside to reveal a trapdoor. He ripped the door of of its hinges in his haste to get to her. And there she was. Hanging from a meat hook. Battered, bruised, broken. Austin began to cry as he ran to her. He lifted her off the hook and gently cradled her in his arms. "I'm here now. I'm here. You're safe. I'm here." He said gently removing April's gag and bindings. She was covered in grime. Tears, sweat, piss, shit, blood, and cum. She didn't look like April anymore. In less than a day that thing had reduced her to this. She looked like he felt. It hurt to see her like this. It hurt to care about someone this much.

Austin carried April out of the cellar and found Erik, Aziz, Will and David waiting for him. "I'm going to kill him. I don't care if you take him to jail, or put him under some kind of protection. I'm going to take April to Yuet, then I'm going to kill that bastard." Austin said in a flat voice. "He'll be down in the cellar when you get back." David said in an equally emotionless voice. Austin simply nodded to David, the gesture bringing a newfound respect between the two men, as Austin walked out the door.

The trip home was a blur. Austin carried April towards the house, him repeating over and over that she was safe now. That it was over. That he loved her and couldn't exist without her. When they arrived he walked into Yuet's room. "Help her." He said before taking April into the bathroom. He gently placed her into the tub, and turned on a gentle stream of warm water. He began to tenderly clean the filth off of April's skin. He heard Yuet walk into the bathroom behind him, but he didn't take his attention off of April. "Please. Please save her." Austin sobbed to Yuet, the emotion of seeing the woman he loved like this finally crushing him. "Please. Please don't let her die. Please. I need her." He sobbed. "I'll do anything. Just don't take her away." Austin begged, no longer talking to Yuet. "I don't want to be alone anymore."

 

[slippedhalo]

Yuet and Kate hurried up to help. April looked frightful. Yuet got right to work, assessing wounds, saving evidence,and Kate took the bath sponge from Austin to spare him further shock as it appeared April wasn't registering who he was or where she was and was shrinking away from his touch. Kate began to take over the cleaning. "Austin, we've got it, dear. Do you need to get back and help the guys with...with her kidnapper?"

He looked broken. Not angry but sad and scared. Kate wrapped an arm round him, kissing his forehead maternally. She looked into his eyes, her rage at what had been done to April now visible in their depths. The all forgiving nun had a line and it had been pushed. "Nobody hurts one of our own and gets away with it." She whispered. Austin nodded his agreement. "Go to him, Austin. I'll take care of April until you've returned. I promise."

"Me too." Chimed Yuet. "She'll be fine here with us."

 

[SlySparrow0003]

May walked in through the door of the home. She had collapsed while running, and realized it was wrong. They hardly knew her but somewhat helped her in a way. She heard distant sobbing and unclear words. A wave of panic went through her, they must've gotten April. She ran upstairs, and into the bathroom, where the crys were heard. She saw Austin sobbing, Yuet with her back turned to her and...April. She hardly looked recognizable. She covered her mouth, and her eyes watered for a moment. Any hate she previously felt for April seemed to wash away. Austin begged Yuet, but May was to worried of she tried to console him, he would turn on her or get angry. She put her hands at her side and gazed at April in sorrow, hoping Yuet could help. Kate entered and said words to Austin. Austin left the room and may spoke. "Can I- Can I help?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Yuet and Kate hurried up to help. April looked frightful. Yuet got right to work, assessing wounds, saving evidence,and Kate took the bath sponge from Austin to spare him further shock as it appeared April wasn't registering who he was or where she was and was shrinking away from his touch. Kate began to take over the cleaning. "Austin, we've got it, dear. Do you need to get back and help the guys with...with her kidnapper?"

He looked broken. Not angry but sad and scared. Kate wrapped an arm round him, kissing his forehead maternally. She looked into his eyes, her rage at what had been done to April now visible in their depths. The all forgiving nun had a line and it had been pushed. "Nobody hurts one of our own and gets away with it." She whispered. Austin nodded his agreement. "Go to him, Austin. I'll take care of April until you've returned. I promise."

Yuet chimed in, "She's dehydrated and in shock. But, she'll live...Austin, we've got her."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason had ridden as fast as he dared with the novices. If it had been just him and Natalia he thought he might have gotten them up to a gallop, but as it was he had kept them at a steady trot. He had watched as they had all hung on grimly though and gradually even got used to it. By the time they had made the bottom of the hill, they all looked like they had been in the saddle for most of their lives, although he wasn't to sure if they were ready for a canter just yet.

As they crested the hill he was sure he saw someone carrying what looked like a body into the house. He didn't know if anyone else had seen it and he hoped that it had not been April and she had not been dead. By the time they reached the yard he wasn't sure what to do.

"Why don't you all go inside and find out if there is any news. There is no use our going off in a random direction looking for her if they know the area she was last seen in. Maybe she has already been found and she is safe and sound," he said without too much hope. It had been a long time since anything like this had happened and the punishment back then had been swift and severe. He just hoped this was a case of getting lost in unfamiliar surroundings. Of course he was pretty certain it wasn't or she would have just used that computer thing on her wrist to call for help right?

 

[slippedhalo]

Caleb had seen Austin fleetingly. "He was carrying...was that April in his arms or an animal?"

Natalia hurried inside. She found May first. May looked sad. Nat hugged her and asked, "What happened to April?"

Jocelyn ground her teeth, ready for a fight. "I want to know who'd hurt one of us! Jason, who of your people would be capable of kidnapping?" She asked. "Take me to your father. I want him to explain why we get treated like monsters because of one scared girl's mistake but his own citizens can't let us alone for even 24 hours without someone coming out looking like they'd been in a boxing match!"

 

[SlySparrow0003]

"Nat... When we noticed her absence we heard about a mentally handicapped man named Sully I think. When they got to his cabin they found April. I saw how she looked and...Oh god Nat I think she was raped." Angry tears welled in her eyes. She continued "She looks unrecognizable, her face is badly damaged and she was found naked." She clenched her fist. And wiped a stray tear away.

 

[slippedhalo]

Natalia held May and rocked her a bit as her thoughts whirred. She swore in Russian as she recalled her early days in the brothel...She'd known girls who'd been so badly hurt that nothing brought them back. A few had even died in Nat's arms...She didn't want to see April, such a good person, robbed of her life this way. She asked softly, "Kate and Yuet are cleaning her and taking care of her wounds, yes?"

May nodded.

"Ok, we should let her be for now. Overcrowding that bathroom would be a bad idea with someone in her state of mind right now. Trust that I know these things. We'll wait for her to join us when she's ready. Otherwise, we only approach her one on one, never from behind, no sudden moves, face to face so she won't feel threatened or have too many flashbacks. I've lived with so many traumatized girls in my lifetimes...too many. This isn't new to me. But, it's horrible every single time."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason looked at both Caleb and Jocelyn. He knew they were siblings but they had such different reactions to this crisis and if he was being honest, the exact opposite of what he was used to. Oh he was used to aggressive women, but for one to want to go and rip his father a new asshole for being a selfish pig and the other to be more concerned for his friend than wanting to get at the man who had done those things to her was just a little bit different.

"Jocelyn I am not sure you can really blame this one on my father. Hell if you could I would be right there with you but we will need to know all the facts first. However I will take you to see him though, having this happen is totally unacceptable and I think everyone else is going to be pretty busy dealing with the aftermath. Can you wait until I find out a little more from one of the officers though, it might give us a better understanding of what happened, and you more ammunition against my father," he smiled grimly.

 

[slippedhalo]

Jocelyn was holding back tears, still had her hands balled into fists, and wanted desperately to fight someone or something. "I need...something...to hit..." she murmured, pacing like a wild animal in a cage.

Caleb had slowly ascended the porch steps and said over his shoulder to Jason, "That's no metaphor, dude. Get her to something quick or it'll be you. You're lucky she's giving warning." Then, Caleb entered the house.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason knew that feeling very well himself. He often had it after talking to his father. He smirked as he realized she wanted to talk to him to get rid of it and he got it after talking to him. Still he knew a way to get rid of this type of energy.

"Okay follow me Jocelyn, I think I know just what you need."

He led her towards the back yard and over to the wood pile. A large axe was stuck into a stump and there was a large stack of lumber beside it. He wrenched out the axe and picked up a piece of wood placing it on the stump. "Now all you have to do is take all your frustrations out on this little piece of wood here. However you have to do it right or you may end up hurting yourself. Just aim for the center and," He swung and with practiced ease cleaved the wood in two. "See easy. Now you give it a go. Believe me it is great at getting rid of all that anger you have now."

He sat down on the log pile and handed her a piece and the axe. "Just remember aim for the center and be careful."

 

[slippedhalo]

Jocelyn took the axe with distain. "I fucking know how to chop wood." She said, beginning. It did feel kind of good to attack the hard wood with the axe. "Ex boyfriend...had a summer cabin...with no heat...wood stove for warmth...and cooking...I did more chopping than...him..."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason just smiled and kept handing her piece after piece of wood and then helped her stack the cut pieces into the wood box when the pile became too big around the chopping block. He saw that after a while her stress seemed to be fading away as her body settled into the familiar rhythm of place, lift, chop and repeat. He knew how soothing it could be and made no noise as he just let her work out her anger on the diminishing wood pile.

 

[slippedhalo]

Jocelyn kept on chopping until she was exhausted. She then sat down beside Jason at the picnic table. "Some of the men are still out there. I hope they found the guy." She muttered, wiping her hands off on her jeans.

Kate helped Yuet to dry April and bandage her wounds. They walked her carefully into her bedroom seeing an immediate problem for the achy woman. Kate called down, "Who's home?"

Nat called up, "It's me, Nat, with May and Caleb. Jocelyn is out back chopping wood with Jason. What do you need?"

Kate replied, "Caleb, she can't climb the ladder to their bunk..."

He anticipated her request, "...Put her in my bed as long as she needs it! I'll sleep on the couch for now!"

"Thanks, dear one!" Kate replied, helping Yuet to get April settled into the single bed.

"This is pain reliever but also help reduce swelling. Makes sleepy." Announced Yuet as she gave a humming April an injection.

Sleepy, sore April murmured, "Thanks Wanda." almost unintelligible with the appliances holding her broken jaw in place. She hummed herself to sleep as the drug took effect.

"I stay by her side for now. You can go. Thanks, Kate." Said Yuet, waving her off.

Kate hugged Yuet and made her way downstairs to see Caleb in an arm chair in the living room, reading the pamphlets about Colony Life, and May and Natalia cuddling and softly talking on the sofa.

"Broken jaw, broken nose, shattered eye socket, all fixable. Dehydration, fixable. Vagina abraisions and bruising, fixable. Sprained ligaments and muscles from the hanging of her full body weight from those tiny arms, fixable...Emotional and psychological trauma...I don't know." She said, breaking down now that her charge had fallen asleep and staying strong for her sake wasn't as imperative.

Caleb rose to hug Kate and led her to sit in his stead, perching himself on the arm rest as he continued to stroke Kate's back, letting her have her cry. "But, she's alive. She's with us now. It will get better." He cooed, hopeful.

 

[slippedhalo]

"Hey! Hey! She's mine! You can't just come into a house you don't own and take a man's woman away! That's not fair!" Yelled Sully at the big, blonde dude who shoved him into a wall and then held his arms behind him as the scrawny looking guy glared into his bewildered face. "Mine!" He yelled, raging at the men.

 

[slippedhalo]

Aziz packed up the first aid supplies and moved to stand with David and Will who talked in low voices beside a former trap, now just a pit dug into the ground. "So...I'm going to head home, then. You two need anything? Will you be...uh, needing the kit at all?"

Will shook his head solumnly, biting the inside of his cheek, "I don't think so. Thanks, though."

"...I'll just assume he's, uh...putting up a fight, resisting arrest, and whatnot." Said Aziz.

Will winked, "That's advisable. We're, um...giving Austin and Erik a few minutes...to look for evidence and...interrogate him..."

Aziz nodded, "Got it. No worries." He said, patting David's shoulder before heading back home.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

Jason looked at Jocelyn and then towards the house. They had not had anything like this happen in all the time he was alive but he thought about what he would do if someone close to him was treated in a similar way.

"Oh I don't think they ever found the guy Jocelyn. In fact I don't even know if there was a guy. I think Austin ran off and when April ran off after him she fell down the cliff and hurt herself. It is going to take awhile for her to recover of course but these things do."

He smiled at her. He did have an inkling of who might have been the culprit and really if he went missing no one would really care. "Maybe someone could see if April is okay after her fall, and maybe contact the guys to make sure they don't fall down just like she did. After all that would be a very tragic accident and one that would surely cause broken bones and cuts and probably a broken neck. After all I think April was extremely lucky to have survived."

 

[SlySparrow0003]

Nat and May were both reasurring each other of Aprils cause, and how to help her heal through it. May's decison was clear now. She had to stay, they cared.. Well maybe not David or Austin, but she was making their lives 10 times harder, but still cared. Her busy thoughts slowly expired and May fell into a uneasy sleep, her head on Nat's shoulder.

 

[Othermoose]

"Shut up!" Erik shouted as he slammed Sully's head into the wall. As the dazed man fell to the floor Erik began to mercilessly kick him in the stomach. "Enough." Austin said calmly. "Fine." Erik growled giving Sully one last good kick before turning to Austin. "What now?" The blonde man asked. "Tie his hands and put him on the meat hook." Austin commanded in a quiet voice. "With pleasure." Erik said tying Sully's hands painfully tight before hanging him on the meat hook.

Austin slowly approached the shouting man as Erik backed off. "Shut up." Austin said in a quiet, but firm tone. When Sully ignored the request Austin punched the screaming man in the face, whipping the man'a head to the side and knocking free a tooth. Austin grabbed Sully's hair and twisted the man's head so he was forced to look Austin in the eye.

"Do you even understand what you did? Do you even comprehend that you took the woman I loved. That you took her. You tortured her. You raped her. You broke the only thing I love. You stole the one thing in my pitiful life that brings me any of joy. You took the woman I love, and you reduced her to an empty shell of her former self. Do you realize that? Do you know what you did? It's not a fucking game. She's not a toy, or a fucking animal. She's a person. A person who is better than your entire backwards ass inbred hillbilly bloodline. She was better than you could hope to imagine, and you fucking raped her!" Austin said, starting slowly but ending in a rage filled shout. "And before I give you exactly what you deserve, tell me one thing. Answer one simple question. Do you even know her name?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Spittle and blood dripped in a line from Sully's mouth, down his chin, to the stained colar of his homespun shirt. His eyed unfocused then focused again. No. No, he'd never asked her name. Names make the game too real. "I...didn't think about it. I didn't need her to have a name." He admitted. "Did I do that bad?...You're not gonna tell my grandpa on me, are you?" He asked.

 

[Othermoose]

OOC: so this got really dark. Like probably the darkest thing I've ever written. Just a warning it's bloody, gory, and disturbing. If you're easily upset skip this post.











Austin began to laugh. Not a laughter of joy or mirth. No, this was the laughter of insanity. "You knew. You fucking knew!" He screamed slamming Sully's head into the wall. "I'd almost hoped you didn't know. I'd almost hoped that I could make it quick and still live with myself. But I can't. You knew and I have to make you suffer." Austin said almost to himself, before turning his attention to back to Sully. "Your grandfather is the least of your worries. I'm going to torture you. I'm going to rape you. I'm going to send you screaming to Hell where animals like you belong." Austin said with determination and rage in his voice.

"Austin..." Came Erik's hesitant voice from across the room. "What!? Do you think he deserves less? Do you think David can give this fuck what he deserves? A noose isn't good enough. A bullet isn't good enough. Nothing he is capable of is good enough. I'm the only one who can do this. So either help me or leave." Austin growled without taking his eyes off of Sully. "Fine..." Erik said after a moment. "What do you need me to do?" He asked. "Tie his feet to the floor, then put the hook through his hands. Hanging by bindings is too easy for him." Austin said taking a few steps back.

After a moment Erik grimly went to his task. He tied Sully's legs tightly together with a chain before securing the chain to the floor. He then lifted the struggling man off of the hook. Austin stepped forward and placed Sully's hands palms up on top of each other before slamming his hands down on the hook. Austin couldn't help his smile as Sully screamed.

"Now what?" Erik panted. "Leave. I can deal with him from here." "But..." "I'll call you if I need help. Now go." "Fine." Erik said leaving Austin alone with the sobbing man.

After Erik disappeared up the stairs Austin grabbed a large hunting knife from the floor and began to cut Sully's shirt away from his body. After the shirt was a pile of rags on the floor Austin pressed the tip of the knife to Sully's chest. "I hope you can spell motherfucker." Austin growled before carving into the man's flesh. A few minutes later Austin stepped away from the screaming canvas to survey his work. There on Sully's chest, written in torn flesh and blood, was April's name.

Austin stepped forward and pulled the manticore spike from Sully's shoulder before pulling the man's pants down around his ankles. Austin wordlessly shoved the spike into Sully's asshole, and was met with an inhuman howl of pain. Austin then took the hunting knife and cut off Sully's penis and balls with a cruel sawing motion. He shoved the bleeding mass of flesh into Sully's screaming mouth before wrapping a length of his shirt around his head to keep the flesh in place.

"I'm coming back tomorrow and burning this place to the ground. I hope you're still alive then. And if not, I'll see you in Hell." Austin said before throwing the knife to the ground and leaving the basement.