Kimmy Ansell (spectral) wrote in invol_rpg, @ 2013-06-13 23:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! log, kelly ansell, kim ansell |
WHO: Kimberly & Kelly Ansell
WHAT: A moment of truth.
WHEN: Evening, 9:30 pm or so, 13 June 2013.
WHERE: In one of the tunnels.
WARNINGS: Swears.
STATUS: Complete.
It was posed as a hike after her group practice ended, but Kimberly Ansell had ulterior motives for her sister. Hell, Kimberly Ansell's entire life had ulterior motives these days, but in most cases she didn't feel guilty about them. In most cases she firmly believed that every move she made was the right choice, every stretched truth and subtle nudge for the best. She did not regret a thing, but for the first time in quite a while she felt conscious of her choices soon to be analyzed by a person whose opinion she did actually care about. And hell was she nervous. "Let's rest here a bit," she said, stopping and leaning against the wall of the tunnel they were in. These were safe from IVI's bugs, and she suddenly had a bit of deja vu from the last time she'd tried to broach a topic like this to her sister. It hadn't gone too well, and that was the easy one. But they were running out of time. "I wanted to talk to you about some things..." Kelly regarded her sister intently. The tunnels didn't scare her; her powers gave her a decided advantage underground, and her vision adapted much more easily to the darkness. No, it wasn't the tunnels that were worrying Kelly -- she could detect her sister's elevated heartbeat and body temperature, and she was fairly certain that it wasn't just from the 'hike.' Something was on her mind. Kelly didn't have Rianne's power, but she did have a connection with her sister, even after all of these years apart. Something was wrong, some kind of bad news was coming. Kim didn't usually drag her underground, just for fun. Kelly worked to put her nerves at ease. It was difficult work. "What's up?" Kelly tried to ask the question with ease. Whatever the topic was, she could tell that her sister was reluctant, maybe even nervous. Kelly wanted to help put her at ease, even if she dreaded whatever bad news Kim might be about to drop. "Is something wrong? I mean, other than the fucking obvious," she tried to crack a tiny joke. Which fucking obvious, Kimmy wondered. There were too many here, the importance of each one dependant entirely on the person thinking about them. People were finally reaching the point she had been pushing them toward, thanks to recent events from the IVF, but there was still one last bridge she wasn't sure how to get them to cross. She'd get there, but it was frustrating. This fucking place. Sliding down along the rock-wall to the ground, she pulled on her sister's wrist, tugging to indicate that she wanted her to sit too. "It's about... before," she started. Before. Before IVI. All the things she would so easily talk about with perfect strangers but couldn't seem to with Kelly. And more than that. About her real secret. Kelly swallowed nervously. She knew that Kim was hiding things about the before, the many years of her life that were a mystery to Kelly. It was easy to know, considering all of the empty blanks in Kim's story. Kelly had never blamed her sister for that. They both valued privacy. And more than that, she knew that some of the stories might be too horrible to tell. She wondered what horrible thing she was about to hear. Something horrible that Kimmy had done in her efforts to survive, or maybe something horrible that had been done to her... A draft passed in between Kelly's legs and she shivered. "'Kay," she said gently. Kelly leaned against the tunnel wall, facing Kim. "You can tell me anything, you know that." Or at least, Kelly hoped that she knew. Kimmy had a hard time meeting her sister's eyes, but she forced herself to, knowing that there was a good chance she might not be able to later in the conversation. And that she owed it to Kelly. Holding the look, Kim took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Okay. "So... think of like the ten worst things that could happen to a teenage girl living on the streets. Well. Except for murder, because... obviously." She wasn't dead. "Like half of them have probably happened to me." Kim still didn't want to really go into the details — hell, she rarely liked to think about them — but her sister needed the background information. "And I hit a point like two years in... it was bad. I'd just lost pretty much everything i had, like one backpack but still it was everything, after some shit happened in San Diego and I'd hitchhiked to Phoenix and had a pretty bad experience there and..." She shivered, remembering. "I don't think I'd eaten anything other than gas station snacks in like a week and, I don't know, I guess I almost gave up." As Kim paused, the silence in the tunnel was absolute. Kelly had practically ceased to breathe, already completely horrified at what her sister was saying and terrified to hear whatever else she might need to say. It wasn't unexpected, of course. She'd imagined all of it and more -- and Kim wasn't even giving her the horrific details. But still, hearing the pain in her sister's voice and knowing that there was nothing that she could do to wipe away the pain of her memories -- it was like a painful wound in her chest. And above all of that, the pressing guilt that she should have been there. She should have been there. But there was nothing that Kelly could say or do to set it right. All she could do was nod, lips tightly pursed together in the darkness, letting her sister know that it was okay to continue. Pulling her legs up to her chest, Kimmy wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees. She was going to need something to hang on to. "That's when Jake found me. Him and another guy." She let out a short laugh. "I tried to fight them too, I mean they were two strange guys you know? And I couldn't have taken them but I sure as hell tried. Until they told me they were Vols on the run too." She shrugged. "And their text messages didn't send off any warning bells. So I went with them." Kim still had been wary, even then, but Nina was surprisingly nice that first night (they laughed about it later) and stayed up with her nearly the whole night force-feeding her liquids until Kim finally fell asleep. "There were a few more people when we got to where they were crashing and I don't really remember the next few days too much but they took care of me and I had real meals and a real bed to sleep on and... I think the best thing was that I didn't feel like I had to be always watching my back. I had people. I had security. And when I was finally feeling better..." Here Kimmy averted her eyes. It was dark in the tunnel but she knew better than anyone that Kelly could see her even with the miniscule amount of light there was. "Andrew told me I could go if I wanted to go, or I was welcome to stay. So I stayed." The name meant nothing to Kelly at first. Just another generic, nameless stranger from the mystery of Kim's past. She waited for her sister to go on, to keep telling the story. A noise of encouragement was forming in her throat when the silence -- and the unsaid, weighty meaning that was hidden within it -- really hit. Kelly's nerves crashed into a cold panic and she felt her stomach lurch. No. No, she was misinterpreting her sister's meaning, she was jumping to conclusions, no. It wasn't possible... "What are you trying to say?" Kelly finally found the words. They came out solid and real, so much more sure of themselves than Kelly felt. "Kimmy?" She thought she could hear pleading in her sister's voice. Wow, this was so much harder than Kim thought it would be and now Kelly wanted her to say it again. She stared at a spot on the ground for a long moment, the cool earth dark even with her infrared vision. If Kelly's words sounded falsely sure, Kim's certainly did not. Her voice, when she spoke, was quieter, nearly a whisper. "That the last three years I've been with Vols Rising." For a while, the only answer was the sound of the girls' breathing, a low, rhythmic hiss as the girls looked at each other through the uniquely special eyes that fate and genetics had granted them both. Kelly turned the information over and over again in her mind. It didn't make any sense. Or possibly -- the frightful thought nagged at her mind -- possibly she just wouldn't let it make any sense. Her sister was many things: headstrong, impulsive, a runaway. But a terrorist? And if she'd been with Vols Rising for three years (three years! The number seemed to be echoing in Kelly's brain, such a small number that managed to signify such an enormous amount of time) then what was she doing here, now? There were too many questions. Kelly didn't even know which one to start with. But it was clear that there was no going back; now that she knew, the only option was to keep knowing. "I don't..." Kelly started and then faltered. No. She had to get this right. "Is everything a lie?" For some reason, that seemed like the most important place to start. "Your whole story -- have you been lying, this whole time?" And before her sister could answer, Kelly gasped softly, another terrible thought occurring to her. "Kimmy, are you still in contact with them?" This time it was Kim who let the silence hang, heavy and pregnant around them. It was so easy to lie by omission and she was tempted to do it again, but this was Kelly. She'd tell her the truth — or most of it. "The IVF sees every email I send," she finally said. Her sister would figure out the rest. It was obvious, anyway. Kelly knew better than anyone how one-way messages worked with Kim's powers. All Jake had to do was email himself and Kimmy would get the message; that's how she'd learned about Sam and Andrew's fight, about Yael torturing Nina. "And no," she added hurriedly, before Kelly could ask a follow-up. "Not everything is a lie. Most everything is true, even." She had been on her own for two years, and then she met Jake and things got easier. "I just left out some things." She paused again, a hint of urgency in her voice now. "I mean, you know what would happen to me if IVI finds out, right? What they'd do to me? You'd never see me again." "I know." The response came almost immediately. Whatever else Kelly was thinking, there was no question that the consequences Kim would face for this secret would be severe. Despite all of the other horrific details (hundreds, thousands of dead people, worldwide terrorism) the most important thing, to Kelly, was that Kim needed her protection. Now, maybe even more than ever. No matter what she might be involved in, no matter how dirty her hands might be, she was still her sister. "I know," Kelly repeated immediately, emphasizing the point. Her voice was weaker now. "They're not going to find out." She rubbed her forehead hard, fighting off the temptation to release her senses and let them fly out of order. The darkness helped, although Kelly felt sure that upon the return to the surface, she would pay ten times over with the migraine that ensued. "But... God, Kim. What am I supposed to say to that?" It wasn't an accusation; Kelly felt absolutely lost. She looked at Kim, helpless. "Just... what else is there? Are you... are you here on purpose? I don't even know what questions to ask." Kimmy pursed her lips; anyone else wouldn't have been able to see, but she knew Kelly did. Just like she could see the pained expression on her sister's face. "Don't ask too much," she replied. "It's safer for you that way." And easier on Kim, though not wanting to answer the question wasn't the most important thing. The less Kelly knew that wasn't essential, the less they had to torture her for. "It'd be safer if I didn't tell you at all but... it can't really wait much longer." She didn't explain herself, not yet. "But it's not like everyone says. I mean, they're not." "Don't," Kelly said sharply, the first time her voice had raised throughout their entire conversation. As she spoke, the conviction grew. "Don't tell me that it's safer for me, Kim, don't you dare. You don't get to do that. You don't get to drop this --" the word 'bomb' stuck on her tongue, suddenly leagues beyond inappropriate, "-- this thing on me and then tell me that you're still hiding shit. Tell me what's going on, if it's not like what everyone says, tell me what it is." It was more of a plea than a demand, desperation creeping in. Kelly knew that Kim wouldn't respond to anger. She'd dig her heels into the ground and refuse to come forward. So Kelly curbed the frustration. It wasn't real, anyway. The anger was only an outlet for the fear. Kimmy looked away, those heels already starting to dig. "God, I wouldn't even have told you at all except..." she stopped, regretting the words. She needed to explain. "They're not psychopaths who hate normal people and want to kill everyone." She saw that description far too often and it made her sick. "I mean, I just don't think many people see the big picture here. The IVF doesn't suck just because people want to go home; there's a massive struggle going on right now, humans vs. Vols, and we're losing. I mean, look at this place. Look at what they do with every Vol in the world? They group us together in prisons they name schools. It's bad here and it's going to keep getting worse. There is honestly nothing good in store for us here." She shook her head. "Some of the things our intel suggests they do here..." She shivered at the thought, not even noticing her word choice. Our. She'd been avoiding it, trying to say they but it slipped. She didn't even realize. "But I'm telling you all this because they are coming to get us all out of here — all of us. And this time I want you to come with me. You and Valya." Through most of Kim's monologue, Kelly listened with only passive interest. It wasn't anything too new -- she knew that the IVF was bad news and that her sister hated this place. But she tensed at Kim's final words. "What do you mean? Coming when?" Shrugging, Kim's hands pulled at her shorts, the only indication of the unease she still felt. "I don't know. Soon, I guess?" Jake hadn't sent word yet on a timeline, but with communications down and Kim unable to keep passing information along, there was little reason to wait. A small smile crept up her face. "I mean, they're in Australia. It won't be too long now." |