InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "treat yo self"

Dean Winchester (hellsboy) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-08-18 16:58:00

Entry tags:

complete, day 11, dean winchester, laura moon

Day 11
Who: Dean Winchester & Laura Moon
When: 9am or so
Where: Lodging Unit C / Forest
Rating: TBD
Status: Complete

If it hadn’t been raining so damned hard outside, Dean might have felt less cabin fever and more at ease to explore this new place he’d been dumped into. So far he’d managed to sleep a small amount and meet only one other soul in the entire place. Which seemed to him like a large red flag that perhaps he was indeed in another dimension. Or even purgatory. He could deal with purgatory. He figured there’d be a way out of that since he had rid the world of quite a few evil beasties in his time. God owed him a favor, didn’t he?

It had been a wonderful night of sleep, save for the strange sounds of wind outside the window. His room, as it turned out, was rather lavish but he was loathe to stay in it any longer than he had to. He had a mission. To get out of here and back to his life STAT. There was no way he, Dean Winchester, hunter extraordinaire, was going to be held hostage by some unseen force in a place like this. He dressed quickly in jeans, a rather cool, vintage Van Halen t-shirt and a hooded sweatshirt from one of the dresser drawers. He was mildly amazed at the fact the dresser held just exactly his size and preferred style of clothes. This place was a little creepy.

Leaving the room, he pocketed the key just to be on the safe side in case he had some reason he needed to come back. Conveniently there was an exact replica (what else could it be?) of his favorite leather jacket and, because the rain had been a bit awe-inspiring when he’d been out in it yesterday, he slung it over his shoulder before allowing the door to slam behind him.

The hall was fairly dark as though perhaps the power had gone out or someone had flipped the switch probably somewhere on the wall near the end. It didn’t appear as though his portion of the building had many people in it yet he felt as though he ought to walk softly through the corridor. Peering out the door to the forest beyond, Dean wondered if this weather was the way this place always was. Still, if he was going to get away he’d need to find the perimeter and through the forest seemed the best way to do that at the moment. Pulling up his hood, he ran out, across the grass and into the forest.

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spitandviolets
2008-08-19 12:15 am UTC (link)

Laura had been on the planet a whole day now, though the passage of day and night was a little difficult to track with that raging storm. She had been found and brought to the resort. It was the sort of place that she, as a travel agent, had sent thousands of people to but had only ever dreamed of visiting. She and Shadow just hadn't had the money. Her room had been perfectly wonderful as well. A welcome note of sorts seemed to indicate that the rooms took on the appearance of whatever you really wanted it to be. As she had very modest needs of late, there hadn't been too much in it. She had a direct and constant connection to Urd's Spring in the back; she would never want for Norn's Water again, and she could stop her own decay as necessary. There was a bed, though that was mostly because her mind couldn't imagine a bedroom without one. There was also a stylishly Laura wardrobe and a bathroom with any and all beauty products that she had loved in life. It would be a nice place to stay, and it made her feel almost like a person again. She was not, however, a person, and the one major drawback was that she had nothing to do when she was inside her bedroom at night. Her mind simply could not think of a thing to do. Normally she'd be traveling by night, keeping to the shadows, keeping tabs on things, trying to beat the cold. In her room, though, there was nowhere to go. She didn't sleep, though she could pretend to; what was the point when she didn't dream? Thus, after a long soak in the tub that didn't warm her, Laura had passed a completely sleepless first night.

The morning was far from her favorite time. An overwhelming sense of apathy prevented her from truly enjoying sunrises, and the storm made it so there was no sunrise to see she imagined, so there was no point in going out. In the daylight, too, it was harder to pass for a living person. Though the resort was dark from the storm, it wasn't properly dark enough. Lightning made her look positively ghoulish. Still, she knew it was pointless to try to stay in her room all day and only come out at night. Thus, she resolved to head back out into the storm and attempt to find a way through the woods that would lead her back to Virginia, or at least someplace recognizable. It was a start, and since the storm didn't really phase her, what better time than now?

Laura dressed herself and left fairly quickly. Jeans were an option, and they would keep her legs from getting too scratched up. She didn't want to have to use the Water daily. It would be saved only for emergencies, when she looked like something hell coughed up. A black tanktop and a mauve cardigan later and she was out the door, boots finishing the outfit. It was plainer than she liked to dress, but she was searching for a way back to Virginia, not making an appearance on the cover of Vogue. It'd work. She'd make it work. Not wanting to be seen, she exercised her superhuman speed to get her out of the resort without being seen. Sticking to the shadows was fairly easy as there were so many. She was back in the forest by eight.

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spitandviolets
2008-08-19 12:15 am UTC (link)

After several hours of searching, however, her mind was invaded. She hadn't really been focusing on auras, and she hadn't been looking for humans. Anakin's lack of an aura seemed to indicate that it was possible that there were no humans here. Still, something unsettled her. There was a glow of some strength and it was moving towards the forest. Her first instinct told her to book it and avoid being seen. She was soaked to the skin, though less beat up due to the tree cover, though the light and visibility was fairly poor. The person, however, could've been in danger. The storm was not something that the living should be exposing themselves to. And if this place was abducting people, well, shouldn't she try to help the poor lost soul if they had newly arrived? Thus, her apathy was overruled by a basic desire for her to draw a clear line between herself and the living. She felt, in a way, that it was almost her duty to keep the living alive and the dead, well, dead. She turned, moving at breakneck speeds through the forest. There was no need to be silent with a hurricane raging everywhere. She made it to the forest's edge and chose to take cover in some dense foliage.

Hopefully she could communicate without showing herself. Even if it spooked him, perhaps it would send him running for the resort. That was safer than being out in the middle of a storm. "What are you doing out here?" Her voice was cold and blunt, and there was a distant edge to it, like she was speaking from a completely detached place. There was little care and concern behind the question, and it was almost stated as a fact, if that was possible. Head canting to the side, she studied the approaching man for a moment. Another kid? Was she the oldest person here? And the only woman? "You could be killed. It's dangerous. You need to find cover." She stared at him with those dark, blue eyes, watching him, hopefully unseen.

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hellsboy
2008-08-19 04:47 pm UTC (link)

He was soaked through at this point and he'd been running in as best as he could figure was a straight line out and away from the prison camp resort, yet Dean had gotten nowhere as far as he could tell. All he could see in any direction was trees, bushes and the incessant rainfall that was at least less here in the canopy of leaves than out in the open.

Not a huge fan of being wet, however, Dean considered briefly going back to the Lodging Unit, taking a hot shower and seeing if the room would give him a magically delicious bottle of Jose. Maybe if he repeated the events of the evening before he found himself naked on the sand in this horrible place he might actually find he'd been dreaming or in some alternate reality. He could handle that. This being trapped was all but claustrophobic to him. He'd driven the roads in a nomadic pattern for just about his entire life. Nothing was home and nowhere was stationary for any length of time he didn't set himself.

Still, he couldn't seem to find the outer edge of this forest and he'd passed that ugly little gnome-like stump a few minutes ago, hadn't he? Now he was losing it. He slapped from a trot to a walk and shook his head to clear it. What he wouldn't give for a compass. Old Sammy would have laughed at him now for not having the presence of mind to come prepared. Sammy would have brought the compass and a map and a GPS tracker. The room would've given them to perfect Sammy because Sammy was smart enough to think of those things under any circumstances. Even in bizarre, probable alternate realities.

He shook his head again to jar out the memory of his younger brother and focus on the situation at hand. He looked up with the intention of getting his bearings but he only got an eyeful of water and falling pine needles. With a grunt he sighed and figured turning around would be as good a direction as any. He could at least go back to his room and regroup, even if he didn't repeat last night's activities as he'd considered. He'd only been running for a moment or so when he'd heard the voice.

It was a quiet voice with a hardness to it. It was so dispassionate that somehow he knew it had to be Cassie. She had somehow been dumped here in this place too. He tried to stop his forward motion but hit a patch of slick mud. Sliding fast he lost his feet and, on his ass, careened through the foliage toward the place from where the voice had issued gathering mud and other detritus along the way.

"Whoa, shiiiiiiiit!" he shouted then came to a rest at her feet, looking up dazedly. Then he flashed the barely visible woman on the shadows his most winning smile. "Hi. Missed me, didn't you?"

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spitandviolets
2008-08-20 08:02 pm UTC (link)

"Well," said the voice, who was now attached to a body, "I suppose that filthy isn't the worst of all the possible things that you could be. Muddy and wet. Very similar to how I looked when I got here. Then again, you ended up on your back because of your clumsiness. I did so because I got blown over by the wind. You should have listened to me, though. Coming to the forest was a bad idea. Especially since you're alive, whether you want to be that way or not."

Two pale hands snaked around the trunk of the tree by which he'd landed. They were very white against the darkness of the forest. Her head peeked around after a few moments, her dark hair framing her pale face. Her eyes were sunken, like she was very tired (or dead), and they looked like two black holes they were such a dark color in this dim light. Her hair, from the rain, was a bit matted, and a little stringy. Gazing down at him, Laura shook her head at his words. Had he fallen harder than she thought?

"I can't miss you if I don't know you." The voice, up close, was even more disaffected and cold. She made no motion to help him up. Honestly, she did not want to fall victim to his warmth. Anyone could make her do anything, really, as long as they promised to lend her body heat. Cuddling, she was discovering, was the only leverage anyone had against her. "We've never met before. I'm sure of it. Unless you once bought a travel package from me, though you don't look the sort who'd be hanging around in Indiana for too long." She paused then reached into the pocket of her jeans. Pulling out a pack of cigarettes, she shook one into her hand, holding it between two fingers. It was thin and black, and smelled of cloves even when unlit. Putting the pack away, Laura leaned against the tree. Up close, he didn't look as young as she'd thought. He did, however, look as punk. "Indiana, in case you don't know, is a state. It's on the planet earth. I was born and raised in Eagle Point. It's a boring, shithole of a town. I never would've said that before, but now I know it."

Lifting the cigarette to her lips, she looked at the black tip. Gazing down at him, she actually laughed a little bit. It was a horrible laugh, and it sounded almost like she was drowning. Turning, Laura tilted her head and made a spitting motion. Something landed nearby. "Damn forest. Damn hurricane. Damn damp. But your fall was one of the best I've seen in a while. So, if you give me a light for this," she wagged the cigarette around in front of him, "I'll help you up out of the mud and we'll go find a cave. Because the storm is only going to get worse. You came out here in a lull." A faint smile crossed the pale face of the woman. It was an inherently sad look, lopsided and hopeful, like a puppy who knew you were leaving it forever.

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hellsboy
2008-08-21 03:26 pm UTC (link)

As soon as he saw the very pale hands, he wiped his hands on his pants and then wiped the water from his eyes. He wasn't sure who she was but she certainly was not Cassie. Cassie was as supple brown as this girl was ghostly pale. His smile faltered with the realization then changed to a less smug, more charming grin as he attempted to right himself and gain his feet. "I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself. I'd be more worried about myself if I were you. Who knows what's in this forest. Might eat you."

He chuckled at her condescending tone. He'd known that type before and they were usually a lot of patronizing talk until the lights when out. Then they were putty in his hands. He didn't really want to deter from his plan to leave this place yet he had been on his way back to the dorm to regroup and figure out a better strategy. He might as well make the most of having met someone new before he left. Maybe she knew more about this place than she let on and he could press her for information if all else failed.

She was droning on now in what sounded to him like a very bored tone about her home which sounded as though was on the same Earth he remembered being from himself (none of those strange galaxies and planets that Sam had mentioned) and pulling out one of those little black cigarettes that smelled like something baking in a kitchen. That made his stomach growl for the breakfast he'd gone without but he ignored it to look more closely at her instead. She appeared gaunt, hollow eyed and a little worse for wear from having been out in the rain no doubt. But he was no prize either, wet and covered in mud as she had so sweetly pointed out.

"I know where Indiana is. I'm from Kansas. Well originally. No place is really home anymore. I sort of wander… looking for things to kill."

Instead of accepting her offer to help him up he reached into the pocket of his jeans for his lucky lighter, tossing it to her. "Here you go. Happy to amuse you. I think I can make it up on my own. Wouldn't want to get you dirty." Slipping in the mud, he fell on his ass twice more before finally gaining his feet. He wasn't sure what sort of person suggested a trip to a cave instead of normal shelter but she was definitely a strange one. "Why don't we find the hotel or whatever it is and skip the cave. You sound like you're coming down with a cold or something."

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spitandviolets
2008-08-21 04:04 pm UTC (link)

"No matter how big you boys get, you always seem to need somebody looking out for you." She would know. Shadow was as big as they came, and it seemed that he was always in trouble. Granted, much of it had been her fault, but that was beside the point. If he'd been a man about some things and just said no to her, well, they'd have been okay. Maybe she wouldn't be dead. On the other hand, maybe stuff like this was meant to happen. Certain things were made to break.

Giving him the once over, she raised an eyebrow. She probably would have snorted, but she didn't really breathe; laughing and snorting were two functions that she really had to think about before she actually did them. Was the payoff worth the disgusting effort? In this case, no. "Something might eat me, you say? I sincerely doubt it." Nothing really likes to eat dead flesh. Most predators prefer the prey to be freshly dead...and there probably isn't much on this planet that has been dead longer than me. A twisted sort of smirk crossed her face. "You don't need to worry about me. Even if I did get into a fight, I could more than handle myself. I prefer not to do battle, though." Because I usually fight to kill. It's hard to not kill, especially when you're not so prejudiced about it anymore.

Watching him rise, Laura caught the lighter. She flicked it open, finding it difficult to keep it lit in the wet of the outside. Still, the death stick took. She couldn't feel the drug anymore, and she could only barely taste it. Regular cigarettes hadn't been strong enough; they didn't taste like anything anymore. At least cloves had a faint taste that was somewhere in there. She held the cigarette to her lips, though there wasn't a real inhale. Obviously she was one of those people who only lightly puffed on cigarettes. Still, the smoke came out of her nose. Laura had gotten into the habit of moving her tongue around, blocking off the back of her throat to avoid the freakish spectacle of smoke constantly pouring out of her nose. That usually unsettled the living.

"Kansas? Surprising. Imagine that. We're almost neighbors. Well, neighbor, welcome to...wherever it is we seem to be." She motioned around to the forest like it was her living room. There was a hint of sarcasm behind the dead tone, and that wry smile stayed on her face. "I knew you were human." It was a deadpan fact. "Your aura." She wasn't going to get into the fact that he was probably a strong person with a lot of problems. After studying people, she'd started learning how the auras looked. The dying had faint flickers, not even as strong as a candle. They looked like LED lights in the middle of a cavern. Truly strong people flared like bonfires. Sheep had moderate, flashlight-like lights. "So... you wander around and kill things, calling no place home. Are you sure you're not an Indian? Because I swear that's what I remember them doing. And I mean 'Welcome-to-our-casino' Indian, not 'Namaste' type."

Making her way closer to him, she studied his face. Not bad looking. She could see the same sort of determination in him that was present in Shadow. In a way, this goofy kid made her miss her husband. No point worrying or even thinking about that now, was there? He died on a tree in somebody's front yard last she saw. And he was dead dead, not the type of dead that she was. It was a bummer, but she couldn't find herself getting upset about it. Death wasn't so bad from this side of the fence.

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spitandviolets
2008-08-21 04:04 pm UTC (link)

"I'm not sick," she replied. The cigarette had burned all the way down through the filter to her fingers. Most people would've winced, cussed, dropped the cigarette, or something to that effect. Laura didn't even seem to notice the searing heat at her fingertips. "You don't need to worry about me. I can handle myself. I was just thinking a cave would be closer. If you want to go back, go ahead." She paused. Really, she didn't want to go with him. There were people back there. But, there was also the chance that they'd miss all the people. With a sigh, she slid a hand through her hair. What could be the worst that could happen? And, if he got hit in the head with a branch and fainted, she could at least run him back to the resort if she was with him. "Fine." Her tone did not indicate that it was not fine. Looking down at the cigarette, she made a little "huh" sound and flicked it off to the side. It landed, non-threateningly, in a puddle. The skin on her fingertips was slightly singed, but it was nothing too serious.

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hellsboy
2008-08-26 04:15 pm UTC (link)

Rolling his eyes at her continued condescention, Dean chuckled. "Suit yourself, sweet cheeks. There are plenty of things that eat that can't exactly be fought off in battle." His voice rose slightly on that last word because it had been her phrasing and it struck him as a strange thing to say. He wondered if she was related to the Xena person Sam had spoken about having met him when he'd arrived. No, she didn't seem tall enough.

In fact, she looked rather like she'd been meant to be taller and perhaps shrunk down. He decided it was the rain in his eyes and shook out his hair, scattering rain drops sideways into the rain falling from above. He watched her eye him closer and returned the favor with some interest. She was more attractive than he'd first thought she was. More attractive than Cassie even and that was saying something. All things considered.

He wasn't sure what he thought of the smoking once he got to smelling it more. It smelled foul. Less like baking in a kitchen and more like something far worse. Then she dropped the cigarette and cussed and he realized she'd allowed it to burn down to her skin without really noticing. Who did that? Maybe she had a disorder like early Parkinson's or something. He felt immediate compassion for her and ignored her lack of emphasis on the word "Fine." She had to be lying.

"Are you ok?" he asked, indicating her hand. He knew better than to try to take her hand to examine it. Most people didn't like to be touched by strangers. He would play it safe. "We should really go back and see if there isn't someone who can take a look at that. Put some medicine on it, that sort of thing."

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spitandviolets
2008-09-21 06:01 pm UTC (link)

"Sweet cheeks." The comment was distant, far off, as if she were some kind of echo. In her mind, the comment was very funny. Her cheeks, in all honesty, no matter which ones you were talking about, weren't exactly sweet. Then again, maybe they were. Her backside was still pretty fine. They looked great in tight pants, and all the weight she'd lost let her wear even tighter pants than in life. "Well, pet names for me already? Charming, really. You're an interesting little boy."

Laura began circling him. He wasn't half bad looking, and the fact that she noticed made her feel somewhat guilty. Stretching a little, Laura slipped her hands into her pockets. Once she was in front of him again, she gave him a wink. "You know, you're not so bad looking. I guess there are worse people I could have stumbled upon being dumb enough to come out here in the pouring rain."

His concern was charming. "Go back. Well, we could go back. But some of us, well, we don't really have much to go back to. It doesn't really matter if I go in there or stay out here. It's the same for me. I want you to get dry, though, so we're going to go back." Reaching out, Laura gave him a gentle pat on the arm. Her fingers were icy, even the place where she'd burned herself, and there didn't seem to be a blister of any type forming. There was just a hole, and several layers of flesh missing.

Turning, the dead woman began walking. "I'll go slow," she said, "so you can keep up with my pace." She turned an eye to him, and it gleamed in the darkness. "Unless you'd prefer a race."

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