Neil (piezoelectric) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-01-31 16:38:00 |
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Entry tags: | #september 2017, alex, alex x neil, neil |
Who: Alex and Neil
When: Tuesday, September 26th, afternoon
Where: Castle View apartments
Status: Complete
Alex had finally managed to get his car fixed after the weekend's ‘vandalism’ but with the terrible visibility caused by the weather, he didn't feel safe to drive it. He had been planning to that morning but as soon as he had stepped outside on his way to work, the thought of getting into an accident had overwhelmed him. Of course it would happen in this fog, how could it not? But as he walked to work, the panic about any accident had overwhelmed him until he ran the last few blocks. Once he was at the coffee shop, at least he was safe and he put that strange walk out of his mind until the afternoon.
The walk home started off as normal but soon, the feeling of unease returned. He was extra careful crossing the streets but this time, his thoughts centered on the AIR facilities. They were still in operation, he'd looked it up. Well, not quite ‘still’ but they were back. Back in business, back to seeking kids to steal, to torture, to change. The ones from his mother's dreams had all seemed much younger than him but what if the new institute was less fussy? What if he knew too much? He was close to the truth, he knew it, and they would try to silence him. He'd seen enough YouTube videos about conspiracies to know that was a thing the ever-present, mysterious ‘they’ did.
Alex quickened his pace and once he spotted a customer from that morning sitting in a car parked at a corner, Alex took off at a run. By the time he reached the parking lot in front of Castle View Crossing, he was out of breath and forced to pause to catch it. He leaned against a wall and looked around. He didn't think he had been followed but he couldn't be too careful. Not now, not with what he knew.
Neil had moved back home last weekend since it wasn't terribly practical to be paying for his apartment and a hotel room. He had regretted going home as soon as the fog rolled in but honestly it wasn't really possible for him to feel any worse so the fog had surprisingly little effect on him all things considered, he was already too miserable for his mood to get much worse.
It had been a week since someone broke into his apartment and the police had not contacted him about any leads so he supposed it was a moot point. There had been no other incidents yet but he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was at times like these he wished he was braver and richer and could either leave town or in all seriousness hire someone to protect him. It would no doubt get on his nerves to be followed around by some beefy idiot but his nerves were already frayed enough that he thought he could stomach the thought.
He'd gone home from the library for the day. Mister Honeycutt was getting very antsy about how crazy it was out there so he closed the place down rather than risk the violence spilling in from the streets. Neil wasn't sure how he'd gotten home safely. He had driven safely, of course, but the problem was always other people.
He was breathing a little easier once he made it to the parking lot and oh so slowly found a parking space but that small peace of mind was rudely interrupted when he spotted the guy from the library right there, close enough that he could see him in the fog. He paled and his eyes narrowed as he looked for his phone to call the police but his phone wasn't in his pocket nor in the seat next to him which meant it was either back at work or in his briefcase in the trunk of the car.
Neil hesitated. He wasn't about to drive away, he was lucky he'd made it home in one piece already, but he also didn't much want to confront Alex and risk his personal safety. At some point a man couldn't take much more and Neil had definitely reached that point so with nothing else he could do he ended up getting out of the car. "You," he said sharply. "You come to my home now? I'm calling the police."
At the sound of somebody shouting, Alex spun around with his fists high in the air. Not that it would have done much, he’d never been one to fight but he’d go down swinging before they got him. When he realised it was only that weird guy from the library, he dropped his fists but kept them tightly bunched. Who knew who this guy really was? This guy probably worked for them! That was why he was so shady when Alex asked too many of the right questions.
“You! Why are you following me? I’ve told people what I’ve found, you know.” He took a couple of steps towards the car whilst mentally kicking himself for not doing that. He would, assuming he survived this encounter. “So if I disappear, they’ll come looking for me.”
"Why would you-" Neil started before coming to the swift conclusion that Alex was mocking him - or derailing him; whichever it was it was bad. He frowned again and pointed an accusatory finger at him again. "I know it was you who broke in and and I'm going to report you." His eyes went wide again as he remembered his phone again and opened the car to look for it so he could take a picture of Alex. If he had a picture they could put up one of those notification boards at the precinct and then the cops could arrest him. Of course it wouldn't mean much, there would be others, but at least it would put a dent in Their plans and Neil felt almost gleeful at the thought of doing them any kind of harm.
“Broke in? What are you talking about? I never broke into anywhere…” Alex had heard vague rumours about a break in from his neighbour but he had nothing worth stealing so he'd dismissed it. He didn't even have a TV! For a moment, his mind cleared enough to wonder if they were both on the same side but then Neil began to look for something in his car and the only remaining thought was ‘gun!’ Alex's eyes widened and he looked around, desperately wondering if he could reach his apartment before he was shot in the back. They'd find his body dumped somewhere terrible, too deformed to identify. If they even found it at all…
“Don't shoot me!” Alex raised his hands in the air to show he was unnamed because that was what they always did in movies. He put his hands on the back of his head. He felt out of breath as the panic rose. This guy was going to take him to the institution and perform all the horrible experiments he'd seen in his mother's nightmares. “I'm not like her, I swear. I can't dreamwalk, I don't know what you all did but it wasn't genetic. I'll stop looking, I swear, I'll move away and I won't tell anyone. I promise. Just don't shoot me.”
Neil found his phone and with shaking hands opened the camera app. He ignored Alex's ramblings, too annoyed and angry to really listen. God, he was getting so angry. It wasn't unusual for him to have that rage bubbling under the surface but it felt different somehow and he hissed as he pointed the camera at Alex and took a picture. "Shut up!" he yelled. "And go away! I have your picture. It's uploading right now so the cops will see it you come near me again!" He looked around and then picked up a pebble to throw it in Alex's direction though he didn't even come close to hitting and then panic rose again and he turned to bolt toward his own door.
It was a phone, just a phone. Thank God! Alex was ready to turn and flee but then… Did he just throw a stone at him? Seriously? Normally he would have laughed at such a bad attempt at a throw and let it go but this time, he felt so personally insulted by this guy's insistence he was the victim when he was so clearly a part of the mysterious them. Anger bubbled up inside and he tried to take a deep breath but it was no good. Horrible thoughts of what he'd use that picture for came to his mind. Why did the AIR group need it? “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he snapped. He followed after Neil, his fists clenched at his sides. “You scientist assholes ruined my mom's life and now you're following me around! Stop torturing kids, you fucking creep.”
Neil bristled as he stalked toward his door because it was clear to him that Alex was trying to bait him into giving something away, using some mind-fucking technique to confuse him or something. "I live here," he snapped back over his shoulder. "You are following me! You broke into my apartment! Do you think I'm stupid? Stop following me!" He got his keys out and jingled them at Alex pointedly before turning around again to get into the hallway leading to his apartment. "You can't trick me!"
“No, you're wrong. You're following me!” Alex said as he walked after Neil. The irony was lost on him. He kept his pace a little behind, just in case. He pulled out his own keys and jingled them back at Neil. “Why else would you be waiting for me to get home from work? What's the plan, huh; kidnap me, do that crazy shit to me too? I wasn't there but I've seen what they do to kids. And I know you're a part of that!”
Neil had the urge to punch the guy which felt completely out of character for him and only served to up his paranoia. "You're crazy!" he yelled and hurried inside, turning around to try to slam the door in Alex's face - literally if he was lucky. He stopped there, furrowing his brows as stepping inside made his paranoia and anger... Not go away, not completely, but it definitely softened to a degree that was noticeable to him. He backed up a little, still holding the door open and squinting at Alex still outside. "What the..."
Alex wasn't sure what his plan was but he stepped forward to block Neil shutting the door when Neil stopped. He frowned, not understanding what was going on. “What?!” he snapped. He turned his head to try to see behind him without taking his eyes off Neil at the same time. He couldn't see anything from the corner of his eye and decided Neil was trying to trick him. “Yeah, good job Wile E. Coyote but I expected better from you AIR types.”
Neil bristled again but at least this time it was his own anger and annoyance and not something superimposed by some chemical fog or whatever the hell was going on. "I'm not AIR," he grumbled and backed up a little more. "Step inside, you're standing in some sort of poison gas." Not that he knew for sure, he just knew the fog was outside and he was no longer in it and suddenly he didn't feel like flinging rocks at Alex. He still didn't like the guy and he certainly didn't trust him but he wasn't going to let him hurt himself or others - especially not Neil - just because of some weird fog. So there was an invitation, reluctantly given through clenched teeth.
Alex was sure it was a trap but poison gas? That was a terrifying thought he didn’t want to touch. And what if the guy had agents watching them and this was a way to admit everything... He glanced around the corridor once more before he crossed the doorway and almost immediately, the rising panic inside eased. It felt milder, less immediate and dangerous. He frowned. “What the hell…” he murmured and looked at Neil. “This fucking town, I swear to God.”
It seemed to have the same effect on Alex and Neil might have relaxed a little at that if he didn't already dislike and distrust the guy. "You see?" he said sharply and dangled his keys again. "I live here. Someone broke into my apartment shortly after you came around asking questions, you don't think that's a little suspicious? Because I do." He narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, sizing Alex up. "I told the cops about you," he muttered then and it was worth mentioning although he doubted the police would do anything about it. He had no proof this guy was involved and nothing had been stolen so it probably wasn't a priority to them.
Alex stepped further inside. If it was a stake out, they made it look like enough of a coincidence. And if it wasn't stake out, was it small town luck or some other force? He pulled out his own keys and held them up too. “Yeah, I live here too. Since summer.” He paused, unsure of what to say because he could understand why Neil would find it suspicious but he wasn't going to apologise for investigating. Finally, he sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, I get it. I didn't do it though. I think you and me, we're on the same side here. And I think I get why you're so paranoid about it. I've seen what they did to kids; it's messed up.”
Neil shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose with a touch of dramatic flair before sighing heavily. "There are no sides... I don't know what you are talking about," he said with obvious exasperation. "You're just some crazy kid who wandered into my library and started talking conspiracy theories and crazy things! And now there's some chemical leak or attack or God knows what going on and it's all too much, honestly." He waved his hands at Alex as he spoke and then crossed his arms tightly over his chest again. "Go home, whoever you are. I don't know anything about air or earth or whatever it is you're talking about. If kids are being hurt? Go talk to the police."
Alex rolled his eyes. How could this guy be so stupid and stubborn? “If that's true, and let's say it is, why did you freak out so much when I even asked about the hospital? Why react like that to a picture of some long dead scientist?” He took a step closer, though it wasn't to threaten so much as drop his voice to a whisper. “Look, my mom was there too. Back when they first started, she must have been one of the first experiments. I've seen what they did to her, don't ask me how, but I get the feeling it happened to you too.”
"You're still acting crazy," Neil grumbled. "Harrassing me in my home isn't going to give you whatever answers you seem to be looking for and I have no idea what it is you want to hear." He gestured out to the fog. "Now hold your breath and run to your home if it's really that close by, it's been a shitty day and I want to go inside, read a good book and have some tea." There wasn't a chance in hell he was talking to Alex about something he didn't even want to remember but he had a feeling getting rid of him was easier said than done. "If you must pester me, do so at my job when I at least get paid to talk to you."
Alex wasn't sure of what he wanted to hear either. He had grand ideas of finding the exact names of those involved and making them pay but that was just grandstanding. He couldn't really do it. The best he could hope for would be to spill the story to somebody who would listen and hope people believed him. He sighed and nodded. “Yeah, you're right. But if you have anything, any names or whatever… I found out they've started up again. After the library, I looked up where it was and went out there. It's not a pile of rubble. They're doing something there and if it's what my mom, what you went through? They need to be stopped.”
Neil didn't hear a lot of gossip around town since people didn't really chat with him much so this was news to him and the mention of the AIR building send a cold chill up his spine. He opened his mouth to say something then shook his head. "I've never been out there," he muttered with just the faintest twitch in his face. "I just know it burned down years ago." It started to make more sense now, the strange things that had been happening, the disappearance of the others, maybe even the strange fog outside. AIR was back and memories of running with a scared group of kids through the woods came crashing down in unwanted waves. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Alex, trying to suss him out even as he tried smothering all the horrible feelings trying to bubble up to the surface.
Alex studied Neil's face for a moment but there was no sign to prove anything definitively. He didn't want to push it but he somehow knew this guy knew more than he was telling. “Well…” he said slowly. “If you knew what I did, you'd want them shut down too.” He glanced out into the fog and took a deep breath. The thought of going back out there was about as appealing as staying. ”I'm going to go but I didn't break in and I do live here too. Over there,” he said with a gesture in the vague direction of his apartment. He wasn't going to give his exact number just in case he was wrong about how Neil was involved but maybe later on when he was sure. ”I'm Alex. I don't think I told you that the other day.”
"You did not," Neil said and pursed his lips again, this time in thought. Giving his name was a small token of trust, he supposed, unless Alex was lying, but that didn't mean Neil wanted to open up to him and tell him things he didn't want to tell a living soul about, ever. "Hold you breath," he reminded him. "And run. I don't know what's out there but it seems to be isolated to where you can actually see the fog." Yet another thing he couldn't explain and he was sure to have nightmares about that too.
Alex waited for Neil to share his name but when he didn’t, he simply nodded his head and turned. He pulled the front of his shirt up over his nose for some extra protection and took a deep breath before he took off at a run for his apartment. He managed to make it through his door with only a vague feeling of unease but it was definitely a discomforting feeling. It was only after he was home again and safe that he realised somebody had broken into the other guy’s house after Alex had been asking questions. He wanted to believe it was a coincidence but somehow, in this town, he knew it wasn’t.