i_disappear At least it can't get worse. (Open)
Darien had taken great pains to sleep in late and take his time getting ready. It would be his first full day at the Agency going by his rules, and he was going to take advantage of it. He was out of bed at nine, dressed by nine-thirty, then lingered over a breakfast of cereal before pulling on his leather jacket and leaving his apartment close to ten. On his way down the stairs, he snuck a look at the tattoo on his wrist, pleased to see the green snake there. It had been green for a few days now, with no signs of changing.
Today was going to be a good day.
Striding through the lobby of his apartment building, he pushed open the glass doors, fully expecting to emerge into the bright Californian sunshine... and stepping out into a downpour instead.
He sputtered for a moment before having the sense to back against the apartment building, in a spot where he'd get rained on slightly less. What the hell? It had just been sunny. He saw it. Since when did San Diego get freak thunderstorms?
It was then that he realized that the Starbucks across the street was gone. That one office building was gone, too. It was just another apartment complex, one that he hadn't seen before. Confused, he stepped back out into the rain to get a good look down the street. He didn't recognize any of it, mostly because this wasn't his street.
Of course. He had been right about San Diego not getting freak thunderstorms.
To her, the rain was like a hot shower after a long day's work, or a cold glass of water on a hot day. She felt refreshed, enthusiastic, eager to get to work playing with her new plants.
Ivy's bright red hair was loose around her shoulders, and while her umbrella was soaked, the long forest green coat she was wearing had only a fine mist over water droplets over it. Under one arm she had a bunch of flowers; white roses with dark ivy.
So she was traipsing happily through this new part of the city, grinning like a loon. In the rain. No wonder she was getting a few odd looks. She was even happy enough to care about the worries of this confused-looking young man.
"Are you okay?" she asked, offering a slight smile.
Darien didn't notice the woman until she had spoken to him, and he gaped at her for a moment before regaining some of his composure. Right, let's not scare off the nice lady with the flowers.
"I.. no. No, I'm not okay."
Realizing he must look like a mess being soaked like this, he ran a hand through his hair. It didn't do much good, except to get his hair out of his eyes.
"I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding." 'Misunderstanding' didn't seem to cover it, but he didn't know what else to call.. this. "What is this place?"
Ah. Interesting. It seemed the city was sucking in more new people every day.
"That's a very good question." Her smile turned more mischievous. "This isn't your city. The apartment might be yours, and maybe even the building, but the street is different. The skyline has changed, the air tastes wrong. Am I close?"
On that she did step closer, lifting her umbrella to offer him a little protection from the rain.
He was grateful for the umbrella being closer, but the rest of it... she knew what was going on, and it made him a little suspicious. God, if this was from Arnaud playing another trick on him, or Chrysalis pulling a mind fuck...
"Yeah, that's it exactly. I was just.. I was in San Diego just a few minutes ago."
Darien put his hands in the pockets of his jacket, leaning in a little to keep the rain from dripping down his neck. He couldn't help sounding a bit distressed. "How do you know about what just happened?"
Ivy wasn't smiling now. "Because exactly the same thing happened to me a week ago, except I woke up in the middle of the park."
Lucky for her she was resourceful, really, and that she'd been so close to her new home even then.
"I think it's happened to other people too," she continued, looking down at the roses under her arm. "But ask anyone else about it and they'll look at you as if you're insane. They just live here. I...I don't know."
And that was the killer. All her life, Pamela Isley had known exactly where she was and what she was doing. Now, though, she was stranded here, trying to work out how to free her best friend from jail without bringing the entire city police force down on her. It's wasn't like she could leave the city and lie low, was it?
Darien listened with concern, rubbing a hand over his face. "So we've all been kidnapped." The million-dollar question was, who did it? And why? But he couldn't think about this stuff right now. It was hard enough just taking it all in, and besides, he hadn't had enough coffee yet.
"Hey.. my name's Darien," he said suddenly. "And you know, maybe we shouldn't worry about it. Someone's bound to go looking for us, right?"
"Kidnapped?" Ivy couldn't help the look she was giving him, even if she had wanted to. "Are you serious? Yes, the city moves. It sucks in people and buildings, and it shifts at random, but I don't think it's planning to send a ransom note to your parents."
Plus kidnappings generally didn't happen to convicted criminals while where were safely incarcerated in asylums. But that wasn't really a point to be brought up on first meetings.
"But I'm not worried about it," she continued firmly. "I'm quite content here with my plants and my greenhouse and as soon as I find my friend I'll make everything green and pretty."
There was a slightly unbalanced look in her eye, and she clutched the flowers tighter in her gloved hands. Was it any wonder that people thought she was weird?
He barely registered the other things she said, about plants and green things and a missing friend. So she seemed to like plants, hey, that was cool. He was just far more concerned with what she had said before that.
"Wait, wait.. the city moves?" It was Darien's turn to give her a look now, a rather disbelieving one. "What do you mean by that? Does it.. like.. how does a city move?" He couldn't even imagine that happening. It all sounded like something out of a sci-fi novel, but then, much of Darien's life for the last few years had been like something out of a sci-fi novel, so he was being hypocritical.
"Well I don't know, and if I did I wouldn't be here," she snapped, but stopped herself. No need to be rude, was there? "It just happens, I think. You turn your back and the street you just walked up changes. Some parts seem to be pretty constant, though. The bits around the edges shift a lot more than the center."
She nodded at Darien's own building. "That wasn't there yesterday, as I'm sure you know." Another nod, at a tall building several blocks away. "That one turned up two or three days after I did."
Looking down again, she shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm...Ivy."
He looked at the places she indicated before looking back at her. Darien wasn't going to do any good getting upset over this, and he knew it. Right now, he just needed to accept things. He could freak out over it later.
"Well.. it's nice to meet you, Ivy. I'm sorry, too. This is just.." He cast another quick glance down the street, "This is just a whole lot to process right now."
"Nice to meet you too." She gave him another smile, more thoughtful this time, and hefted the flowers in her hands. "I'm afraid I'll have to leave you to your processing, Darien. I need to deliver these."
If he was paying attention, he might have noticed that the ivy in the bundle had twined itself around Ivy's hand and around her wrist.
"One tip for you: navigating is easier if you memorise the bigger buildings and office blocks. The seems to stay put more readily. Here." Delicately, she picked a small rosebud out of the bunch and handed it to him. "For...good luck? You'll need it."
With that she left him, heading deeper into the city.