The Hole in the World
Apr. 29th, 2014 07:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Rhiannon watched as a customer exited the E-Z-Mart with a bag of sour cream potato chips and an orange juice. He juggled the juice into the crook of his arm and opened the bag. She heard him chewing from across the lot, unaware that anything peculiar was happening in the alley to his left. In fact, so long as nobody needed a pay phone, they wouldn’t find it.
Of course, that didn’t mean that nothing would find them.
The slayer rubbed her bare forearm. “Cold air. Do you feel that?” She looked at Cian. They stood on the pavement at the foot of the alley. He had been insistent that they go immediately to assess things, and that urgency worried Rhiannon because he was never that rushed about anything.
Of course, that didn’t mean that nothing would find them.
The slayer rubbed her bare forearm. “Cold air. Do you feel that?” She looked at Cian. They stood on the pavement at the foot of the alley. He had been insistent that they go immediately to assess things, and that urgency worried Rhiannon because he was never that rushed about anything.
The Hole in the World
on 2014-04-30 02:09 am (UTC)He rolled his shoulders as he looked at her and took a step into the alley, walking into the darkness. "It's commin' fr'm down here." He could still see, more clearly than most, but as he made his way into the alley he frowned. There was something further along, on the wall, that wasn't making sense.
It was a real darkness, nothing in it discernible, even to his eyes. He slowly walked toward it, taking his hands out of his coat pockets and letting them hang loosely by his sides. As he drew closer his frown deepened, and the odoour grew stronger.
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-04-30 06:12 pm (UTC)“Cian,” she put a hand to his back.
She recognized the cold air slipping past her ears, that otherworldly smell. It was a portal.
Rhiannon immediately looked overhead and behind them. She dropped to pull a knife out of her pant leg.
"What the hell is that doing here?" she murmured.
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-01 01:17 am (UTC)Even without asking he knew whatever it was was not good. His stance widened a little as if bracing himself when he felt her drop, his instincts getting him ready to shift, his leather jacket now hanging open.
"What is it?" he asked, not having ever seen anything like it before.
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-01 03:45 am (UTC)There was blood on the pavement, left behind by the victims he spotted earlier. Why the police hadn’t cordoned off the area, she wasn’t sure. Unless they had and any tape was later removed.
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-01 11:49 am (UTC)"What the hell is on the other side?" he growled softly, a deep furrow formed in his brow. "'nd who'd do this? 'nd more importantly, how d' we close it?" Again the odour filled his nostrils and his nose screwed up as he turned his head slightly, as if trying to avoid the smell. It again took him back to his home, early in his childhood, and something to do with his maternal grandmother. "Y' ever seen anythin' like it before?"
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-01 06:12 pm (UTC)She wondered if Elfleda had anything to do with it.
“There’s someone I can ask. She carries some risk but it’s worth it, if there’s a demon ripping people’s faces off.” She eyed the Were cautiously. Should she ask him to meet Elfleda with her, or was that just unnecessarily putting Cian’s name on the dark woman’s radar? Protective instincts battled with good sense. “I don’t know if she’ll close it – she tends to want something in return – but who knows? Maybe she’ll tell us what it’s for.”
Belatedly she thought of Whistler. Would he know anything?
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-01 10:07 pm (UTC)And what she would want in return for doing something that would close this thing. He turned his head to look at Rhiannon and an eyebrow lifted.
"She'd be fine with leavin' somethin' like this open?" he asked, already a little more wary of this woman's intentions. He looked back at the opening before adding, "... wonderful."
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-02 01:56 am (UTC)Rhiannon chewed on her lip and touched the cinder block wall. Her fingers explored the rough edge where wall gave way to empty air, so she nearly got hit in the face when the can returned from the void. It can clattered against the opposite wall of the alley.
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-05 02:31 am (UTC)"Did she make this?" he asked, his voice a little tense, "'nd is it likely there'll be more?"
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-05 02:51 am (UTC)She sighed.
“You know what, it doesn’t matter. Collateral damage. I’ll um… I’ll call a Slayer I know and tell her to be on the lookout for a face-ripping spirit thing. How many people do we know who can help us watch this massive hole in the earth until it’s closed? There’s Valerie… Whistler…”
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-05 03:10 am (UTC)He was still convinced the creature was the result of some massive gaseous form of LSD trip, and when he'd told Rhiannon, and they had gone out to the site a few days later, all they'd found was a shallow crater with smashed rock at the bottom. It was difficult to tell what had happened, and Cian was convinced it was all just something they had imagined. He tried to remember the names of the others there. "And this ... woman... the one I told y' about out in the desert that night when the meteorite crashed. Sabco, or Sabra I think it was. And there was a guy," he added, "c'n ask Echo if she knows him. She seemed to."
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-05 03:44 am (UTC)She squeezed his hand.
"I'll take the first shift."
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-05 04:00 am (UTC)"Should y' be tryin' to contact this ... woman, from hell?" he asked her, not really wanting to leave Rhiannon alone for something like that as he followed her glance up into the dark sky.
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-05 04:11 am (UTC)She regripped her weapon and gave Cian a quick kiss.
“I love you. I’ll be careful.”
Re: The Hole in the World
on 2014-05-05 04:38 am (UTC)He glanced at the blackness and back at Rhiannon, the image of the two skinned heads wandering into his mind. "Not sure luck's on our side right now," he told her quietly, giving her hand a squeeze after the kiss.
"I love y', too, 'nd I'll be back as soon as I can," he returned, rubbing his thumb lightly across her knuckles before letting go her hand and heading toward the mouth of the alley. First stop would be the bar, then the club, and lastly, if he needed to, a trip back to Searchlight to round up Echo.