03-10-2009, 08:33 PM
Snuff films. That’s what they called them. The whole point was to kill people on camera. And the odds were always stacked so high against the victims that survival was impossible. The fact there was a market for something so horrible repulsed the blue haired girl.
What remained of their group had taken a break in a dank alcove, and Sage found a nice, quiet corner to rest in. Her eyes were closed but images still played in her mind, despite her attempts to shut them out.
A snuff film. The clean-cut man impaled on a scorpion’s stinger, convulsing and bleeding, unable to scream for help. So suddenly, so gratuitously cut down. Before today, Sage had only ever seen one man killed in front of her. Of course, death existed in the hospitals, but it was different. It was sterile and clean and... distant. And none of her patients had ever died.
And the man she’d seen die before her eyes those years ago. That was different. Sage bared her teeth at the wall like an angry dog, her entire body trembling as she recalled the scene. The man in the desert died for nothing. The man of Sage’s memories had taken everything from her. Her future, her present. EVERYTHING!!
Suddenly, a cadence of ‘whats’ and ‘whats going ons’ floated toward her. Juno was the first to arrive. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. Sage found herself suddenly crowded by he and the detective. The cave walls were closing in.
“I... what?”
“You were screaming,” the dark haired saiyan pressed. The princess could do little more than blink at him. “‘Everything,’”
“What?”
“You screamed ‘everything,’”
“Oh... sorry,”
“Why, is kinda what we’re getting at, kid,” Oliver cut in, tiring of the nowhere-headed conversation.
“...I didn’t,” Sage paused, unsure now. “I, um, I didn’t think I was... actually talking,”
The look the old detective gave her couldn’t have been more uncomfortable. An immense, skeptical frown carved its across his aged facade. “You didn’t think you were shrieking ‘everything’ at the top of your lungs? The hell does that even mean, anyway!?”
“I... I...” frustrated, she stammered. There was nowhere to run, and she was already backed as far into her corner as she could go. Why don’t you just go away and leave me alone!?
“Okay... that was weird,” Juno declared. “How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Kid, you just spoke without opening your mouth. You a ventriloquist or something?” Oliver inquired.
“I didn’t say anything!” Sage protested, shaking more violently now.
“You just told us to go away and leave you alone,” Oliver retorted. The azure haired girl suddenly went pale, her rose colored eyes staring at the older man for an eternity. “What!?”
“...I didn’t... say that. I... was just...” she didn’t know what the hell to say. “I... thought that,”
“You what?”
“So you’re a telepath?”
“No!” Sage squirmed under the intense scrutiny. They were staring at her, and they wouldn’t stop pushing the subject. Was it not enough to say you didn’t know what was going on!? They were regarding her like some kind of freak. An oddity. She had gotten enough of that kind of treatment back home.
“Think something at me,” Juno decided. “We can test it. Say... ‘watermelon’ in your head. Maybe we’ll hear it.”
“Oh... Okay...” Sage halfheartedly agreed, hoping that at least it would get them to stop staring at her. She did as she was told, first picturing a big green, striped watermelon in her mind, and then repeated the word. There was no reaction, so she imagined herself yelling the word. Watermelon! she chanted.
“Whoa!” Juno exclaimed. Sure enough, a feminine voice occupied his thoughts, and the name of his chosen fruit repeated in a careful, timid, and altogether Sage-like style. “That’s... awesome!”
“You can hear it?” the girl inquired.
“Yeah, I did, too,” Oliver confirmed, scratching his head. “That’s an interesting talent you got there.”
No kidding, Sage thought, thankfully going unheard. Finally, they turned away, and the girl sank into her corner, a hand to her head. She was scared. That much was obvious to anybody. Scared of her situation here, of those scorpions outside, of the people she wound up surrounded by, and now she was scared of this new... mental outburst of hers. What did it mean? How did it happen? What the hell reason did fate have to bestow upon her such a power!? Where did she learn it!?
Her breath was out of control again. Not asthma this time, she knew. Fumbling in her pocket, she withdrew her unmarked plastic bottle. She frowned, and the shameful vesicle just stared back at her. With a sigh, she popped off the top and tapped a pill into her palm, before sealing the container and stuffing it back into her pocket. Out of sight, but try as she might, not out of mind.
The girl slipped the white pill into her mouth and choked it down. Once again, she was hit with the instant, placebo effect, but it would be several minutes before the Valium actually set to work. The girl stared at the ground, as though she had done something horribly wrong, and finally she closed her eyes. In minutes, she was asleep.
- - - -
The door opened into the girls’ room, and was suddenly thrown open. Stepping into the doorframe was a familiar, handsome blond man, hunched over with his hands up over his head, mimicking claws. “I’m gooonna fiiiind you!!” he growled, in a mock-monster tone, creeping over to the nearest bed. “And I’m goooonna...” he quickly dropped to all fours and lifted up the skirt of the bed, throwing an arm inside and grasping the frail little arm of the girl hiding beneath it. “Getcha!” he roared. The child shrieked in surprise as he dragged her out. A little blond girl, no older than eight or nine. She was giggling as the man, who tickled her for a moment. “Oookay,” he continued in his monster voice. “Where’s yooouuur sister!”
“I’m not telling you, monster!” the blond girl shouted in playful protest. The ‘monster’ tromped around for a moment, checking the other bed, then the closet. After a few minutes he couldn’t find what he was looking for, so he paused.
Where are you, Sage? he reached out with his thoughts, but got nothing in reply. I caught Zena already. So where are you? he knew it wasn’t going to work so he tried a different approach. Mom’s got ice cream cake.
The curtains suddenly billowed violently, and out burst a little, blue haired girl, only to be ‘caught’ in the arms of the monster. “Aha! Tricked yooouuu!!” he roared.
“Daaad!” little Sage protested. “No fair! You cheated!!”
“Nuh uh,” Kirano retorted.
“Yeah huh! You used your... your...”
“Telepathy,”
“You used tell-pathy to lie!” Sage glared at him as only an eight-year-old could.
“I didn't lie,”
“You did, too!”
“No, I didn't. Let's go get some ice cream cake,” Kirano grinned as his daughters suddenly lit up. “Come on,”
What remained of their group had taken a break in a dank alcove, and Sage found a nice, quiet corner to rest in. Her eyes were closed but images still played in her mind, despite her attempts to shut them out.
A snuff film. The clean-cut man impaled on a scorpion’s stinger, convulsing and bleeding, unable to scream for help. So suddenly, so gratuitously cut down. Before today, Sage had only ever seen one man killed in front of her. Of course, death existed in the hospitals, but it was different. It was sterile and clean and... distant. And none of her patients had ever died.
And the man she’d seen die before her eyes those years ago. That was different. Sage bared her teeth at the wall like an angry dog, her entire body trembling as she recalled the scene. The man in the desert died for nothing. The man of Sage’s memories had taken everything from her. Her future, her present. EVERYTHING!!
Suddenly, a cadence of ‘whats’ and ‘whats going ons’ floated toward her. Juno was the first to arrive. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. Sage found herself suddenly crowded by he and the detective. The cave walls were closing in.
“I... what?”
“You were screaming,” the dark haired saiyan pressed. The princess could do little more than blink at him. “‘Everything,’”
“What?”
“You screamed ‘everything,’”
“Oh... sorry,”
“Why, is kinda what we’re getting at, kid,” Oliver cut in, tiring of the nowhere-headed conversation.
“...I didn’t,” Sage paused, unsure now. “I, um, I didn’t think I was... actually talking,”
The look the old detective gave her couldn’t have been more uncomfortable. An immense, skeptical frown carved its across his aged facade. “You didn’t think you were shrieking ‘everything’ at the top of your lungs? The hell does that even mean, anyway!?”
“I... I...” frustrated, she stammered. There was nowhere to run, and she was already backed as far into her corner as she could go. Why don’t you just go away and leave me alone!?
“Okay... that was weird,” Juno declared. “How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Kid, you just spoke without opening your mouth. You a ventriloquist or something?” Oliver inquired.
“I didn’t say anything!” Sage protested, shaking more violently now.
“You just told us to go away and leave you alone,” Oliver retorted. The azure haired girl suddenly went pale, her rose colored eyes staring at the older man for an eternity. “What!?”
“...I didn’t... say that. I... was just...” she didn’t know what the hell to say. “I... thought that,”
“You what?”
“So you’re a telepath?”
“No!” Sage squirmed under the intense scrutiny. They were staring at her, and they wouldn’t stop pushing the subject. Was it not enough to say you didn’t know what was going on!? They were regarding her like some kind of freak. An oddity. She had gotten enough of that kind of treatment back home.
“Think something at me,” Juno decided. “We can test it. Say... ‘watermelon’ in your head. Maybe we’ll hear it.”
“Oh... Okay...” Sage halfheartedly agreed, hoping that at least it would get them to stop staring at her. She did as she was told, first picturing a big green, striped watermelon in her mind, and then repeated the word. There was no reaction, so she imagined herself yelling the word. Watermelon! she chanted.
“Whoa!” Juno exclaimed. Sure enough, a feminine voice occupied his thoughts, and the name of his chosen fruit repeated in a careful, timid, and altogether Sage-like style. “That’s... awesome!”
“You can hear it?” the girl inquired.
“Yeah, I did, too,” Oliver confirmed, scratching his head. “That’s an interesting talent you got there.”
No kidding, Sage thought, thankfully going unheard. Finally, they turned away, and the girl sank into her corner, a hand to her head. She was scared. That much was obvious to anybody. Scared of her situation here, of those scorpions outside, of the people she wound up surrounded by, and now she was scared of this new... mental outburst of hers. What did it mean? How did it happen? What the hell reason did fate have to bestow upon her such a power!? Where did she learn it!?
Her breath was out of control again. Not asthma this time, she knew. Fumbling in her pocket, she withdrew her unmarked plastic bottle. She frowned, and the shameful vesicle just stared back at her. With a sigh, she popped off the top and tapped a pill into her palm, before sealing the container and stuffing it back into her pocket. Out of sight, but try as she might, not out of mind.
The girl slipped the white pill into her mouth and choked it down. Once again, she was hit with the instant, placebo effect, but it would be several minutes before the Valium actually set to work. The girl stared at the ground, as though she had done something horribly wrong, and finally she closed her eyes. In minutes, she was asleep.
- - - -
The door opened into the girls’ room, and was suddenly thrown open. Stepping into the doorframe was a familiar, handsome blond man, hunched over with his hands up over his head, mimicking claws. “I’m gooonna fiiiind you!!” he growled, in a mock-monster tone, creeping over to the nearest bed. “And I’m goooonna...” he quickly dropped to all fours and lifted up the skirt of the bed, throwing an arm inside and grasping the frail little arm of the girl hiding beneath it. “Getcha!” he roared. The child shrieked in surprise as he dragged her out. A little blond girl, no older than eight or nine. She was giggling as the man, who tickled her for a moment. “Oookay,” he continued in his monster voice. “Where’s yooouuur sister!”
“I’m not telling you, monster!” the blond girl shouted in playful protest. The ‘monster’ tromped around for a moment, checking the other bed, then the closet. After a few minutes he couldn’t find what he was looking for, so he paused.
Where are you, Sage? he reached out with his thoughts, but got nothing in reply. I caught Zena already. So where are you? he knew it wasn’t going to work so he tried a different approach. Mom’s got ice cream cake.
The curtains suddenly billowed violently, and out burst a little, blue haired girl, only to be ‘caught’ in the arms of the monster. “Aha! Tricked yooouuu!!” he roared.
“Daaad!” little Sage protested. “No fair! You cheated!!”
“Nuh uh,” Kirano retorted.
“Yeah huh! You used your... your...”
“Telepathy,”
“You used tell-pathy to lie!” Sage glared at him as only an eight-year-old could.
“I didn't lie,”
“You did, too!”
“No, I didn't. Let's go get some ice cream cake,” Kirano grinned as his daughters suddenly lit up. “Come on,”
![[Image: Sage.jpg]](http://rebecca.florizone.com/sig/miscsig/Sage.jpg)