Quote from Mae on October 11, 2019, 4:19 pm

Ulric was on Jackie's heels following closely behind her.
"I was going to say... they eat them." He half muttered to himself, and likely not realizing the full implication of Jackie's musing. He entered the second cabin on a long stride and looked hesitantly up the stairs.

"Isn't Sabrina here?" He asked quietly.

Quote from Indy on October 11, 2019, 9:18 pm

"Is she?" Jackie replied mildly, but not altogether interested. She had moved past the entryway and was glancing up the worn wooden stairs.  There she stopped, like a car that had stalled out at the side of the road.

Dust motes spun in the direct shaft of light from the opened door, not yet closed behind Ulric.  The particles danced in front of her in intricate, chaotic movements, beyond a living mind to predict or guess.  She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, suddenly irritated.

Where would she have gone?  If her sister had left traces of herself behind, it was not smell; the dust motes would have seen to scattering that much far and wide long before their returned. Other odors were in the cabins now, as thick as liquid... Bianca's perfume, the musk of sweat, the earthiness of mud and mildew, the brightness of wood and sealant, the unruly dust, and more if only she had the time...  There was wealth in the information to be had, but it was too many smells for even a lifetime to understand, a magnificent dissonance that fought for her attention more than any forest.  Yet in the same way she'd learned to dissect the individual odors, she could take a step backward from them again, retreating until they were only vague impressions, like shadow puppets on a wall.

She started up the stairs, though her eyes were still closed, and she used the touch of her fingertips to carefully feel her way upwards.  She let the shadow-puppets play guide, though provided no explanation to poor Ulric.  Blindly, she moved along, her fingertips on the wall.  She knew there were many bedrooms at the top, Bianca and Toby at the farthest end. And in the others...

"Sabrina, you say?" she opened her eyes, glancing behind her, "Great, let's go say hi".

In a few long strides she was on the door. If she thought of knocking, it was after she turned the knob.

Quote from Mae on October 12, 2019, 2:32 pm

Poor Ulric followed Jackie up the stairs, not having a mind to take the other staircase while the halls were unoccupied. When he got to the top, however, he glimpsed Toby and Bianca over Jackie's shoulder and was inclined to pause.

"Are you guys going somewhere?" He inquired, noticing the present disposition of the two. In light of the distraction, Ulric failed to follow Jackie any farther for the moment.

Quote from Adriana on October 13, 2019, 1:10 pm

Bianca paused mid rambling and looked up to Ulric, “Yeah-we’re going shopping to stock up the cabins. Actually-“ she took a few steps back up and paused there, “I have a question. Do you know if Alpha Kratos uses a car to get into town? I don’t know how to carry it all back-I mean,” Bianca paused somewhat skeptically, her gaze flittering beyond Ulric. Her thoughts in that exact moment could only be guessed at.

“... I have my license and everything.” She finished, though the last piece of the sentence didn’t quite fit her expression in the moment if that was possible.

Quote from Deleted user on October 21, 2019, 11:09 am

With the silence that ensued, the room was quiet enough the sounds in the hallway could be heard. A few voices were caught, and foot steps- one which was aprouching the door. Saber's eyes watched the sound, his body growing tense by the presence that drew near.

Even before Jackie turned the door knob to enter, Saber instinctively tried to sit up. He was slow, with his arms shaking terribly trying to muster the strength to push his body up. His face practically white, he swayed forward nearly passing out.

Although his outer appearance had little to no traces of the storm he had faced last night thanks to Sabrina's efforts, his whole body was still worn with fatigue from the event and it was openly present; His breath was heavy, his eyes full of exhaustion. He looked half dead, like he could fall to the ground any second, leaving the living just like that.

He knew he needed rest, and if it was up to him he would've stayed put and taken it, but something inside wouldn't let him; It demanded he stay awake- To stay alert. So he watched, completely drained now, at the door to see who would enter.

Quote from Indy on October 30, 2019, 9:51 pm

The door gave easily to the force of her palms.  In one fell swoop it creaked ajar, her first step into the room coming with it.  Such an innocent barrier, that once it had parted, she had not anticipated the war-zone within.  Her eyes wandered around the scene, considering the abandoned salad, the sunny window, and Sabrina's herbs.  She let the scents gather and coalesce like a fine perfume, before at last focussing her attention to the obvious with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh," she replied, as if that was all that was needed to explain why Sabrina had a bedraggled, bedridden werewolf in her posession.  Perhaps it was.  She'd detected something unfamiliar coming from this room, though she hadn't quite known what it was until she'd barged down the door.  At least one mystery was solved.

Then with a shrug, her interest in Saber's existence vanished like her interest in the letter.  In another blink, she recalled her task at hand.

"Sabrina," she hummed, shifting her weight against the doorframe and still holding the doorknob, forcing the door to creak as she shifted, "Do you know what room Melinda stayed in when we kidnapped her?"

 

Quote from Deleted user on October 31, 2019, 1:17 am

Saber gave Jackie just about as much acknowledgement to her presence as she had given to his; He just stared tiredly at her.

Once Jackie said the word "kidnapped" however, his focus was sharply placed back on Sabrina, a glare trying but hardly able to be mustered. His voice came out incredibly slow, like he didn't even have the energy to form words anymore.

" ...Wait, so you've kidnapped before?...... Is that what happened to Tammy?..."

Quote from Mae on October 31, 2019, 1:49 am

Ulric watched Bianca's face keenly as she tried to put her thoughts to word. His own thoughts, cued by her wording, escorted him out the cabin and down the road a little to that day he first arrived on the ranch...

*****

"Does he use a car, Resme?"

The genteel lady in the side-seat of the old car, with her dark hair and lavender-blue necklace, looked across the dash and smiled at the reflection of the young man's face behind the steering wheel.  How beautifully innocent the question was; revealing the timid years of the inquirer. From her dark twinkling eyes, to the creases of her smile, no one could tell how the question contrasted against the memory it invoked in her.
"The last time I saw my son drive a car," she began in a low and contemplative tone. "Was when he was sixteen, and still able to fit the driving seat."

"What do you mean?" The young driver asked, trying hard to focus on the road though his mind was attuned to the woman's soft voice.

It was another innocent question invoking a tumult of emotions. Yet, the woman smiled ever more serenely and a sweet laugh left her lips.
"When he was quite young," she said, "He looked every bit like his father. By the time he left home, however, he had outgrown our little car and Abravious was having a hard time convincing him there was any good use for it."

"Then, he doesn't drive?" Ulric said, glancing at his dear adoptive mother for as long at he dared take his eyes off the road. Resme's eyes had long wandered from his reflection, down to the wildflowers passing by under her window. Yawning fields in wide, green rows spanned out to the trees near the horizon.

"No." Resme said simply, and Ulric thought that somehow... beneath that woman's elegant white countenance there was sadness. He had not time to think of it then, but as the memory came back to mind, he saw her face as if it were yesterday. Her sorrow, so much more apparent now than before, and the care of the years weathered her features... Strange, how it made him long for her.

****

Ulric came back to himself not long after he left, but he was out of touch with the moment so as not to hear anything Jackie asked Sabrina a moment ago, nor the other voice in the room.
"Uhm." He stammered in reply to Bianca, glancing over his shoulder at Jackie, and then, seeing past her. He flinched from view of the door. Was that face at the head of the bed familiar? It couldn't be... at any rate, he didn't know how it could be. Yet, he concealed himself in earnest from sight of the young man and came closer to Bianca.

"I … uh, … I have a car." He whispered, looking over at her. His eyes were sincere, but he looked awfully tired rather suddenly. His face seemed a little paler than a moment ago, and his countenance was more stolid and resolved. It was as if his face drew a blank, but gently he spoke again.
"The keys are in my bedroom, in the writing desk." He said, "I parked the car in the corn field by Zeit's cabin."

Quote from Deleted user on October 31, 2019, 9:31 am

Ulric hadn't spoken soft enough- With his heightened senses and the door ajar now, Saber caught his voice immediately, the familiarity in it making him turn suddenly towards it. But he found nothing; Ulric had already moved out of sight by then.

Saber stood up. Another reflex, not reasoned out. He shakily managed half a second before his legs buckled and he collapsed to the ground. His eyes were closed now, his mind having slipped away, his breath the only movement left from him.

Before his fall however, there was a trace of something in his countenance he had not ever shown before since meeting Sabrina: Fear.