Participants:
| Scene Title | Whispers In The Dark |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Carter plays Mental tag with Abigail from a dark alley. |
| Date | February 23, 2009 |
Staten Island A back alley, and the Happy Daggers, Basement Tenements.
The sun has already slipped below the horizon when Carter makes his way in the direction of the Happy Dagger, and the night life is quickly winding itself up into full swing. So no one pays much attention to the man who steps into the alley a few buildings down from the brothel in order to come up the adjacent one from the back rather than the front. There are plenty of alley lurkers, and this way, Carter hopes to blend in with them to some degree. The lack of a steady and comfortable place to sleep and shower helps, of course.
As he moves alongside the brothel, Carter's mind is focused on the torrent of thoughts that echo inside the walls, bouncing off of them. Whores. Johns. But Carter's interest is not in making money or finding release, but the more morose thoughts of one held captive. Certainly, the filter isn't quite enough. There are plenty kept women in Logan's Pleasure Palace.
Carter steps carefully, his head bent, and tries to focus the direction of his reception toward the basement. That's where the man had said she was. Below the brothel. Like a flashlight in a maze, Carter sweeps. Searching.
How long it takes is unknown, to find the mind, that specific mind that he's looking for. But in the haze of people in the brothel, there's one. It's disjointed, someone tired, about to drift off to sleep. Fears that someones going to come through the door, drag her off again to heal. Which hooker is going to bring her dinner and please god, make it a nice one who will actually wake her up for her meal. GOD I would kill for a coffee right now. A whole pot just pour it down my throat. Please let Richard find everyone that she told him too. Please don't let Logan decide that this was the night to break her in like the hookers had been saying he would at some point. A mental voice he's heard before. Abigail beauchamp, exactly where he said she'd be.
There is a surge of relief when that voice, however faint, reaches Carter's mind. He braces one hand against the wall and tilts his head toward it, but then lets his bag fall on a second thought. Stooping to retrieve it, Carter makes sure to delay his movements.
Abby, He reaches, stretches toward that tired and fearful mind. Abby, it's okay. Don't be scared.
Shock. That and a very alert mind as sleep is abandoned. Then suspicion. Agent… Parkman? It's though, not sent in any particular direction. Just thought, and heavily. In her room, she stiffens below her blanket, back to the wall and the window.
Stay calm, Abby. Carter settles into the familiar feeling of communicating via thoughts rather than spoken words, taking a deep sigh that is part comfort and part relief. I need you to be brave. It's almost like talking to Molly. Your man - Richard - he found me. He doesn't know that though. But he's working to get you out of there. I can come check on you, but I have to be careful here.
You can get through this.
Abby stares off at the wall, swallowing hard. I don't quite know how long I've been here. They took me from in front of where I was staying a new place. They got my name off the registry. Agent Parkman, they have someone who has access to the real registry, i'm Tier 0.. my name, nothing about me is online. They've kept me down here, they bring me out to a warehouse to heal fighters and then they drop me back here. Heavily armed She lets a fast forward version of her trip flicker through her mind for him, let him see the people in the cages. They have Officer Norton Trask. Magnes Varlane. A bunch of others
Shh. Carter has a hard time not exhaling a breath to go along with the entirely mental yet soothing 'sound.' Relax. I can find all out I need to help you and the others if you just relax.
I'm in a locked room in a basement surrounded by whores…. Relax. She tries to do that though, close her eyes, breathe deep. There's others looking for me
But Carter doesn't respond immediately. Instead, he searches Abigail's mind for information. What she's seen and heard. What she knows about the fighting in the Pancratium. Who else is held captive. Who are these men who abducted and now keep her here. it is a difficult task given the physical distance between them, and the young woman's lack of resistance only makes it slightly easier.
Be careful, he finally responds over the link, slowly rising, fearful the connection will break like some strained thread between two cups. Don't tell the others you've heard from me. Keep it secret. I'll check in on you though. Stay strong, okay?
She can't feel him shifting through her mind, but she's sure that he's doing it. Is this how it feels when Telepaths rifle through your mind? She blinks away a few tears as she catches what he's dragging to the surface. Trask in his cage going by the name of Gerard Harris, Magnes, the gravokinetic and his wounds as she heals them. The Pyro who scares her. Logan with his glowing green eyes and how he makes her docile, obey, high as a kite. There's the fights, she's never been to one, just always there after to heal the unwilling, Red Bulls thrust at her. Muldoon and his tingling touch, with his little monkey. There's Bebe, Maya, the conversation with Deckard through the wall. Everything that he wants, that she can provide, he gets.
But then he's talking again, in her mind and without thinking, she nods, not that he can see it. When.. when I get out.. your making me invisible on that list. I can't do this again. I won't go through this again. If they could find me… There's a rise of panic before it's tamped down again. I always thought it would be homeland, or the company that would do this
A bitter sort of smile twinges one corner of Carter's mouth as he rights himself and places a hand in an attempt at comfort on the brothel's wall, though Abby is far below the spot. When you get out, sure. It's as much a promise as he can give at the moment.
We'll talk later. There is no sound that clues Abby in to the fact that Carter has left, only the silence of that other voice in her mind.
And once again she's back to being just herself, in the basement of the brothel. No mysterious voices coming from shadows or playing out in her mind. "later" Abigail murmurs out to the dark room.
 February 23rd: Trust Her |
 February 23rd: Not The Prom Queen |