Participants:
| Scene Title | A Goodnight To Lost Love |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Ethan shares Danielle's last meal before allowing her to sleep. |
| Date | Thursday December 18th, 2008 |
A field…
The van stops, the engine being killed as well as the momentum that had been ever present until now. Momentum, the steady hum of the engine, things that had been a constant in Dani's life suddenly shattered. How quickly things can be broken off like that. Dani will find herself in the back of a van, bound and gagged as she has been most of the time lately. Silence dwells in the back of the van until, the sound of the door clicking, being slammed shut. And then the back doors of the van open…
"'Ello love." Comes the cockney accent that Danielle would be familiar with by now. The Brit stands just outside the van, steam puffing out of his mouth into the cold night air. Outside is stars… They're not in the city. "Come on out love." Ethan instructs simply.
The brunette's gone numb by now…numb in several parts of her body, numb in her emotions. She looks out at the stars, then to Ethan. She stands…slowly and with difficulty; she hasn't done a lot of walking in this last week. Out she goes. "So this is it, huh?…" Her voice is quiet.
"Your friends 'ave decided one life is more important than another Dani. I 'ave to stick by the promises I make." Ethan informs coldly as he shuts the back doors of the van. His black boots pushing down on the crisp and moist green grass below. All around them is.. nothing. Fields, trees, skies, and stars. "You're a beautiful girl Danielle." Ethan tells her quietly. "It's sad, it 'as to end this way. I'm sure you've led a beautiful life." He doesn't say he's sad just that it is sad. "Lookin' back on your life Danielle. I'm interested. Do you 'ave regrets?"
She looks up at the sky, a long moment, blinking her eyes to get potential tears under control. "Several. Not the least of which is getting kidnapped by you guys." There's a cynical humor to it. It's always been her defense mechanism, right up to the end. "Do I get a last request?" She blinks a few times and looks back to him, finally.
"Take a seat." Ethan informs gently. Stepping away from her, the man goes to the passenger door of the van. Opening up the shotgun door, a white paper bag is retrieved. And the door is closed. The brit walks back over to the woman and goes to take a seat across of her in the grass. An object is produced from the bag. It's not a gun, not a knife. It's a hamburger, wrapped in white paper. Once she's seated he'll toss it in her lap then go to free her hands. "You can make your last request, I won't guarantee I can fulfill it."
Hand. She looks at the bag. "I can't eat. I appreciate the thought, but I'd vomit." she says, matter-of-factly. "I'd like a pen and paper…the chance to write a message for Cat. If you could see she gets it. You can look at it; there won't be any codes or secrets. I'd just…like a chance to say goodbye."
"I need you to eat, Dani." Ethan insists. "Tradition. One last meal." The man says, going to pull a pen out of his shirt pocket. "After you eat the 'amburger. I'll let you write your note after you eat the 'amburger." The Wolf says, giving her a sympathetic look. The pen is placed on his leg. "You do me a favor, and I'll do you one."
She looks to him. "I'll try." She really does think she'll throw it up. Despite any external pretense of calm, she's a whirlwind of emotion inside, now that it's time. She unwraps it with shaking fingers, and takes a bite.
Despite that he is actually in the act of killing her, the man goes to his feet in a crouch. Raising one hand Ethan places it on her shoulder, in a soothing manner. Whether a soothing hand of a killer would make her more steady or all the more turbulent, is up in the air. He unwraps his own
She laughs just a bit..it nears in on hysteria before she manages to rein it in. "No. No, the only trouble here is getting anything down." But she's trying to do her best to do that. A deal's a deal. "I'd like to say thank you, but given that you're about to kill me, I kinda think it would come off fake, you know?"
"What isn't fake these days." Ethan mutters, releasing her shoulder he falls back into a sitting position. Pulling his leg up, he places his elbow on his knee, lounging. He continues to eat his hamburger as he converses and watches her. "This 'ole fuckin' world is fake, Dani. We spend time with people we don't want to, we pretend to like them, we pretend to be polite to people we don't care about." He gives a little shrug. "Sometimes though.. Someiimes you'll find that person that doesn't make you gag to be around them. That doesn't make you want to shoot your own brains out. I believe that's what they call love. You ever find that person Danielle?"
Dani smiles just a little. She finishes the last of the burger…yes, she gulped it down, but she figured it was the only way she'd GET it down. "Like to think I did. Which is why the note." She looks back to Ethan, and her eyes well up again. She looks skywards till she can rein it in. "Okay. I lived up to my end."
Ethan picks up the pen, handing it over to the woman. "Use the wrapper to write on." The Wolf instructs her. Lounging easily across from her. LIke he has no care in the world. Just sitting in a field with a friend. Killing her.
"I found that person too, Dani." He says softly, raising his gaze through the moonlight. "She was taken from me. Just like I'm taking you from someone." He tilts his head. "But if you did find that person, Danielle… That was a life well lived." As Danielle goes to write her note, she will find the affects of the poison already settling in.
She looks back to him…and then feels the lethargy…and the burning sensation. "Poison?" she asks. "Figured you'd…use a bullet." But she starts writing, as quickly as she can, trying to get as much of it down as she can before…well…before she can't. The situation isn't ideal. But it's going to have to suffice. Minutes pass, as she writes. Finally the pen slides out of her fingers. "Can't…keep hold." Her fingers have gone numb on her. The words are a little slurred, too. Not long now.
Going to his feet, the man strides forward. Leaning down, he goes to grip Dani gently by the shoulder, slowly lowering her back from a seated position to laying down. "Easy love. It's time to sleep." Comes the soothing words. "I'll give it to Cat." Leaning forward the man whispers in the woman's ear gently.
"Goodnight, Danielle."
She doesn't have the strength anymore to fight him. And who knows; in this last moment, maybe she wouldn't. It was an easy way to go; as easy as could be managed. There are worse ones. Her eyes close, and the wrapper, held down with the useless stump of her other hand, slides free. On it are the last words she could write.
Cat,
This isn't the best way to write a last message. But it's the only one I have. Don't blame yourself. And don't hold guilt. This is the result of my actions, and I'm more glad than I can say that you didn't have to pay for my mistake. My things are yours, not that there's much of them. There's so much I want to say, but I don't have a lot of writing space. And not a lot of time, I think. I won't ask you to remember me. I know you'll do that. But remember the good things. Remember the good times. And don't let my parents know the details, if you can. They wouldn't understand. I love you, Cat. And I'm sorry we didn't have more time together. Find someone else. Live well." The last of it dissolves into unreadable blur, where she couldn't hold the pen, anymore. For better or worse, a last memoir.
The body is laid down gently, two gloved fingers skimming across the woman's skin to close her eyes slowly. The man places the hamburger note in his pocket, as he goes back to the van for just a moment. A red canister. Gasoline is dumped all over the body. Before it is dropped next to it.
Then a lighter is produced, quickly snapped on, it is dropped onto the body. And like that, Danielle is in flames. The only thing remaining of her last thoughts written on the wrapper of a Burger King burger, which was the instrument of her death…
The flames roar up and for a moment the wrapper levitates over the new fire. For a moment…
Kathryn…
The note is pocketed, the man making his way back into the van. Leaving the body to burn in a lonely field….
 December 18th: Speed Dating |
 December 18th: How Not to Eavesdrop |