Post by Victoria Alexander on Mar 17, 2009 22:21:50 GMT 1
((Ooc-A.B After Bombing))
*Knock. Knock. Knock.*
The loud pounding seemed to come from outside rather from inside her head. The insufferable nausea hitting Victoria as she did not budge. It was bad enough the room was spinning should she try to lift her head. Burying her head under her pillow she could still hear the pounding. It seemed to creep into her brain and make each thud a painful experience.
She didn’t hear the silence that followed as Tak made his way through the door. Thanks to a good bribe to her maintenance man. Tak made his way through the small apartment. Trash and bottles strewn about. Stepping through the bedroom doorway his eyes would move down on the bed. Only a leg would be visible under the blankets and pillows that seemed bunched over a form.
“Jesus Crist Victoria Get up.”
His voice sounded like a hammer to her brain as she grumbled, her arm coming out from under the covers and over her head to press the pillow further down on her head as if to block him out.
“No.”
She barely made audible as she mumbled. Her hangover making everything seem so loud and irritable.
Tak didn’t have the patience. It had been three days since the school bombing and Victoria hadn’t returned any of his calls or answer her door each time he would come knocking. Taking the liberty he walked towards the bed and pulled at the blankets exposing her to the cold chill of the evening.
Victoria curled more into a ball to keep her exposed skin from freezing. Her body only being covered by a shirt and underwear that she had changed into three days before. Taking her arm off of her head she went searching without looking, for the blankets with an unsatisfied grunt.
“Go away Tak.”
Without hesitation Tak scooped her out of the bed, taking her body into his arms. Her kicking and screaming wildly didn’t seem to stop or detour him using a majority of her energy in doing so.
Kicking in the bathroom door he dropped her into the tub, she laid there with her eyes closed and her chin pressed on her chest. She looked drugged or rather dead drunk as he quickly turned on the cold water.
“O HOLY HELL. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK.”
Victoria cursed over and over trying to get herself out of the tub seemingly looking as if she were a beached whale, drowning in the spray of water, her hands trying to block the water from hitting her. Helpless and looking rather pathetic.
Finally Victoria seemed to get her bearings, moving across the tub quickly turning off the water. Her lips now blue and her teeth chattering.
“What the hell Tak I said leave me the fuck alone!”
It wasn’t soon after the end of her sentence did she break into another set of fresh tears. Sitting in the tub with her clothes now wet. Her tears seemed to prick her skin as if they were scolding hot, running down her face. She couldn’t help herself.
Victoria had learned the death toll of the bombings. Yes, by this time she had also learned that both Paragon and Hircine were both involve. It wasn’t a coincidence. She knew the school board had something to do with this. It wasn’t hard to see through the scheme. Not with her past experiences back with Varron. She knew how cold men with power could be. It was contracted, no doubt about it. Even thou she didn’t have proof she wasn’t going to back down on her conclusion.
Tak wrapped a towel around Victoria but she was quick to brushed him off as she pushed him out of the way and found her head to the toilet that sat next to the tub. Violently throwing up any booze she had consumed earlier in the day. It ended in dry heaves as she spit and moved to the edge of the bathtub. The porcelain seemed to stick to her skin. Her body weakened, barely able to do much but just lay there while her mind reeling a mile a minute. She tried to drowned her mind for the past three days with booze, locking herself into her own apartment. It seemed to worked for a while, she didn’t remember the past two days. For all she knew they couldn’t have ever happened. But she knew they did.
Tak seemed to disappear, coming back with a hot cup of tea. It was probably the strongest thing in the house other than the half of case of beer that stood in the middle of her living room floor. Putting it into her face he seemed to force her into drinking it while handing her some migraine medication. She barely took two sips before dropping the cup on the floor.
“Damn it Victoria. You look pretty damn pathetic right now. Come on get up.”
She seemed to ignore him as he lifted her with ease out of the tub. Her limp body now in his arms as he made his way back to the bedroom. Laying her on the bed he shook his head and moved to her dressers pulling out anything to get her out of her wet clothing.
“Come on Vic, sit up. I shouldn’t have to treat you like a child.”
She grumbled as she pulled her torso off of the bed, sitting on the edge as her head was still bowed down to the floor. It pounded loud enough that she was sure Tak could hear it. Tak moved over to her and pulled the wet shirt over her head. It hadn’t been the first time he had seen her naked but it had been a while.
“Come on, arms up. That’s it.”
He pulled the shirt over her head and covered her in a nice warm long sleeved shirt. If she wasn’t feeling the pain now she was surely going to feel it later. Having her now in pants, shirt and socks, she was fully dressed as he made her lay in the bed and covered her up to her chin with the blanket.
Sitting at the edge he spoke softly.
“Your not going to keep doing this are you?”
“Im not doing anything to hurt you Tak so why should you care..”
“I care because no matter how hard you try Vic you will never be able to save the world. And numbing yourself with alcohol isn’t the way to go about this. You can push me away but I will still always be here. I will keep my promise to you no matter what you say.”
She grumbled.
“I’m not trying to save the world. Im just trying to save the 500 plus students. O wait, my bad, 300 plus students.”
Tak was not amused with her joke, he was aware of just how many students lost their lives just like she was.
“Haven’t you learned from before that shit happens and there’s nothing you could have done to stop it.”
She blurted after him barely letting him finish his sentence.
“But I could have, I could have made sure all the cameras were active. That more doors were secure, that there was constant security making rounds in areas. I could have been there!”
“Victoria, stop it.”
She cried. Her voice quaked and shivered as she spoke. She couldn’t help but cry.
“I can’t. Everyone else can go on happy honky dory, thanking whoever the hell they want to for sparing their life.
“Shuya practically looked at me as if I was over reacting, like a child that day. I can’t help it he doesn’t have a soul and is lifeless. I do. I care. I care for everything. I wanted those students to grow up having some self worth and amounting to what I can’t. I wanted them to be able..”
By now she was crying so hard her voice was barely audible. Her whole body shaking as she curled herself once again into a fetal position under the covers. She was so sick of everyone dying around her. Knowing that even if she could go back in time and try to change things that fate had a way of making things happen against her.
Victoria tried to calm herself down as she took deep breaths. She still felt nauseated and her head was throbbing more than ever. She was never going to escape what happened. She knew she had to face it strait on, but she didn’t know how. She never knew how. Tak had always been there for her while she figured things like this out and he was here now.
“What should I do?”
Her voice was small and it still quivered slightly as she looked wide-eyed her eyes bloodshot at Tak who still sat on the edge of the bed.
“I don’t know Vic. I already talked to Jackson. He’s been looking into the School Board and he’s come up empty handed. There is no money trail coming from the school board to suggest that they had paid a contract.”
Victoria rubbed her head in pain before wiping her face, tears still flowing down her cheeks uncontrollably, soaking her pillow.
“They’re not that stupid. They probably gave who ever it was some other form of compensation knowing that if someone should get a whiff in their direction the books would be the first place they would look. Business men or not, they aren’t stupid. Thou it would have been a nice thought to think they would have been complete idiots.”
“The only thing we can do is try to figure out who done it. I have the police report along with the fire departments theory of where the bomb was actually placed. I emailed them over to Jackson and he’s been chewing them over. He went spastic when I forgot a page.”
She was barely able to smirk before squinting in pain.
“I don’t feel sorry for you Vic. You done it to yourself.”
“I know..”
Tak took Vic’s phone out of his pocket and then handed it over.
“I tried calling but you turned your phone off. Don’t you think you should check your messages?”
Victoria took her phone in hand and then dropped it on the bed. She didn’t want to know who all called her. She knew Damien of all people would be a majority of the missed calls. She couldn’t answer the phone when she seen his name come up afterwards. He was alive and she was grateful but she couldn’t talk with anyone and she didn’t want him to see her break down. She was a mess and knew it. Once this was out of her system she could face him.
“You should call him.”
Victoria looked at Tak questionably as if he just read her mind.
“I don’t know what your talking about.”
She tried to play it off but Tak knew her better than she knew herself.
“I know you spend your time with someone Victoria. I’m not stupid. And if I didn’t just barrel through your door. Im sure he would have if he knew you like I do.”
Victoria turned her body on the bed, putting her back towards Tak.
“He doesn’t know me and Im glad for it. It’s nothing that serious Tak.”
She could hear him chuckle as his arm would pull her body across the bed and towards him. She tensed up and hung onto the blankets as she kept facing away from him. Her back now bumped against his waist.
“If you say so. But keep in mind that he might not feel the same, he may think that this is serious. You’re a charming woman Victoria. God knows I fell for you when I first laid eyes on you when you were 16 and that was when you were still scrawny. You were still so strong and stubborn. God your stubbornness.
“So just remember that this guy that you have been spending time with, he needs to know that it’s going to be a two way street. He might not force your hand like I do. Because I know better and I go and do it anyhow.”
She grunted in disagreement. But he was right.
“And if you don’t wanna connect in that level just yet you gotta tell him. Guys are just as bad as girls when it comes to assuming. I know the shit that you went through as a kid and now as an adult and I understand why you do the things you do. But if you wanna make things work with this guy. You gotta be truthful with him and tell him strait.”
He patted her arm.
“Okay. I’ll be back tomorrow. You better be bright eyed and bushy tailed when I get here. We gotta clean this pigsty.”
She could feel him lean over and plant a kiss on the top of her head.
“Im serious Vic. Call him.”
She didn’t say anything as she felt the bed lift from where he was sitting. She thought about what he had said. She shouldn’t hide from Damien but she didn’t want to rely on him. She was again being selfish.
Reaching behind her she could feel the hard plastic phone behind her. Grabbing it she flipped it open and pushed the on button. Trying to block out the pounding sounds of the chime as it seemed four times louder, she squinted onto the screen. Pushing the speed dial on the phone. She gritted her teeth as she let it ring into her ear. She would only say one thing when he would pick up.
“Can you come over?”
*Knock. Knock. Knock.*
The loud pounding seemed to come from outside rather from inside her head. The insufferable nausea hitting Victoria as she did not budge. It was bad enough the room was spinning should she try to lift her head. Burying her head under her pillow she could still hear the pounding. It seemed to creep into her brain and make each thud a painful experience.
She didn’t hear the silence that followed as Tak made his way through the door. Thanks to a good bribe to her maintenance man. Tak made his way through the small apartment. Trash and bottles strewn about. Stepping through the bedroom doorway his eyes would move down on the bed. Only a leg would be visible under the blankets and pillows that seemed bunched over a form.
“Jesus Crist Victoria Get up.”
His voice sounded like a hammer to her brain as she grumbled, her arm coming out from under the covers and over her head to press the pillow further down on her head as if to block him out.
“No.”
She barely made audible as she mumbled. Her hangover making everything seem so loud and irritable.
Tak didn’t have the patience. It had been three days since the school bombing and Victoria hadn’t returned any of his calls or answer her door each time he would come knocking. Taking the liberty he walked towards the bed and pulled at the blankets exposing her to the cold chill of the evening.
Victoria curled more into a ball to keep her exposed skin from freezing. Her body only being covered by a shirt and underwear that she had changed into three days before. Taking her arm off of her head she went searching without looking, for the blankets with an unsatisfied grunt.
“Go away Tak.”
Without hesitation Tak scooped her out of the bed, taking her body into his arms. Her kicking and screaming wildly didn’t seem to stop or detour him using a majority of her energy in doing so.
Kicking in the bathroom door he dropped her into the tub, she laid there with her eyes closed and her chin pressed on her chest. She looked drugged or rather dead drunk as he quickly turned on the cold water.
“O HOLY HELL. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK.”
Victoria cursed over and over trying to get herself out of the tub seemingly looking as if she were a beached whale, drowning in the spray of water, her hands trying to block the water from hitting her. Helpless and looking rather pathetic.
Finally Victoria seemed to get her bearings, moving across the tub quickly turning off the water. Her lips now blue and her teeth chattering.
“What the hell Tak I said leave me the fuck alone!”
It wasn’t soon after the end of her sentence did she break into another set of fresh tears. Sitting in the tub with her clothes now wet. Her tears seemed to prick her skin as if they were scolding hot, running down her face. She couldn’t help herself.
Victoria had learned the death toll of the bombings. Yes, by this time she had also learned that both Paragon and Hircine were both involve. It wasn’t a coincidence. She knew the school board had something to do with this. It wasn’t hard to see through the scheme. Not with her past experiences back with Varron. She knew how cold men with power could be. It was contracted, no doubt about it. Even thou she didn’t have proof she wasn’t going to back down on her conclusion.
Tak wrapped a towel around Victoria but she was quick to brushed him off as she pushed him out of the way and found her head to the toilet that sat next to the tub. Violently throwing up any booze she had consumed earlier in the day. It ended in dry heaves as she spit and moved to the edge of the bathtub. The porcelain seemed to stick to her skin. Her body weakened, barely able to do much but just lay there while her mind reeling a mile a minute. She tried to drowned her mind for the past three days with booze, locking herself into her own apartment. It seemed to worked for a while, she didn’t remember the past two days. For all she knew they couldn’t have ever happened. But she knew they did.
Tak seemed to disappear, coming back with a hot cup of tea. It was probably the strongest thing in the house other than the half of case of beer that stood in the middle of her living room floor. Putting it into her face he seemed to force her into drinking it while handing her some migraine medication. She barely took two sips before dropping the cup on the floor.
“Damn it Victoria. You look pretty damn pathetic right now. Come on get up.”
She seemed to ignore him as he lifted her with ease out of the tub. Her limp body now in his arms as he made his way back to the bedroom. Laying her on the bed he shook his head and moved to her dressers pulling out anything to get her out of her wet clothing.
“Come on Vic, sit up. I shouldn’t have to treat you like a child.”
She grumbled as she pulled her torso off of the bed, sitting on the edge as her head was still bowed down to the floor. It pounded loud enough that she was sure Tak could hear it. Tak moved over to her and pulled the wet shirt over her head. It hadn’t been the first time he had seen her naked but it had been a while.
“Come on, arms up. That’s it.”
He pulled the shirt over her head and covered her in a nice warm long sleeved shirt. If she wasn’t feeling the pain now she was surely going to feel it later. Having her now in pants, shirt and socks, she was fully dressed as he made her lay in the bed and covered her up to her chin with the blanket.
Sitting at the edge he spoke softly.
“Your not going to keep doing this are you?”
“Im not doing anything to hurt you Tak so why should you care..”
“I care because no matter how hard you try Vic you will never be able to save the world. And numbing yourself with alcohol isn’t the way to go about this. You can push me away but I will still always be here. I will keep my promise to you no matter what you say.”
She grumbled.
“I’m not trying to save the world. Im just trying to save the 500 plus students. O wait, my bad, 300 plus students.”
Tak was not amused with her joke, he was aware of just how many students lost their lives just like she was.
“Haven’t you learned from before that shit happens and there’s nothing you could have done to stop it.”
She blurted after him barely letting him finish his sentence.
“But I could have, I could have made sure all the cameras were active. That more doors were secure, that there was constant security making rounds in areas. I could have been there!”
“Victoria, stop it.”
She cried. Her voice quaked and shivered as she spoke. She couldn’t help but cry.
“I can’t. Everyone else can go on happy honky dory, thanking whoever the hell they want to for sparing their life.
“Shuya practically looked at me as if I was over reacting, like a child that day. I can’t help it he doesn’t have a soul and is lifeless. I do. I care. I care for everything. I wanted those students to grow up having some self worth and amounting to what I can’t. I wanted them to be able..”
By now she was crying so hard her voice was barely audible. Her whole body shaking as she curled herself once again into a fetal position under the covers. She was so sick of everyone dying around her. Knowing that even if she could go back in time and try to change things that fate had a way of making things happen against her.
Victoria tried to calm herself down as she took deep breaths. She still felt nauseated and her head was throbbing more than ever. She was never going to escape what happened. She knew she had to face it strait on, but she didn’t know how. She never knew how. Tak had always been there for her while she figured things like this out and he was here now.
“What should I do?”
Her voice was small and it still quivered slightly as she looked wide-eyed her eyes bloodshot at Tak who still sat on the edge of the bed.
“I don’t know Vic. I already talked to Jackson. He’s been looking into the School Board and he’s come up empty handed. There is no money trail coming from the school board to suggest that they had paid a contract.”
Victoria rubbed her head in pain before wiping her face, tears still flowing down her cheeks uncontrollably, soaking her pillow.
“They’re not that stupid. They probably gave who ever it was some other form of compensation knowing that if someone should get a whiff in their direction the books would be the first place they would look. Business men or not, they aren’t stupid. Thou it would have been a nice thought to think they would have been complete idiots.”
“The only thing we can do is try to figure out who done it. I have the police report along with the fire departments theory of where the bomb was actually placed. I emailed them over to Jackson and he’s been chewing them over. He went spastic when I forgot a page.”
She was barely able to smirk before squinting in pain.
“I don’t feel sorry for you Vic. You done it to yourself.”
“I know..”
Tak took Vic’s phone out of his pocket and then handed it over.
“I tried calling but you turned your phone off. Don’t you think you should check your messages?”
Victoria took her phone in hand and then dropped it on the bed. She didn’t want to know who all called her. She knew Damien of all people would be a majority of the missed calls. She couldn’t answer the phone when she seen his name come up afterwards. He was alive and she was grateful but she couldn’t talk with anyone and she didn’t want him to see her break down. She was a mess and knew it. Once this was out of her system she could face him.
“You should call him.”
Victoria looked at Tak questionably as if he just read her mind.
“I don’t know what your talking about.”
She tried to play it off but Tak knew her better than she knew herself.
“I know you spend your time with someone Victoria. I’m not stupid. And if I didn’t just barrel through your door. Im sure he would have if he knew you like I do.”
Victoria turned her body on the bed, putting her back towards Tak.
“He doesn’t know me and Im glad for it. It’s nothing that serious Tak.”
She could hear him chuckle as his arm would pull her body across the bed and towards him. She tensed up and hung onto the blankets as she kept facing away from him. Her back now bumped against his waist.
“If you say so. But keep in mind that he might not feel the same, he may think that this is serious. You’re a charming woman Victoria. God knows I fell for you when I first laid eyes on you when you were 16 and that was when you were still scrawny. You were still so strong and stubborn. God your stubbornness.
“So just remember that this guy that you have been spending time with, he needs to know that it’s going to be a two way street. He might not force your hand like I do. Because I know better and I go and do it anyhow.”
She grunted in disagreement. But he was right.
“And if you don’t wanna connect in that level just yet you gotta tell him. Guys are just as bad as girls when it comes to assuming. I know the shit that you went through as a kid and now as an adult and I understand why you do the things you do. But if you wanna make things work with this guy. You gotta be truthful with him and tell him strait.”
He patted her arm.
“Okay. I’ll be back tomorrow. You better be bright eyed and bushy tailed when I get here. We gotta clean this pigsty.”
She could feel him lean over and plant a kiss on the top of her head.
“Im serious Vic. Call him.”
She didn’t say anything as she felt the bed lift from where he was sitting. She thought about what he had said. She shouldn’t hide from Damien but she didn’t want to rely on him. She was again being selfish.
Reaching behind her she could feel the hard plastic phone behind her. Grabbing it she flipped it open and pushed the on button. Trying to block out the pounding sounds of the chime as it seemed four times louder, she squinted onto the screen. Pushing the speed dial on the phone. She gritted her teeth as she let it ring into her ear. She would only say one thing when he would pick up.
“Can you come over?”
