Jenniffer Ross's Story

Jenniffer stood outside for a moment longer, thinking.
If she strained her mind, she could sort of feel Void there. It was like trying to hear through a thick wall; you could sort of hear through it, but barely.
"Come on, Void," she said. "You're the one who got me into this mess, now you've got to get me out. Please."
Void did not respond.
Jenniffer cursed. "Fine then. If I get killed, it's your fault."
She went into the abandoned restaurant, where she saw Dani's dad, or Epimetheus, as he called himself. Kind of a dorky sounding name, to Jenniffer at least.
She leaned against the wall. "Alright, you win. What do you want?"

Want....? I just want to live... Epimetheus turned back towards Jennifer, time was almost up and they had to move again. He held a bag of take-out in his left hand, food Dani would be starving for when he got to her. Not all of us are strong enough to escape the Aether on our own, Void... To that end we rely solely on Red... The voice sounded almost sad.

Come... Our window of opportunity is almost here. Follow close, dont get ahead of me, and make as little noise as possible. There are precious few instances in this where you live, and if you die, I get thoroughly reprimanded... He stood near the front door, counting down the moments in his head. When it came time to run, he threw the door open and ran. There was an apartment nearby, the owner will step out for a smoke in six minutes and be beheaded by Lugh. They only needed to make it there in time and the mob chasing Jennifer would lose her completely.

Jenniffer stepped out, and was immediately called out. "Look! It's one of them freaks! Get 'er!" shouted a man with a heavy club.
"Crap!" Jenniffer yelped, and quickly dashed over to Epimetheus. She would've flown, but she was too tired, so she ran. By the time she caught up she was panting heavily.
"Where are we going?" she asked between breaths as they dashed, chased by the angry mob.

A man screamed out, alerting everyone to Jennifer's presence. Ah, so it's THIS timeline... Painful Epimetheus hated exercise, but he also hated the Aether, and if he head to pick between the two then he would sprint and sprint. Jennifer followed him, thankfully. He'd hate for all this effort to be meaningless.

Apartment, it should be empty by the time we get there. After that? Up to you. I'm going to see my daughter then... Your parents probably want to see you too. He took a sharp left turn, onto a street that ended in a dead end, barely straight towards the dead-end like it wasn't even there. As he neared the building that closed the street off, the building crumbled. A masker inside had destroyed the structural foundation on accident and laid buried underneath the rubble.

Epimetheus grinned underneath his mask. Right on cue, keep up girl we are reaching our deadline. The apartment was just up ahead, and he could see Lugh land out of the corner of his eye. The door that led to their salvation was in reach, only three timelines were possible now. Epimetheus hoped it wasn't the one where Jennifer tripped.

Jenniffer stopped in her tracks as soon as she heard Epimetheus mention "her parents".
Her father. She'd completely forgotten about him.
Really, it was his fault all of this happened. He's the one who'd beaten her senseless, then when he found her unconscious he dumped her in an alleyway.
Her father. He was probably out in that mob too.
It would be so easy to just kill him. With a snap of her fingers, she could suck him and the angry mob into a black hole. It would be so easy.
But she didn't. She couldn't. Why? Because then she'd be no better than him. No better than him or Red. He hated others, always finding ways to hurt them. She toyed with her powers, using others as playthings against their will.
Jenniffer was not them. Because she knew that with great power comes great responsibility.
She heard Epimetheus tell her to hurry up. "Okay, coming," she said in a bit of a dazed way. And so she hurried along to an uncertain fate.

They loped right into the apartment, one of the residents walked out of the locked entrance to see what was going on and from there it was a breeze. Let's see here... Apartment 1408, he tried the door and it opened easily. The apartment was small and a mess, but that didn't matter. No one had seen them enter, and if they'd made it this far Jennifer would live another day. Epimetheus sunk to the ground, making sure Dani's dinner didn't spill. Jesus, Red... We both know I don't DO physical activity. He tried to catch his breath, but couldn't seem to.

Hey, Jen... stay here for sixty-eight more minutes. After that the mob disperses, and you can leave. Keep a low profile after you leave though... If you attract attention again today, it hurts... Dani wasn't far from here, maybe a half-hour's walk. Epimetheus needed to go check on her. Sooner rather than later. Nemesis had Red's mask and was waiting just outside the Hospital. He wanted, no.... Needed to be there to comfort her. She was a scared human girl alone in a world that had gone crazy and also host to a megalomaniac who hated everything.

"Alright, sir," Jenniffer said. "I'll wait."
Jenniffer flopped down on a stained sofa. She was tired. Very tired. Epimetheus seemed to be as well.
With an effort, Jenniffer took off the mask. It felt like she was naked. She used to be a powerful demigoddess of black holes; now she was just some abused teenage girl, wrapped in burnt toilet paper and scared shitless. She felt so helpless.
And yet, Voidbringer didn't even tell her to stop. Or even say anything as she removed her mask. What had happened to her? Had her giant rage left her catatonic?

Epimetheus waited quietly for a bit, but after almost an hour passed, he stopped and made use of the apartment they were in. Walking into the kitchen, he microwaved Dani's food, re-heating it for delivery. While the food re-heated, he walked over to a window and pushed the blinds aside.

There in the distance, that large red cross? That's the Hospital Dani is at right now. I'm going to go see her. Remember, the guy who lived here is dead, so feel free to stay here for a couple days. No one bothers to check his place, he had no family or friends.... Oh, also try not to be so careless in the future, I won't always be here to guide you out of it. And... I've seen you die enough times already. That was the problem with foresight, sometimes you don't want to see it, but you still have to.

Ding! The microwave chirped that it was done with its task, and Epimetheus re-packaged the food. Six more minutes and Jennifer could leave, he wondered what she would do. There were many paths before her that he saw, but it wasn't his place to interfere. Red would send him back to the Aether if he acted up.

Dani's new Father left, leaving Jennifer alone in a stranger's small apartment, alone with her thoughts. He hoped Voidbringer would come back to her sooner rather than later, something about the future said they needed each other.

Jenniffer sat alone in there for a long time, pondering things.
The odd thing was, Epimetheus seemed to care for her. Not as in "my master will kill me if you die, so I must protect you" but "I'm worried about you, we have mutual need, so let me protect you." It was odd. Just how much allegiance did he owe Red?
After ten minutes, Jenniffer put the mask back on. As she'd expected (but slightly and foolishly hoped to be otherwise), Voidbringer was not there. Fine then, Jenniffer thought. I don't need you. You got me into this whole mess. And besides, what the everloving hell ever happened to "giving me the decision to do whatever I wanted, to not interfere with you"?!
Silence. A small thorn of fear and worry pierced her irrational anger. She was right to be angry: she now had to deal with Red and her cronies (possibly). But what exactly had happened to Voidbringer? What was going on?
Jenniffer stepped out of the apartment, and flew.

* * *

Jenniffer reached her house. It looked the same as always; a big, dark house that loomed over the others like an inky black shadow, like something out of a horror story.
But something felt... off... about her home. Something was different.
Carefully, Jenniffer entered the house. It was quiet. There would usually be the sound of the TV, or her father's muttering and pacing and shouting. She detected no waft of alcohol or cigarette smoke. She did, however, detect other things; a woodsy smell, that almost covered the scent of decay.
She entered the living room, and froze. She saw her father on the ground. Or, at least, it had formerly been her father. He looked like some ravenous beast had eaten into him. She should have felt bad, or sickened, but some steel part of her believed he'd deserved such a cruel fate. It was right.
There was a growl, and Jenniffer turned to see a giant tiger in the nearby bathroom, crouched and ready to spring.
It lunged. Jenniffer yelped and, without thinking, created a black hole. The tiger went right in. It did not come back out.
Jenniffer closed it shakily. Part of her thought Well that was a close call. Another thought What the hell, Jen?! That tiger was probably of an endangered species!!!
She sat down at the couch. She did not know what to do.
After mulling it over a bit, she went upstairs, took off the ratty toilet paper, and put on some fresh, clean clothes - black shirt, white-and-red striped skirt, high socks, sneakers. She went back downstairs, grabbed a backpack, and filled it with food, water, a flashlight, and a first aid kit. Then, she teleported herself to the hospital, walked over to Dani's room, and sat down at Dani's bedside, taking the mask off and stowing it in a bag.
Then she turned to Dani. "How are you doing, Dani?" she asked.

Dani sat in her bed, wistfully looking out a window and thinking about how it all came to this. Kali had been kicked out of the room, according to the staff visiting hours were over, and Dani needed her rest. She hated being alone like this, alone with her thoughts... and Red. Her arm hurt less, it had been set in a cast and she was still on an IV drip of pain-killers. They were supposed to make her sleepy, but she couldn't sleep. Too much had happened, even though she should've been exhausted she just waited, watching the trees sway outside as the wind picked up. A monkey appeared, climbing up the tree, definitely not native to New York.

Suddenly, foot-steps, someone was in her room. Startled, and more than a little scared, she turned to address the noise. "Oh... Thank God..." Her fear turned to relief as she realized the newcomer was Jennifer, and she wasn't dressed like a mummy anymore. It was almost like it had all been a bad dream... Except for her arm, and Jennifer appearing out of thin air. "Jen! What... What happened out there...?"

(OOC Note: For future reference, Jenniffer's name is spelled with two f's. Just thought I'd let you know.)

"All of Red's cronies came for me," Jenniffer explained to Dani. "I was hard-pressed, because while I could've just dropped them into a black hole, there were innocent people behind those masks, and I didn't want to hurt them. They hurt me, though, so I had to break for it..." Jenniffer paused, biting her lip. "Jenniffer. You're dad. He's one of them. He works for Red."

Dani nodded, listening quietly to Jenniffer's explanation of what had transpired since she was committed to the Hospital.

"Dani. Your dad. He's one of them. He works for Red."

She bit her lip, it wasn't like her father and her were very close. In fact, she practically hated her father. She had always resented him for ignoring her so much, but living with someone who worked for Red was something she was uncertain of. Dani grumbled, "Good riddance, my absentee dad had it coming..."

Deep down, however she was worried about what that might mean. Her father had brought her food just a little bit ago. She thought it was odd, but this was also the first time she ended up in a Hospital, so she shrugged it off. Hearing Jen's explanation of why he did was... chilling.

Suddenly, Dani started missing school and her classmates. She missed being Vice President of the Student Body and not having to worry about all this Aether monster crap. She turned to stare back out the window, "I wonder if all of our classmates are alright. I wonder what happened to Kali, Alonis, Jake...."

"Well, from the word on the street..." Jenniffer paused. "Well, I wouldn't know what happened to Kali, but Alonis and Mason apparently ran off after Jake after he let all the animals out of the zoo. They're running amok. Some tiger also apparently got into my house and ate my dad." She shrugged. "Bastard deserved it. It's really his fault I got like this anyways."

OOC - Oh, uh, umm, I missed fact that you two wrote, sorry, tried to make quick post, I hope it will make sense ^^

It’s been a while since Kali saw Jennifer or Dani… or anyone. Last events were annoying from her point of view, but to be more precise it was a hell for normal people, and police… that tried to control the uncontrollable chaos. Men with masks, animals – it all could get worse, for there surely was a third party in all of this, but for now she had to visit Dani, who still resides in hospital.

She still knows little about Dani, just her hobbies and basic behavior patterns… too little, yet she cares. Most would surely see it as a weird thing, but then again… she’s already nuts enough thanks to the way she sees world, and with strange man as companion – man who happens to be her parasite.

She kept on walking, towards now close destination – hospital.

Walking is pleasant and annoying at times, for each living being gets bored and tired of it, with time – is what she thought as she walked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inside everyone was busy, Kali had to check where Dani rested herself. Stepping into forbidden places while everyone is hurrying off to somewhere, was an easy part… part that could have been avoided if not for the fact that not one person could spare a minute for Kali, for her question about Dani’s whereabouts.

Reaching room was no small feat, thanks to how many people got wounded by animals earlier, but Kali managed to find her way into Dani’s room, or rather door, from behind which she heard Jenniffer.

"Well, from the word on the street..." She heard, and continued to listen. Only to enter once words about dad were spoken.

“No one deserves death, no matter how much you despise them.” Her hands were clenched, her features bit sharper – anger was the best guess by the look of it.

Then…

She realized it, and took a deep breath.

“Sorry, I usually get angry whenever such topic is brought up… how are you two?”

Jenniffer looked surprised to see Kali there. "Oh. Err, it's alright. I'm fine, we were just talking about you... Dani, you're doing alright here at the hospital, right?" She looked at Dani, a hint of worry in her eyes.

Kali chuckled, seeing how Jenniffer reacted, she knew that they talked about her at least a bit – she eavesdropped after all. More important was question, that Jenniffer asked – how was Dani doing.

“Good question, I wonder about that too…” She muttered.

Dani whimpered slightly at the thought of Jen's dad being eaten by a tiger, it sounded so visceral and violent, she was uncertain what someone would have to do to deserve something like that. However, it was nice having company, she was alone a lot when she was home, which is why she enjoyed going out so much. Being stuck in a hospital bed was too akin to being stuck at home, with oppressive loneliness. Which is why she was overjoyed when Kali came back.

Jenniffer asked how Dani was doing. Which brought out a feeling of ambivalence, Dani wasn't quite sure how she was doing. Things had been so hectic and now she was stuck in a hospital while the world lost its mind. Who was planning the School Dance while she was out? "I'm fine I guess, a bit bored sometimes," she lied. There was no reason to make anyone stress. "What about you two...? Jen's an orphan now, and Kali.... How's your dad... He hasn't ran into any... Maskers?" She shuddered, the last word causing bile to rise in her throat. Red had been silent for to long... She was plotting something.

“With your mixe- ah, sorry that’s not an answer to your question…” She paused.

Kali could not believe that Dani was fine, she couldn’t be fine, for who would be fine after all that happened? Nonetheless there was nothing that could be done to change what already happened, what is left is present… or rather that’s what she wanted to be focused on.

“He did, well we did, my dad and I… stumbled upon few masked people, the worst one of them all was… able to spit acid. My dad’s hand is still in bad shape - luckily just hand, that he used to hold a gun. Could be worse…” She smiled weakly.

Masked people, thieves - thanks to them police had hands full. Amidst all of this her father and a friend - Kevin Dent, who still needs to receive notes they talked about. Kali wondered whether she should mention others or not, but considering how things are, what kind of behavior people have during such chaos… it’s a bad idea.

“Police… well, there are a lot of them, masked people I mean, and thieves. All that now has to be tackled by police, and other organizations… I’m quite sure it will be fine, sooner or later.” She lied with a smile.

“I’m not sure when you’ll get back to school, but you will… “ Kali felt strange while saying it, as if she was outside of own body, watching, rather than being the one who says it…

Why it was like that, she couldn’t know, but she had a feeling that Dani’s return to school was only one of many possible options, leading to particular set of events in future.

Jenniffer looked at Kali sadly. "Look, Kal, I don't mean to be brutally honest or anything, but I'm fairly certain that things will not be fine for quite a while, if ever. We don't even know if this is just happening with us in Boundary Bay, or in other places too."
Her fists clenched. "In any case, things will definitely be different. Who knows? The president or someone might even impose a law to monitor the activities of teens to make sure they don't do anything like this again. Though that would violate quite a few things... But it may just happen, and people like Red and the other criminals aren't helping to raise the populace's opinion." She sighed. "And then there's also that thing about Jake letting all the animals out of the zoo. That will take a while to clean up. I wonder what happened to Mason and Alonis, too..."

Dani grew quiet, listening to Kali and Jenniffer explain what the outside world was currently like. Kali's father had been injured by a masker. She couldn't help but wonder if the Masker had been brought here by Red, or what Red was up to. Was she really just trying to plunge the world into chaos? As for the police, Dani was uncertain how many of them could even be trusted. Two of them already she'd seen firsthand turned to Maskers.

That is, if the police could even handle the situation. It was probably only a matter of time before the army was called in, martial law imposed. She fought back a shudder, her world was collapsing around her, and it was mostly her fault. Her's and Red's... Would school even be the same once she got back?

Jenniffer didn't seem confident anything would return to normal, a sentiment Dani found herself both sharing and terrified of having. Maybe life under martial law wouldn't be so bad? She hoped, but just barely, she had a feeling it would be sort of awful. Maybe that's the price for safety though, especially now...

"I wonder what happened to Mason and Alonis, too..."

"Yeah... Me too. I hope they're alright... Alonis's mask seemed... reckless...."

Tut, tut darling, things will all be fine soon enough. We're ready to move on to the next stage of our plans. There it was again, Red's quiet scheming voice. The voice who'd, indirectly, put her in this hospital. The voice who promised to heal her arm completely. The voice that had stolen her parents away and... Gave me better parents? Dani was confused, so very confused. "Maybe... Maybe I need to help fix things..." She said quietly, to nobody in particular.