[Deleted]

live fast, die young

wearing

556w

This had been one hell of a great night. She'd gone out for the first time in weeks to treat herself at a club, went dancing, drinking, harmless flirting. There was something about flashing neon strobes and bass rocking your bones that made you feel a different kind of alive. Ethereal, almost. Coryelle was at least a little spiritual in the fact that though she didn't know at all what to believe, she knew there was some hella-good positive energy near any DJ's table that she could dance by. She'd always had an ear for good jams, crowd-reading like a pro to tell what the people needed in their beat evolution for the night. If she knew what the hell she was doing or even how to start learning, DJing had always sounded like a solid job path. But she didn't. So, it was back to square one with weed legalization now that she couldn't deal.. Well, unless she wanted to start banking some heavier stuff, but that was way more dangerous and frankly freaked her out a bit.

Exiting the club, Cory had a girl's arms wrapped around her shoulders and neck as the blonde stumbled onto the sidewalk and half-pulled her with. "Woahhh, easy easy, okay! Here we are," she chuckled, waving down a cab, "let's get you home." Though she weakly whined and protested, Cory eventually got the drunken girl to sit inside the cab and helped search for her wallet to hand the cabbie payment in advance. The cab drove off, she set her hands into her pockets, and turned around to start her walk home with an eye roll and an amused expression. Well, she hadn't wanted a dull night. "Careful what you wish for," her thoughts chimed in. Ah well, the dancing had been a blast. Next: a shower, a joint, and passing out to Netflix. Not a half bad night. Not half bad at all.

"I said get the fuck down!" a hushed, aggravated voice made her head turn with a quirked eyebrow down the alley towards the small, enclosed parking lot to a private apartment area. There were a handful of men and only one not wearing black - rather, a casual business attire - and Cory dropped her head with a sigh. "C'mon, really?...Shit," a hand went into the pocket of her jacket, pulling out a pair of gloves and stretching them over her hands. She forced herself to turn down the alley and, as soon as she was out of the sidewalk's straight line-of-sight, she flashed past the one with the knife in his hand and punched him so fast and hard on the side of the jaw that he basically plummeted to the pavement.

They all stopped what they were doing and looked a few yards over at the girl now standing on an air unit a few feet above the ground. "And this, gentlemen," she motioned to the scene with one hand while the other was in a fist official-like against her hip, "-is what we like to call being 'pussies'." The one got up off the ground, kept the knife held towards the victim, and the others started charging at her.  "Heheh, you can run faster than that! Andale, andale!" she put her arms out wide, seemingly waiting for their aggressive approach to reach her.

Alice Morrow  
(don't feel obligated to match length, was just setting up )

♡

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Coryelle Wilde + wearing

They had been discussing how they might start using their powers for good, and that seemed even more confusing and difficult than Alice would have thought. She just wanted to get out on the streets and help people, to stop muggers and recue babies from burning buildings. The thought of having to wait and go out in groups was frustrating, although she understood why it was a good idea. She certainly didn’t want the others to feel like she was just ignoring what they said, she just wanted to help people. She’d had a long day at work, a late shift, but despite that, she found herself unable to sleep. She’d spent most of the last few hours on her laptop, searching for something that might help make a costume. She’d spent a great deal of her life reading and collecting comic books. She had read about characters like Iron Man and Batman, human beings with fantastic resources and intellects, and she had read about the X-Men, people born with extraordinary gifts that they chose to use for the good of others. She didn’t have a fortune or the control of an industry, but she did have super powers, and she was determined to use them. One thing that was consistent through all of those comics though, was that every character announced who they were just in appearance. They walked into a room and their costume made them instantly recognisable. They were bold, eye grabbing colours, simple designs that seized your attention and held it. Alice might never be quite as shapely as the female characters that most often appeared splashed across the pages, but she knew that a strong costume might help her make an impression. She was struggling, but she had a few ideas, and she’d sketched out a few basic concepts. Not that she was particularly gifted with pencil and pad. Maybe Steven would be able to do something with it. She saved the pictures she had collected into a folder and emailed them to him. He was certainly more artistically gifted than she was, and something like this might really pique his interest. It wasn’t as if he had much else to do over the summer other than his internship. She closed her laptop and glanced at the clock on the wall, groaning as she realised how late it was. She stood up and dropped the laptop onto her dresser, walking over to the window to crack it open a little. Her tiny apartment was not so well equipped as to come with air conditioning and it was hot tonight. She’d have to deal with the noise from the clubs, but sheltered in this little alleyway very little of it reached the high window of her small home. She didn’t expect to hear a shout from the alleyway. She looked down, peering between the grills of the old fashioned fire escape by her window. There was a small group of men gathered below, surrounding another who’s back was pressed against the wall. Alice pulled back from the window suddenly, afraid that she might have been noticed. Then she remembered herself. She didn’t need to be afraid, she could make a difference now, she could help! She pulled on a hoody and turned to the window, pushing it all the way open. Then she paused, grabbing a cap and bandana from a drawer. She wanted to use her abilities to help people, but it seemed important to her that she didn’t give away who she was while she did so. A moment later she was ready, the cap pulled down over her eyes and the bandana tied bandit style over her nose and mouth. It was makeshift, but it would at least do to obscure her identity. Then she clambered out of the window, closing it gently behind her. She rushed down the metal stairs, hearing something happening below and only hoping that she wouldn’t be too late. It turned out that she wasn’t. Someone else had already stepped in, and the group of men were charging towards a slight figure as Alice dropped off the ladder at the bottom of the fire escape. She didn’t have much time to think, so she didn’t bother, simply reaching towards the first movement she saw. She grabbed a man’s arm. He stopped dead. It wasn’t as if he’d chosen to stop, it was as if he was a character in a video game and someone had pressed pause. She let go of his arm, and reality returned to the situation. He turned, raising his fist. She flinched backwards as it hurtled towards her, and then opened her eyes to see the man staring at his fist in shock. She returned the favour, only she poured all of the energy back into her fist. The man went down as if he’d been tackled.

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

live fast, die young

wearing

401w

Alright, okay, alright, she just had to count and time this right. One, two, three, four.. When they were only a foot away from dog-piling her onto the air unit, Cory's knees bent beneath her and sprung her upwards into the air. She flipped up and over them, landing clean behind them only to see the one furthest back in front of her - having been caught by an arm - until he got hit so hard that he and the ground basically became best buddies.

She had a split second to look up at the small person a yard or so in front of her, raise an eyebrow, and give a chill, "Yo." Well then. Unexpected. But it just made the night more interesting! The others had turned around now. "Guys, guyyyys, chillax!" Cory ducked down low, sweeping her leg beneath two of them to send them on their rears before yanking the third's wrist and spinning him about and around her to propel him towards her unlikely, random ally. "Heads-up!"

While she grinned at how pathetically easy it was to toss the 'tough guy' around, a hand grabbed at her ankle and pulled her down to the ground beside the two she'd just knocked to the pavement. "Ah, bitch!" They tried standing up before her, but in the blink of an eye she'd placed her palms backwards on either side of her head against the ground and sprung herself to her feet.

One threw a punch her way while the other focused on the newcomer with the bandanna face. Seriously?.. So cliche. Cory bent backwards, dodging the punch, and giggled. She let him have a few other goes - each more frustratingly furious and grunted than the last - and slid past each and every one.

"You can do betterrrrr," she teased with a sarcastic, brief frown. Coryelle reared her own fist and knocked him from the bottom of the jaw upwards. It had him in the air an inch or two before collapsing to the ground. "Oooo.." she winced, setting her gloved hands to her hips loosely and looking over to see how the secret-identity-biker was doing. Even if they were still handling their own baddie, it didn't stop the taunting, "Yknow, you're kind of the most obvious walking stereotype," slide out from Cory's mouth.

Alice Morrow  
(K.O.!!!!)

♡

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Coryelle Wilde + wearing

"Heads-up!" Alice head did indeed go up. She'd been staring in shock at the man she'd knocked to the floor. Sure she'd been practising with her powers, but that was nothing compared to seeing it active like this. Beating up cabinets was a far cry from knocking full grown men on their asses with apparent ease. Then there was another man hurtling in her direction. She backpedalled furiously, searching instinctively for an escape route. Her back hit the wall, and she realised that she didn't have one. Then she realised that it was her attacker that needed the escape route, not her. He skidded to a halt, obviously reluctant to attack a girl, or at least a girl that had not explicitly already attacked him and his buddies. Then he saw the man groaning on the ground of the alleyway. He looked back to Alice, she stared at him. Then when she resolutely failed to do anything, he took a step towards her. Alice ceased her attempts to burrow into the wall with her shoulder blades, and with an audible gulp she moved forwards, settling into what she thought was a fighting stance. He laughed, showing startlingly white teeth, then threw a punch. It was fast, until it wasn't. He looked confused, and punched again, then again. It didn't matter. Every punch, no matter where it hit, did little more than brush her lightly. One hit her in the face. It should have broken her nose. Instead it did little more than brush aside the hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. She could feel the power in her skin. Already it felt like an old friend, a bouncy energised feeling, as much a part of her as her geekery. It was excited, and as she looked at the now confused thug she realised that it felt excited to be used, it wanted to leave her body again. Behind the makeshift bandana mask, she grinned. The girl who had started this whole thing was talking to her as she stepped forwards, but Alice wasn't listening. She pushed a flat palm against his chest, and breathed out. The power rushed out of her, eager to join something else. In that split second the man's eyes widened in shock, and then it was too late. Alice had underestimated just how hard he was hitting her, and she'd lost count of how many times. Regardless, it was enough force to lift him off his feet and throw him along the alleyway. Now it was Alice's turn to widen her eyes. She took a step forward to check if he was ok, and was unreasonably relieved when he scrambled to his feet and took off back down the alleyway, battered, bruised, but very much alive. She turned to the other girl, her voice muffled by her improvised mask. "Ummm… hey…" She should probably think of some better lines if she was going to be a super hero.

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

live fast, die young

wearing

376w

Well. That took care of that. She watched those that were still awake groan and get to their feet to leave the scene while the victimized man stood speechless. "What?" she questioned sharply over at him. It only seemed to make him more baffled and stunned. Great, one of those guys. Cory sighed, dropped her hands from her hips and lowered her shoulders.

"You hurt?" his head shook. "Still got your things?" and then nodded, earning Cory's waving arm down towards the sidewalk. "Then go. Y'know. To where you were going. Live life, do things, I dunno," he skittered about and she let out a 'sheeeesh' underneath her breath, turning to face the girl again. "Talk about scared stif- FUCK!"

She leaned back instinctively at the flying body that was seemingly shoved through the air. She remained bent backwards, head slowly turning from the moaning man over to the stranger with a blank expression. She stared at her for a moment, then with a single nod gave a, "Dayum. Alright." Resetting her posture, Cory brushed off the wrinkles of her clothes and patted the palms of her gloves against one another to rid them of dust and dirt. Hey?... Hey..

"Yeahhh... 'hey'." Oh Lord, such a new kid. It was already a little painful and she showed it with a small wince crossing her expression. This girl (or prepubescent boy) had 'green leaf' written all over her. "Listen Luchador," she pointed loosely up and down at her, "This? Doesn't do shit if you're not wearing these," the other hand lifted to wriggle her fingers in the air to show the glove. "No one gives a fuck what you look like, they're too busy running," she scoffed.

Fingerprints would get her into trouble if someone decided to investigate. Camera film was often too grainy to determine exact facial details - especially the old, shit city ones used in public areas downtown that hadn't been replaced in years. "Still-," did she say it? Did she even bother? Ah, what the hell. "That was some flashy shit," she pointed over her shoulder with a thumb to the area of the flying body, a sharp smirk rising on one side of her mouth.

Alice Morrow
(Alrighty kid.)

♡

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Coryelle Wilde + wearing

"I'm not Luchadore… I'm… I'm…" It was much harder to say it now than it had been in front of her mirror. "I'm Paladin!" She wished her voice hadn't sounded quite as high as it did. She'd panicked a little. She hadn't quite expected it to be like this. Somehow she'd imagined that she'd have been a little more prepared, not in the Batman vest that she wore in bed. Somehow she'd imagined doing it in a costume, or at least looking a little more put together. She looked at her hands concernedly. She hadn't thought of finger prints. She'd simply thought that covering her face would be enough. This girl seemed to know a lot more about it, which was weird. Last she'd checked, there were no heroes in San Francisco. Although she supposed that was as a result of the lack of super powers up to this point. Wait… "Hang on, you mean…" The small visible amount of her face looked astonished. This girl seemed decidedly underwhelmed considering that she had just witnessed a five foot four girl hurl a fully grown man across an alley with a simple touch of her hand. It was definitely not what she had expected. She pulled her face down a little into her hoodie and bandana. Maybe… "Are you… do you… you know?" She wasn't exactly sure how to address this issue, after all, how often did you meet someone else who knew about super powers being real? "Have… you… got… ummm…"

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[Deleted]

live fast, die young

wearing

273w

"I'm not Luchadore… I'm… I'm… I'm Paladin!"

Uh. What? 

Cory stood there, the silence lingering between them like some awkward, disgusting cat that you still kind of felt bad for was left stray at their feet. Uncomfortably weird. She blinked a few times, expression quizzical at what she'd heard and how she'd heard it; the tiny voice trying desperately to sound tough as nails.

Eventually, Coryelle's judging expression slowly grew out with a smile stretching from ear to ear. She doubled-over and then back a bit with an arm wrapped around her stomach and a large laugh bellowing out from her chest. "A'right, a'right!" she admitted, putting her hands up and calming her laughter down, "I guess that ain't half bad, kid."

But then something struck the girl (Boy? Maybe? Still unknown) and she quickly shrunk from her courageous stance into something more testing and careful. Like Cory had suddenly turned into a rabid animal debating whether to lick her hand or bite it. Her smile faded for a moment and a sharp eyebrow lifted on her forehead, hips shifting weight.

"Hang on, you mean… Are you… do you… you know?"

"Am I?.. Do I?"

"Have… you… got… ummm…"

Oh. Wowwww. Cory's face melted back to the cocky grin again, this time much more knowing and much less erratically chuckling. "Haven't met another? Wow, shit. You need to get out more," she joked, closing the distance between them with a casual stride and extending her arm out straight with an offered fist for a bump. "I've never been this kind of first," she teased. "Punk."

Alice Morrow
(Wink wink.)

♡

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Coryelle Wilde + wearing

The two stared at each other for a moment, Alice growing increasingly uncomfortable. Despite this being what she'd dreamed of since they'd worked out that they had abilities, it was much scarier now that she was actually out here and doing it. She was pretty sure the only thing that had kept her in one piece was the mostly instinctive nature of her power and the adrenaline that even now was coursing through her system. She felt like she was high, or at least how she imagined high might be. Weed might now be legal in San Francisco, but Alice had never done any drugs. She'd never really been that interested, but her morals had kept her from doing so even under peer pressure. She couldn't help but smile a little behind her mask though as the older girl seemed to approve. It didn't help that her response to Alice's question was vague. Not that Alice could blame her, the question had been vague, it was unlikely that the other girl had not noticed Alice hurl a grown man across the alley. And then it made sense, "another..." Another person with powers, clearly this girl had powers as well, it explained how she had so easily dealt with the thugs, and avoided the flying man. Alice's eyes widened a little when her suspicions were confirmed. "This is so awesome! Did… did the Doctor save you too?"

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

live fast, die young

wearing

381w

The smaller stranger accepted the offer of her fist bump, albeit hesitantly at first, and Cory leaned back on one of her hips to steady and relax her weight. Her fingers went to work on her opposite hand's glove, tugging it up until it was off and free to remove the other. She reached around herself and tucked the pair in her back jean pocket. "..another? Yeah. Another," she answered plainly, nodding to the repetitive information. 

"This is so awesome! Did… did the Doctor save you too?"

"Doctor?" her expression curved, an eyebrow lifting in confusion. At first it was pure and shallow like the girl was asking a question that made literally no sense in the current situation. And then it hit her like a truck. The night she visited her old high school smoking pal.. she was talking about some revelation after a miracle treatment from being in that huge accident. "Wait, like-.." she started, trying to form the connections in her head.

"Okay, nononono, that's not how this works," in an attempt to nip this rumor in the bud, she was going to give this girl the lesson she obviously hadn't been taught. "They're not given. You got fixed up, but like-," Cory scoffed, shaking her head and using her hands to try and explain, "you grow into them. Family history. You're probably a late bloomer," she shrugged. "There's like a lot of rules to this you know.. " she warned with a wincing expression at the thought of how much trouble the kid could get herself into.

"But shit, you guys and this doctor crap have gotta stop. So the doc was a healer, cool, I've heard of 'em before," Cory scrunched her mouth and let her hands slide back into her pockets. "Not a safe idea to go stirring the pot with rumors like that.. Crazy people running around and 'giving' these to you. Nah, nah that doesn't happen," after finishing the rather tense explanation, she let out a chuckle.  She turned on her heels and paced over to the air unit she'd been standing on when the girl had first arrived, hopping up to sit on its edge with her feet dangling. "You've had 'em."

Alice Morrow
(This is how this works.)

♡

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Coryelle Wilde + wearing

The girl, 'punk' she'd called herself, didn't seem to know what Alice was talking about. Which was understandable. She'd been intentionally vague, thinking that anyone who had been saved by the doctor would know what she was talking about. And yet, this girl seemed quite comfortable with the thought of powers… Then the story seemed to change, as if 'Punk' had realised what Alice was talking about. Maybe she had been too vague about it then. Maybe 'Punk' actually knew the Doctor by name, that might explain the confusion. Speaking of confusion, the girl's response simply left Alice even more so. "What do you mean family history?" What little of her face was visible looked seriously perplexed. Was this what Will had been talking about? "I only got these a couple of days ago. I didn't get them from my mom or dad. At least… I don't think so…" There really was no way for her to know. This was getting more confusing than exciting, and this girl was not helping. "What do you mean rules? Whose rules? These are my powers. No one else's!" It was like this girl didn't believe her, and Alice couldn't understand why not. Surely if she had powers too then she would understand what Alice was going through right now. At least in part. "Look, I was normal until that crash. And then the doctor saved me. She saved me… I died and she brought me back and gave me powers. That's what happened. This isn't from… from whatever shitty family I might have had OK." She'd clenched her fists without realising, though she didn't intend any violence. She just couldn't understand why she was being lied to. This girl didn't know her, why would she say that the doctor had nothing to do with it? It didn't make any sense.

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

live fast, die young

wearing

461w

"What do you mean family history?"

"Like. Bloodline. Genes and stuff," she put her palms on either side of her at the edge of the air unit, casually resting her posture. The first conversation she had with her mother ran through her mind; or what she could remember of it. The more recent memory was when the spoke to Amirah the first time she displayed talents as well. What were the chances, right? A meta adopted into a meta family.

"I only got these a couple of days ago. I didn't get them from my mom or dad. At least… I don't think so…"

"My grandma didn't have any," she sniffed and cleared her throat, "it's hereditary. Like hair color. A sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't kind of thing. Mine started showing up.. hmmpffff," she raspberried her lips and looked up as she recalled, "junior high? A little early. So I'm not surprised you got yours now. You're like what.. sixteen?" it wasn't an insult and the honest shrug showed that.

"What do you mean rules? Whose rules? These are my powers. No one else's!"

"Woah, easy," Cory pulled her chin back against her neck, a hand lifting as a warning. "Okay that right there? That needs to stop. You can't just do whatever you want whenever you want. Everything has rules.. Laws. If you haven't been told them yet don't worry, they'll find you and meet. They look all intimidating but don't sweat it," she grinned reassuringly, shaking her head and letting the arm drop loosely in her lap. 

Annnd then the girl went on a verbal rampage about family and this doctor and blah blah... At the end of it all, Cory just sat still with eyes a bit wider and silently looking at the girl (pretty sure it was a girl by now). After a few seconds of awkwardness to let the explosion settle, all she could do was whistle a drawn-out drop of pitch followed by a- "Wow. You're a basket case," a smile stretched from her lips and she hopped down from the unit to the ground again.

"Trust me, just stop spreading that stuff around until you get met with, alright? Lots of stuff will make sense that doesn't right now." Mental note to go ask her mother about this doctor crap.. Surely she'd heard or maybe she could ask someone. The whole connection with Persephone, now this girl? Something had to be up. But she wasn't about to go being guilty by association with this nonsense. "So why Paladin? You come up with that? S'cool," her eyebrows went up on her forehead, thumbs hooking into the belt loops of her jeans.

Alice Morrow
(Alright, alright..)

♡

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Coryelle Wilde + wearing

This was just getting more and more confusing. "I mean, genes and bloodline makes sense… but I didn't inherit this stuff…" She was trying to explain, but there didn't seem to be any easy way to do it. "None of us did. It wasn't just me, there were six of us. What are the odds of six of us being in the same accident? Being saved from certain death? And then all of us getting powers?" She stopped suddenly, realising that she might have said too much. They'd been trying to keep this quiet after all, although it was clear from the conversation that this girl, this… 'Punk' had powers of her own, and knew a lot more than any of them. "They'll find me? Who are they? The Men in Black?" Except, Will had talked about the two men that had come to talk to him. Those men had known a lot more about what was going on than any of the survivors. Maybe she should finally ask him about them, she didn't like thinking that everyone else knew what was going on, while she didn’t. She jumped up to sit on top of a dumpster pulled up against the wall, swinging her legs as she looked awkwardly at the floor. "I've had my powers for weeks now, and no one has come to see me. They just found Will. He didn't tell them about the rest of us…" It was becoming more and more obvious that this girl knew a lot more about what was going on. Even better, she didn't seem to be part of whatever 'establishment' operated within the world of people with powers. Alice had been through establishment, and right now she wasn't in the best mood with it. "My friend suggested it… It's sort of a history thing… I guess…" She looked up at the older girl. "Look, you're the only person I know who might have an answer… What the hell is going on?"

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

live fast, die young

wearing

477w

Okay, nope, ERRRRR. Time out. There were red flags everywhere. For as long and hard as she'd tried to convince both this girl and herself that all of this as a huge misunderstanding, she couldn't help the crashing wave that slammed into her head and make it spin that screamed how deeply serious this situation was. Screwed up, like really screwed up. And now, she was starting to get pulled into it.

The more the girl talked and explained, the paler Cory's face got - the look on it suddenly sinking into realization and hesitant belief. She took a few steps backwards, swallowing to try and dampen her dry mouth. "They'll find me? Who are they? The Men in Black?"
"Uh, yeah, kinda," she stuttered out, looking behind and over her shoulder for a moment. The parking area that separated the two sides of the alley was clear, only the unconscious goon bodies left.. She could definitely ditch.

"I've had my powers for weeks now, and no one has come to see me. They just found Will. He didn't tell them about the rest of us…"
Her head snapped back, eyes wide. "Good! Good, keep it that way," her hands lifted out of her belt loops, "Keep it quiet. This is bad," her head shook and she made an uncertain, uncomfortable expression. God, what a mess to get caught up into... "Look, you're the only person I know who might have an answer… What the hell is going on?"
Oh no...

"What? Oh no, nooooo nonono," she waved her hands and took a few more steps back. This was one shady thing she wasn't willing to bet her safety on. "No, this isn't my problem. Not my problem, not my problem.." Cory repeated to herself and turned around to briskly and quickly walk in the opposite direction. She stopped in her tracks, head hanging low, and cursed at herself beneath her breath.

Why couldn't she just leave? Why couldn't she just forget it and go the hell home? "Shit.." Turning again, she marched just as quickly back to the girl and reached out to her wrist to pull it tight so that her arm extended. Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out her wallet that had a mini-Sharpie clipped over the top and bit the cap off before pushing the girl's sleeve up and writing a number on her skin.

She still had her 'dealer' phone.. If it dropped anywhere, no personal contacts. Always seemed smart.  "You can call and text me on this.. Don't make a habit of it. Keep quiet, and keep out of trouble. Don't tell anyone else," she let the sleeve fall back down and lifted her head to look seriously at the two eyes she could see peering past the rim of the bandanna.

Alice Morrow
(Hush.)

♡

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Coryelle Wilde + wearing

So it seemed like she'd said the wrong thing. Very much the wrong thing. When she'd continued telling her story to 'Punk' then things had gotten awkward. It was as if she'd suddenly revealed some great government secret. Except… maybe she had. Punk had looked… hunted. Maybe this group Will had been talking about was something even bigger. It wasn't just two men, maybe it had influence stretching across the world. It sounded like the Illuminati. Were they secretly running the government? The whole world? "No wait! Don't go! I'm sorry…" That plea at least seemed to have some effect on Punk, if she'd heard it. She came towards the heavily 'disguised' Alice, reaching into her pocket. Instinctively, Alice, or Paladin as she supposed she was supposed to be now, shrank back. Had she finally said too much, was Punk not willing to take the risk of her talking? The people Will had talked to hadn't seemed willing to go so far as to kill someone, but maybe they weren't the only faction in this mysterious organisation. It was something of a relief to discover that what Alice had thought might be a knife or a gun was in fact a mini-sharpie. She stared in surprise as her sleeve was pushed up and her arm inked with a phone number. She was tempted to make some sort of joke, but couldn't quite get the words out. "Wait. Please can't you explain?" She really didn't want to be left alone in this alleyway while the only person she had met who seemed to know what was going on walked away. If this was really a secret that had been kept for centuries then she didn't want someone to explain it over text. "Things are happening that I don't understand. I've got powers! And no one has told me anything! You are the only person I've met who seems to know what has been going on! You can't just leave!"

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

live fast, die young

wearing

375w

One time in high school, some bitch had called her older sister a terrorist right in front of her for wearing a head scarf in the hallway. No one else but the three and a couple of the girl's friends had been around, so Coryelle took it upon herself to knock her lights out. The other two ran and had the aggression not been provoked by racism (and her mother's pleading for understanding), she would've been expelled.

She fearlessly skipped class, raced on her bike, sold weed. Cory had made a point to be as tough as possible. And here was this kid... staring at her, pleading like some lost puppy, and it made strings practically strangle Cory's heart. Damn.

Her head tilted back and she sighed, putting the marker back where it'd come from and lifting that hand to rub her index finger and thumb into the sockets of her eyes as if it'd make the guilt go away. It didn't. "Okay..." Cory took a breath and let her head drop back down to look at this 'Paladin', and put both palms on the girl's shoulders. "I need you to listen, alright? This is really important."

Where did she even start? Amirah would know... what would she say to calm things down but get the point across? "We've been around forever. They keep tabs. You're not on one of those tabs... and they're not going to like that," though true, the main point was still missing. Her grip tightened at the serious lowness of her voice, eyes glued to those before her.

"You're not supposed to exist," she took a moment to let the words hang before her expression softened slightly but not enough to release how vital the information was. "If you're serious about your friends and this 'doctor' stuff; do you get why it's a big deal? And if they knew I'd known, but hadn't said anything-," her head shook, the sentence finishing silently, and she pulled her hands away from the girl to let them drop back down at her sides, "You've got a way to get a hold of me now. But this isn't safe..." 'being  near you' being the implied ending. 

Alice Morrow
(Heart a' gold.)

♡