Running away

[Wild]

Wild felt something touch his tongue and he swolowed hard. The pain went away imediatly and he sighed in relief. So Flames felt sorry for him now after making him fly half a mile away. He felt the ground unerneath him and then being half carried and half dragged. She stooped and then continued, and he frowned. This was something wrong. He felt the road underneath him and himself being shoved into a small space between rocks. He opened his eyes and saw her running. so much for some help. Flipping biotch. he thought. He pushed himself up again. He was surprised that nothing was broken or seriously injured more. He got up on his feet and stumbled towards the car. It took effort but he made it there and sat on the trunk. He knew that he wouldnt be able to get it going but he would be able to wait for someone.

[Melanie Flames Stryder]

Keep quiet and listen! I scream at her. She does what I say. She couldn’t scream anyway. My mind—or at least the bit of it that is still mine—skims through possibilities. We can’t hear him anywhere.

Quick, grab a rock! I tell her. We can’t see him either, of course. The room is black as always.

She doesn’t understand. Why? I still can barely believe that the souls beat us.

I show her my thoughts. We hit him with the rock and he falls and we escape. We find Jeb or Ian or…Jared? Would Jared even care? There isn’t time to wonder. We are about to be attacked somehow and Wanda says she can’t do it. She doesn’t want to. She won’t even let me. There has to be another way, she says. I don’t agree. I’m tired of giving them second chances, of Wanda letting them get away with everything. And I’m tired of not being able to make any choices.

Give me my hands!

I don't know how! Take them! We inch toward the exit slowly. Inside, though, we are frantic, trying to find that door. If she can unlock me…But neither of us know how.

Is he alone? Our thoughts take the same direction. If there is someone else waiting by the door to catch us, we have no hope. Not if I can’t get out. She starts to look through the possibilities, hoping someone will come. She can’t do it herself. Only the gun would make a difference, we agree. She doesn’t think Jared would even try. I wonder if she can feel my pain. I know she’s right.

We are still against the wall, waiting. And then we hear the splash. He's coming through the pool! Run! I scream at her. But she hesitates for a second. He grabs our ankle and we pull, but it makes us fall and—

Flames jolted up. She was disoriented. Her back hurt. She realized it was because she was leaning on a rock, and the memories of the night came back. But the other memory, Melanie’s memory, was not done. She closed her eyes against the sharp emotions of the mind.

And she kicks of our shoe, scrambling forward, out of his reach. He tries to grab us again, but we are quicker. I am strong and she is not hesitating anymore. We keep running and there is relief when we find no one else. Thank god. He is alone.

Then a rock hits our leg and we fall. She drops the other rock I told her to grab. So useful it was. He lands on us and we lose breath. Wanda keep struggling, pushing away, but I know that she can’t get out from under him. I have a different idea. Scream! She does. It is amazing.

He grabs us to stop us, and his hand covers our face entirely. We begin to roll over and under. I wonder at this. Here I am helping her in any way I can. I could just huddle in the back of my mind to never remember this, but I want to live. And I want Wanda to live. Our face hits water and I am jerked out of my thoughts.

We swallow some. I get dizzy; I can’t concentrate. I hope it is not effecting Wanda the same way. I try to see, but I only get flashes. The pain in my leg, him speaking, us being carried. Fear. He is going to drop us. I can’t see it myself, but I know what Wanda knows.We are about to fall. I pull back to full consciousness. Jared! Jamie! Wanda is with me. He jumps and the floor cracks. I recover first, but only when he does do we move. Then he hits his head on a pillar and falls. I tell Wanda to get off him and move away, and we are safe.

It cut off. Flames realized that Mel had done what she couldn’t and stopped it. It wasn’t over, though. She knew that something else happened…the soul saved the man? That sounded right. She was always the better person. I was just the more logical one. Flames nodded and opened her eyes slowly. There was more light now. Stil not nearly enough to see well by, but enough to make out the shapes right in front of it. Too tired. It had only been minutes. Their head dropped again, both hoping for someone to find them. Flames wanted a Seeker. Mel wanted Jared.

Both needed to sleep.

Tag:
Notes: lalala

[Wild]

Wild leaned back onto the cracked window and sighed. He was soo puzzled about Flames and her wierd actions. He didnt know what had made her do that. Did her host take over and do all those things? No, because Flames had acted normal, nothing like a human. They must have been fighting each other for the right to the body. He had heard of that happening before, with devasting efects. They would have to take her out and get her another new body. He sighed and looked towards the direction of where he thought Flames had went and saw nothing. He layed back down and closed his eyes, ready to wait as long as he would have to.

[Melanie Flames Stryder]

It was all about strength, Mel reflected as she opened her eyes.

When Wanda had been in her body, Mel had been unprepared and unsure. Of course, she had known they would put someone in her, but she didn’t know what it was like. And Wanda had been nine different hosts and was, by any standards, an exceptional soul.

In the caves, there was girl who had a soul in her head, but was still herself all the time. She had, like Mel, known that she would become someone else. But for her it was enough; the soul in her head was weak.

Now, Mel knew exactly what it was like to have a soul in her head, to be controlled by it, and to control it. Flames also knew everything, though. They were too matched in strength, like Flames and her other host had been. And the human brain was not meant to deal with two people who could both take control all the time. Thus, the confusion. And pain.

The headaches are back. They haven’t gone away yet at all. I think I’m losing time. I can’t remember where I was yesterday at lunch or Monday after work. I think I know, though. I just don’t want to. It’s her. This body is wonderful—strong, tall, and beautiful with its short blond hair. But it is the only one that has never felt like mine. It’s hers. But she hasn’t been here for a while. At least, not while I’m here…

“And, wouldn’t you know it, guess where they were,” Spiral says. He smiles at me and I can’t help but smile back a little. I like working with Spiral. He makes everyone smile. I don’t feel it right now, though.

“In the cave,” I reply in a monotone. I look down, tossing my gun lightly between my hands.

“Yep. So I give Mar this look and we have a good laugh about it and then we go round them up. Easy job, but I can’t believe we didn’t check earlier.”

Suddenly, an anger that is not mine fills my mind for the humans Spiral talks so casually about. The headache increases until I feel like my head my burst and then it is gone. And I am nothing and she is Lisa. And we are alert and she is angry and we shoot him. I try to cry out, but I can’t move her mouth because it is hers as it always has been and all I can do is hope Spiral is fast enough to stop us and save me.

Mel opened her eyes. She knew the memory was not hers, but it didn’t matter. She was just relieved to find she could move her own hands. The headache stayed. Mel could feel Flames pushing for control and, unsure of what else to do, threw another memory at her. She was having trouble even seeing straight now. And she hated these humans trying to stay where they weren’t wanted and yet humans were all she knew and

I've failed.
It's so dark. I can't see. I can't see the floor. I can't see my hands stretched out in front of me. I run blind and try to hear the pursuit I can feel behind me, but the pulse is so loud behind my ears it drowns everything else out.
It's cold. It shouldn't matter now, but it hurts. I'm so cold.
I'm lost, we're lost. It's over.
They're right behind me now, loud and close. There are so many footsteps! I am alone. I've failed.
The Seekers are calling. The sound of their voices twists my stomach. I'm going to be sick.
“Please!” they cry. “There is danger ahead!”
The danger is behind! I scream back in my mind. But I see what they mean. A feeble stream of light, coming from who knows where, shines on the end of the hall. It is not the flat wall or the locked door, the dead end I feared and expected. It is a black hole. An elevator shaft.
A surge of relief floods through me as I race forward. There is a way. No way to survive, but perhaps a way to win. I sprinted for the edge of death.
I am as fast as I need to be. I don't even pause at the end of the floor. The hole rises up to meet me midstride.
The emptiness swallows me. My legs flail, useless. My hands grip the air, claw through it, searching for anything solid. Cold blows past me like tornado winds. I hear the thud before I feel it.… The wind is gone.…
And then pain is everywhere.… Pain is everything.
Make it stop.
Not high enough, I whisper to myself through the pain.

They opened their eyes. The pain was blinding and all consuming and it needed to be high enough. That cliff looked high enough. They stood and began to run. Their limbs screamed against them, but it didn’t matter because they needed to make sure to save Jamie and Spirals and Jared and Lisa. Lisa, who they should hate, but who they missed. They missed her. They missed everyone. The rock wasn’t very far and the sun was all the way over the horizon so they could see all the handholds. And it didn’t matter if it was hard or confusing or painful because they had to save them. They had to.

They climbed. They were strong in this body and she was fast with her thoughts and she was smart with their training. They did it. There was a shelf high up. How far she didn’t know, but it was definitely high enough. By the time they reached it they were tired and the sun was casting a white morning light over everything. Mel collapsed on the shelf and they breathed in and out until Flames dragged her back farther so they could sit against the wall.

From where they were she could look down and see everything. The high made everything spin, but she knew that this was good place. She could see everything and no one would ever look up to see them. After all, only a crazy person would try to climb a cliff.

Mel giggled. She wasn’t much of a giggler and Flames definitely wasn’t, but she couldn’t help it right now. Because they were crazy. The pain in their head was confusing them as to what was right and wrong and what was now and what was a memory. They closed their eyes.

We need to just breathe and relax. This isn’t good for us. Flames said. They nodded.

I can’t relax. Something is wrong. I shouldn’t be here! Mel was getting on her nerves. Apparently being the one more tied to the brain made her the one who went crazier. Or maybe it was just because Flames was much more logical person.

Shut up. We are not going to do anything until we can think straight. She was right. Mel really was feeling wrong. Which was good, right? Being able to tell she was crazy meant it wasn’t as bad, right? She listened to Flames. Both of them shut up and breathed and waited. Flames felt fine first, but she waited for Melanie.

Mel appreciated it. The Seeker didn’t even rush her. Flames just wanted them to be sane before she tried anything else. Finally, after listing events in order, separating which parts were Flames and which parts were her, and counting to one hundred, Mel thought she was someone sane. Or, at the very least, only as crazy as, say, Jeb. No more insane urges to climb things at least, when the danger she was afraid of had passed a year ago. She relaxed and realized that she was stuck in the back again. Mel sighed. I still don’t like you. This is my head.

Flames rolled her eyes. She inched slowly to the edge of the shelf on her hands and knees and looked down. Shit. How the hell had they climbed that? Apparently insanity was a great motivator. She sighed. They had to get down somehow. She searched the wall carefully, trying to ignore the vertigo, and found another shelf closer to the ground. They had probably missed it because it was off to the left. Well, it had been their right while they were climbing, but that wasn’t the point. She hated being inexact, though, so it was to the east. Flames took a deep breath. She climbed slowly over the edge and froze, clinging to the wall. Any minute she could slip and fall.

Mel would have rolled her eyes if she could have. Let me do it. Flames hesitated. Don’t be stupid. You suck at this.

Mel felt her jaw being clenched for a moment before the Seeker relented. Fine. Mel pushed to the controls. Without looking down, she maneuvered her way to the other shelf and sat down.

Good. Now give me back my body.

No. It’s my body.

You—

Don’t make me find another memory.

Sure. Because that had such great effects last time. I think it’s a fantastic idea to go out of our fucking mind again. Mel scowled, but Flames had relaxed. It wasn’t like either of them had the energy to do anything right now, anyway. She ached all over and she felt like someone had thrown a rock at her knee. Insanity was not good for the body.

Tag: Some people doing some stuff
Words: Lots and lots. Muse = awesome.
(and lots)
Notes: Insanity be brewing. It is fun
to write with confused pronouns.
That second one is S. M.’s too.

[Wild]

Wild felt weak as he looked over the horizon. He could see nothing but the endless sands of the desert. He felt no hope now. He could feel the No Pain wearing off and he sighed. He didnt think he could survive any more pain for a while. He made a mental list of all the injuries he had obtained in the past twenty-four hours. He had been hit with something metal in the back of the head two times, shot, beaten up numerous times, and then thrown from a car and crash on a boulder. He did know how he had survived all of that. The humans did a pparently have compassion.

[Melanie Flames Stryder]

She curled around her knee and bunched the leg of her jeans up until she could see it. It was already an out of place mix of purple and green. That was going to hurt like hell once she regained all feeling. Mel smoothed the jeans back down, wishing she had something to put on her bruise. She sighed and

Flames took stock of their other injuries. Feet: sore from running and climbing, but not hurt. Ankle: very sore, felt like it had been yanked sideways, but probably not sprained. Knee: obvious. Legs: really awful. They would be worse tomorrow when she probably would have trouble walking. Side: bruised. Big bruise. Not as bad as the knee, though; it was only reddish-purple and unless she touched it, stayed at a dull ache. Then there were her arms, also sore from the effort of climbing, her forearms, still stung from the airbag, and, of course, her head, the worst of all.

Fucking headaches, Flames thought.

You can say that again. Mel was only vaguely annoyed to be sent back again. Both of them knew that the balance of power could shift at any time for any reason. It wasn’t really something to worry about right now when it didn’t matter.

Flames leaned against the cliff behind her…and Mel shot up at a noise. Someone was climbing on the far ide of the next rock formation over. If the desert hadn’t been so quiet and the breeze hadn’t been blowing her way, Mel might not have heard it at all. With a slight shock, Mel realized that was the rock that had the entrance to the caves. Flames perked up a little at this news, but she didn’t really have the energy to care that much.

If someone was climbing over there…Had some of the others come to find her? Mel smiled at this thought. Or were there Seekers over there, about to find the entrance? Flames added the later from her hopes. Didn’t really matter. If they were humans, Mel was just as likely to shoot them as to join them, and she was not going to take a 50-50 chance with their lives. If they were Seekers, she couldn’t win either way—if she were herself, they would know something was wrong and take her, and if she was Flames, she would show them where the caves were. Flames had similar logic of her own. Both agreed that it would be better to stay away until they had their internal fight resolved.

With protesting muscles, Mel crawled to the edge of the ledge. Good news? Whoever had climbed the other rock would have a good view of everything on that side of it, but had a big cliff between them and Mel and would probably have to climb down to get to this side. The bad news? They were likely not alone, and their companion or companions would have a much quicker time coming to this side. So despite her bruises and scrapes, she would have to climb down quickly.

They worked together. Mel did the real work of pulling herself down and kept her eyes moving around. Flames worked on picking out handholds from what she could spot. Mel was relatively sure that Flames wouldn’t try to make her fall. She didn’t know how high she was but it was too high to climb normally. She couldn’t make it to the bottom alone. Not here, not now. But some other time in another place…

Don’t do it! Flames had two reasons: her selfish reason of controlling the body, and her logical reason of their possibility of insanity.

Too late.

You’re an idiot.

I swing my legs and lean back. These kids are so slow. I’m already at the top and they’re still down in the middle. Daddy says I am an “amazing athlete.” (That’s what he said exactly.) One of them is stuck trying to grab a rock, but he isn’t tall enough. There’s aother rock that’s closer to him that he could put his foot on, though. He’s pretty stupid.

I giggle and look over at Daddy, as if he can hear me call the little boy stupid. He and Mommy are having fun talking on a bench by the doors, though. Yay! They can have fun talking about whatever grown-ups talk about, and I can have fun climbing this rock wall. I push back over the edge to climb back down. First my feet on two nicely shaped rocks. Rocks? They aren’t really rocks. They are funny color and a tiny, tiny bit squishy. It is weird that people call these rock walls then.

No it isn’t. This is rock. Reddish-tan rock.

I like them anyway. And I am fast! I’m already half way down and that little kid hasn’t even reached the top! I giggle. I’m near the bottom. It had big blue mats on it and underneath it is—

Tannish and dead. Dead like everything out here.

Yep. It is a fun, colorful place. I like this rock wall place. I’m very near the bottom now. But I don’t want to stop climbing. Daddy said this is my last wall, though. I’m not tired, though! I feel bouncy and happy and

Sore and burning everywhere. Where is the damn ground?

I could just climb the rest of the way or…more fun…I grab the rope with one hand. I haven’t swung out once the whole time I’ve been here and it’s too much fun to not do it. I pull closer to the way so I can push out more and

Stop! Mel tensed, one hand reaching out. After a second of slipping feet, Flames grabbed back on the wall and climbing a little more down. Mel ‘s head was spinning. They were close enough to the ground now, though. She couldn’t deal with climbing anymore, even if Flames did it. Flames tried to stop her, but Mel had more energy now. She had all the energy, all the endurance of a seven year old and she wasn’t done with the day yet. Maybe she could get Mommy to let her get ice cream after this. She pushed off the wall.

The tiny rocks on the ground bit into her hands and she used them to steady herself after landing in a crouch. The breeze had shifted to blow the opposite way. She couldn’t hear anything from the cave entrance anymore. There was an indent in the wall in front of her and she leaned there because it was comfy. It was hot out here. But…it was always hot out here, right?

You really are an idiot. Mel frowned. That was mean. She looked over to her right for the speaker and, because she knew that someone should be there, there was. It was Flames, as she had been before joining Mel in her head. It was wrong for her to be there, for Mel to see her, but it made much more sense than what was right. And it was easier. Mel could imagine that she was alone in her body.

”Because I use memories to my advantage?” Mel asked. Part of her knew she could just think things to Flames, but it was much more reasonable to have to speak out loud to have a conversation.

Flames rolled her eyes because Mel imagined that’s what she would do. He mouth moved when she spoke, but it was oddly off from the words because Mel couldn’t predict what she was going to say. No. Because you were about to jump off a cliff backwards and break our neck.

”My neck.” Mel countered.

”All of our necks at some point.” Mel looked to her other side. Wanda’s blond hair floated in the wind, but it made it look like there was more wind then there really was. Like Flames figure, she was transparent too. Mel could see both the rock behind her and her. Unlike Flames, though, Wanda’s mouth moved perfectly with her words, since she was only Mel’s impression of the soul.

”Yeah, we have some serious issues.” Mel glanced back. Beside Flames was a blond woman who she both knew and didn’t know. Lisa. Of course. If Mel could picture Wanda hear, Flames could bring in Lisa.

”We really do. Am I schizophrenic? Does it count if you hear real people in your head?” Mel wondered out loud. Wanda did not speak, but smiled softly.

Lisa shrugged and blew out through her mouth, making little bits of her hair flutter up. ”Hell if I know.”

Does it matter? The way I see it, we’re all going to die out here from our insanity. Obviously, not all of us can be real. Flames looked over a Lisa. Aren’t you dead?

”Whoops.” Lisa grinned and waved. ”Ta-ta.” Flames made her disappear. If she wasn’t real, there was no reason for her to be here with them.

”I’ll go too, then,” Wanda whispered. She gave Mel a hug that could not be felt and, standing, faded out on the wind. Flames raised her eyebrows at Mel. Mel didn’t care. She liked dramatic exits. She opened her mouth to tell Flames so, but a noise from the other direction stopped her. Mel spun and shot up to a crouch. Flames faded back into her body.

is that a person?

I can’t tell. Sh. They put one hand on the rock wall and prepared for anything.

Tag: Rescuers can join in anytime
Notes: I keep feeling like something
Is wrong if I’m posting this
much…but there’s nothing
I want to cut out….