(Chase)
Chase pulled his shirt back on and stepped into his favorite boots once more.? Apparently the Sicilien knew full well that something was different about him without him showing all of his cards.? He didn¡¯t want to reveal and he definitely didn¡¯t want to scare Etienne away from him more than he had already but seems he was good at that.? He didn¡¯t want to be weak and beg or tell her that they needed her, but he knew at the end of this the curse would be gone¡or he would be¡maybe both!? He turned to see the dead body of the sheriff as well hit the floor like a log. ?
He was still surprised at her words and she was again very right.? He moved to get his own weapons he checked the sheriff¡¯s office for anything of value as well as the weapons before he moved to go down the street.? He his own weapons they would need ammo and lots of it anything silver would be coming with him.? They needed just a bit of time, but he knew the destination and he was going to head there on his own if he had too, but it was time for them to get there or every town would end up like this.? ¡°You heard the lady we need to clean up and get gone, like pronto!¡±? He was not happy, but was he ever?
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(Callie Carson)
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? Callie looked to Flynn, "I need to get my bag...and I ain't going to Cullenville." She headed out the door from the sheriff's office and found the streets barren as the sunlight began to light the sky. Bodies littered the street causing Callie to pause momentarily. Hopefully they would stay dead.
? ?She then started toward the hotel, guns drawn, determined to get her bag and all of its contents that she'd need to fight the evil in Miller's Crossing.
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(Flynn)
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Flynn followed quickly after Callie, hauling his rifle case and saddle bags over his shoulder, narrowly eyeing the bodies littering the street of the town.? "Now that's just excessive," he muttered, shaking his head at the waste.? "Whoever's behind this obviously doesn' care 'bout people any more'n most people care 'bout ants."?
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The pookah then looked to Callie.? "I can appreciate you wantin' to forge ahead to Miller's Crossing," he said as they approached the hotel at a fast clip. "But unless you or one of them other folks've figured out how we can block or cancel whatever spell keeps makin' us go in circles every time we've tried to get there before, I don't think we're gonna fare any better than the last time we tried." ?
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"I do wonder 'bout one thing, though," he said as he stepped around the body lying right in front of the doors to the saloon/hotel.? "Someone just killed all these folks like they were just blowin' out a bunch of candles.? But for some reason, they haven' done it to us, even though they were usin' these folks to try'n get to us.? Kinda strange, don'tcha think?"
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[Sicilien]
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"I've got everything I need, so whenever ya'll are ready," Sicillien answered both Chase and Etienne.? His coat concealed enough ammo to put down a small village, though a town was certainly stretching it.? "So guess we'll head off soon as they're back, but where to?? I don't know this area and Callie seems quite adamant on _not_ going to Cullenville.? Man, I wonder what ya'll did to piss off the devil."? He kept surveying the town, looking over to his right as Flynn and Callie set off to pick up their luggage from the inn.? Turning his gaze towards the sky, he tried to get a feel for whether or not the manikin was still watching them even now.? Does it ever tire and? what was its source of power?? Could it pull from it endlessly?? There were still remnants of the dark magic that was cast last night, but it was all over the place, as if to throw him off the scent.
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"While we're waiting...Chase...you seem to be in the know as much, if not more, as the other two," Sicilien stated, turning to face the man with a beastly secret, motioning with his thumb towards Callie and Flynn's receding backs.? "I know what I'm here for, but I'm not privy as to why all of you want to get to Miller's Crossing and why that offense against nature is so hellbent on keeping you out of it.? It seems like we're stuck together for better or for worse, so I'd like to not tread through dark waters with both eyes blind."? Though not apt to trust someone that he's just met without measuring their grit, these people seemed to share a common goal and if the way they all banded together to get out of that amalgam, well, he knew they'd watch his six o'clock and that was good enough for him.? But what about Etienne?? How did she fit into all of this?
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"Then there's this damsel in distress, which I highly doubt is an innocent bystander in all of this.? Just who the hell...are...you...no...no..." the bounty hunter turned to face the woman who was determined not just to get the hell out of dodge, but to get the hell away from all of them.? However, when he was finally able to get a clear look at her face, his heart dropped.? The realization of it all hit him like a speeding train, dragging him along the tracks and then discarding him like a ragdoll.? He stood frozen in place, in disbelief, as his one unpatched eye furiously scanned her entire body.? Her hair, her face, her eyes, her lips, her neck, shoulders, arms, and the rest of her body.? How could he not have this seen this...seen her before?? He felt his body going rigid, all muscles painfully clenching head to toe.? He felt like his throat was being constricted, opening his mouth but nothing coming out, or going in.? For what seemed like an eternity, Sicillien stood frozen in time, not moving, not breathing, until a spasm wracked his body and the involuntary flinch broke him out of his stupor.? Shaking his head to try and clear the pain, he looked back up and before he knew what he was doing, his feet took him forward towards Etienne who was now backing away from him.
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"You...Etienne...no..." he breathed, his voice sounding quite raspy as if he spoke for the first time in his life.? He firmly grasped her by her shoulders, fingers squeezing and feeling as if he never touched her before.? Moving his hands up, he gently cupped her face as his thumbs brushed across her cheeks, moving her hair out of the way so he could get a clear picture of her visage.? This could not be...she could not be...how many years has it been?? He has lost count.? He was sure she was...so sure...that he even went mad, and then he cut that piece off himself and locked it in the deepest, darkest recesses of his heart and mind.? But yet here she was, whole and alive.? "Etienne...no...R-rosalie...you are alive....after all this time.? You are alive, Rosalie...? This cannot be...have I gone insane?"
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He questioned his whole entire being, his whole entire life at this point.? Nothing seemed to be as real as this moment when he stood in front of her, but even now he could not be sure of what he was seeing and what he was feeling.? There was only one way to tell, so he pulled her in and kissed her.? He kissed like he's never kissed before.
Etienne
Etienne tried not to gasp at the litters of dead bodies strung along the dirt. Dozens of men woman and children for as far as the eye could see all...gone. What a senseless lost of life. What was this thing they were dealing with that could simply cut off the life of another without so much as second thought? Etienne did not follow the man or the woman as they made their way back to the hotel. She had no intention of following them. She was almost certain only more death would come if she stayed with them. Therefore she had to get away from them quickly.
She turned away to move in the other direction as Sicilien spoke to Chase. Maybe since the two men were so engrossed in conversation, she could slip away without them noticing. And then he turned to her. And stupidly she turned to him. And damn her. Why did she do that? She blushed...he called her that name..."I don't know what you are talking about," She started to say. "I am afraid you have me mistaken with..."
And then he kissed her. And the minute his lips settled upon hers, she melted into his arms. Her hand rose to his cheek and she kissed him back with the same passion and longing and desire he kissed her with. The kiss was so intense it left her panting...wanting...needing...
No! No, she could not do this. She could not risk...With a hard shove, Etienne pushed him off her and then slapped him hard. "How dare you sir. How dare you!" she said and then she took off running in the other direction away from the other four.?
(Charity, Millers Crossing)
In the center of Millers Crossing, in the town square, the 'Mayor' confronted the nude form of his wife, who had finally finished her latest dance. "Why are you doing this, wife?" Charity's husband asked, "why could we not rest in the Spirit World? Why would you bring me, all of us, back to this World, this place?"
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"Because," Charity replied coldly, "you are MY people, MY husband, and this is now MY town." She gazed out over the foothills towards Bendo. "Soon I will have other towns, and other people. Even now, husband, the dead yearn to dance for me!" Her head tilted back and she howled. In the distance her howl was answered, and then again from a different direction, and then again. Nine times was she answered, and she laughed and laughed. An unseen tear formed in the corner of the Mayor's eye.
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In Bendo the first of the scavengers crested the surrounding hills, wolves, and then coyotes. Vultures began to circle overhead, waiting for their turn. Several bear lumbered towards the town, and hundres of thousands of insects crawled out of every conceivable crevice. Every single being was focused on one thing, all of the free, ripening flesh offered on the streets of Bendo.
Tag: Chase, Callie, Flynn, Sicilien, Etienne, Charity (jumping in)
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