CHAPTER ONE: Cecilia: Checking In

[Kadael]

Left seems safer. It's hard to see in this rain, and who knows how deep those pits are?

She just hopes that the safe choice isn't the wrong choice.

[Laraqua]

Cecilia passes a narrow laneway that heads back into the gloom and then a Lumber Yard that smells of sawdust, freshly cut logs, and man sweat. As she passes the yard, she could swear she could make out the sound of something being cut with an axe. It sounds like another log, in fact. She can also make out the sound of radio static playing weakly in the background. There seems to be a shed somewhere beyond the big piles of wood stacked up under the tin roof. She can vaguely make out the glow of a window but it doesn't seem very bright because she can hardly make it out. She could take a look in there or she could keep following this street or even cross the road to the other side.

[Kadael]

No. No, this can't be right. Cecilia turns around and goes back to the chasm. She'll try her hardest to stay safe and focused.

[Laraqua]

So long. She's been walking for so long. There's no sign of Cecilia. None. Nothing. So many minutes have passed. Hell, hours have passed. Hours and hours since she's seen her own daughter. Stolen away from her. Replaced by a mannequin. A dead, cold thing that had never truly lived that was dressed in her daughter's clothing. Now she traipses through the rain-filled gloom, cold and alone, with no way of knowing where she's meant to go or who she's meant to see. Is Katie even down here? How would she get here? The last time she'd been seen was up at the Observation Deck.

Maybe it's too late.

Maybe she's nowhere to be found.

Maybe Cecilia's nowhere. The sorrow and suffering hits her like a sucker punch to the gut, driving out all of her air and shaking her free of her fragile resolve. This entire place was her enemy. How could you defeat a place? It didn't make sense. None of it did. She was scared. Scared of pain. Scared of death. Scared of loss but, somehow, that came in third place. She'd waited in the bar and let so much time drift away from her. Perhaps hours. So much time. Could she even expect Katie to have survived that fragile moment?

Of course not. She'd waited, dallied, for sensible reasons. Pragmatic reasons. She couldn't fight. Jack obviously could. She couldn't run in heels like he could run. He was stronger than she was. One of those men with more courage than sense that you can rely on in a pinch to install a new antennae or fix her car or drive her in rush hour traffic whenever she was in New York on business. It made so much sense. Don't slow him down. Don't risk your life. Don't get in the way. Don't let yourself get hurt. Be practical about it. Follow cowardice.

What was she meant to do?

Fight. Run. Die.

But maybe if she had run and fight. Maybe if she'd taken a few risks she'd have Katie back. Maybe Katie would still be alive.

She's not dead.

Then what are you waiting for?

It's too late.

It's like a drum beat of catastrophe that rips through her mind. An anguished certainty that turns her veins to ice and she lifts her bruised hands to her face (why are her hands bruised) to tear at her hair like an injured beast.

Still, she manages to pull her mind back from the precipice and keep herself sane against the odds. Something about the rain and the cold. It was hurting her. She needed to find her way to the hospital and she needed to find a way now. Or at least, find some form of shelter.

[Spoiler-Button]Count Down Rolls, check out here. I've been rolling POW x 5 checks and you did fantastically except for a couple moments - in that moment you rolled a 100.[Spoiler-Button]

[Kadael]

With a pale, trembling hand, Cecilia digs into her purse for the map and tries to shield it from the rain.

But a droplet splashes onto Sandford Street. And another one on South Park. The dark spots blur the ink. It's bleeding.

Or maybe it just looks that way. Her eyes are full of tears or rainwater. Is there a difference?

She pulls on its edges until a chasm rips open, splitting the north edge of the map.

It's not fair. It's not fair.

[Laraqua]

The hospital is somewhere around here. She can't tell where she is or where it is but she's in the right, vague area. Maybe if she was out of this rain, somewhere safe, she could put the pieces of the map together and figure out where she should go. She can see the back end of Town Hall, or there's always the non-signposted business behind her that she could try to break and enter.

[Kadael]

Cecilia trudges in the direction of the Town Hall. There were lights on, right? Maybe they're still lit.

Guilt presses down on her shoulders, almost tangible. Like her spine will snap in two if she doesn't just... give up...

It's stupid, but she goes on. Does it matter anymore?

Don't. Remember the last time you asked that question...

...and he's not going to come and save you this time.

Brief flashes of an evening sky. A churning sea, the slick timbers of rain-soaked wood. White gold clutched in a fist.

It seemed easy.

"What are you doing here? We've been looking for hours. Katie's in the car. She misses you."

"Come home."

[Laraqua]

The windows are still lit from within with an electric glow and it seems so warm, so serene, despite its stark, stone facade. Traipsing up the steps into the deep-set alcove, Cecilia finds the double doors unlocked. She drips water onto the marble pillar-lined foyer as she steps into a room heavy with a luxuriant dignity. Portraits of old Mayors adorn the walls and a set of double doors sit at the far end of the room.

[Kadael]

The light and warmth seem to chase away her thoughts. She switches her flashlight off, and pokes a finger into her pocket for the kitten to nibble on.

This place is not like the others. It feels so safe.

Quietly, Cecilia heads for the doors on the far side of the foyer, soaking up the ambiance with every step.

[Laraqua]

The next set of doors opens with ease and she finds herself in the foyer. A wide room with two doors that flank the austere mahogany reception counter and two doors apiece on the side of the room that she's standing upon. A man pushes back from the desk, tilting his head up to see her over the pile of paperwork he's left scattered over the desk, shoves his eyeglasses further up his nose, then turns back to his computer with a dismissive shrug. "No, I haven't seen him or her. No, a red-haired child, blonde man, tall woman hasn't passed through here. No, I don't know why you received the blood-smeared note or shredded map that directed you to come here. And no, I most definitively cannot help you. I'm busy helping myself to these computer files." He says the last bit with a delighted flourish.

[Kadael]

What?

Despite the strange man's flippant dismissal, Cecilia is relieved to see something else alive out here. His demeanor, however, more than implies that he won't be willing to help her. From where she's standing, she attempts to size him up, to see if he can be convinced.

"I'm sorry," she says, walking up to the desk. "I just need to know how to get to the hospital from here."

[Laraqua]

The man glances up at her. "Oh, that's easily done. Go out the way you came in, take a left onto Borden Street, left onto Midway Avenue, right almost instantly on Canyon Street and it should be on your left. You can't miss it. Now go. Scoot." He waves her off dismissively, not taking his eyes off the screen.

[Kadael]

Right... now, about this map...

Cecilia looks away from the man, but doesn't leave. If there's a clear spot on the desk, she puts the map pieces down and attempts to put it back together.

Hopefully, there's a pen somewhere so she can mark down the route.

[Laraqua]

Now that she's in a warm, calm place it's stupidly easy to spot the hospital location on her map. It looks like she skirted it several times so far. It's surrounded by a chasm moat. By memory, she hasn't checked out the space along Midway Avenue but, having said that, the hospital doesn't border it anyway, and her chances aren't good that the chasm stops there for a convenient passageway to the shops. It might be worth checking out, though it would add one more delay if she turned out to be wrong. She does recall that the power pole seemed to be lying across the chasm at approximately where the entrance driveway stands so that's a good bet. Of course, it'd be dangerous crossing it. Now that she's got a visual of it, she'll be able to find her way easily enough from here.

[Kadael]

"Thank you," Cecilia says, though she doubts he's paying attention. Then she turns on her heel and rushes out of the Town Hall.

At the moment, Midway Avenue seems like her best option. She's not really looking forward to shimmying along light poles.

[Laraqua]

The warmth of the Town Hall gives way immediately to the icy cold water that rains down on her, renewing the chill on her skin. Still, she rushes along, splashing along wet pavement as she hurries down the roads and then follows Midway Avenue. The entire length that could border the hospital is nothing but a jagged chasm with no visible way to cross.

[Kadael]

With a sigh, Cecilia heads back to the power pole. What could have caused such a massive split in the streets? And why around the hospital?

And how is she going to make it across?

[Laraqua]

The pole is as she left it. A casual nudge with her toe reveals that it's hardly about to roll, at the very least. The trouble is that it doubtless gets narrow as it continues and it's hardly wide enough to walk across as it is.

[Kadael]

This isn't good. Not only is it unsafe for her, but even if she makes it, what about the kitten? It could tumble out of her pocket so easily. Maybe the shotgun can be thrown across (though she's still paranoid about it going off, even with the safety on), but she's not about to hurl the poor kitty into hard concrete.

At the very least...

Cecilia takes the shotgun out of her coat, turns her flashlight on, and throws it as far as she can. And then ducks behind the nearest sturdy-looking object.

[Laraqua]

Cecilia can see that her shotgun is unlikely to make it but she throws it anyway and against all odds it goes sailing past where her flashlight failed to penetrate. She can hear it hit the ground and skid across. The kitten meows cautiously.