alderwitch Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 Taylor was in the middle of leaning over to towel dry her hair when she heard the distinctive phone chime from somewhere out in the living room. It wasn't quite full dark yet on Halloween so Taylor had taken advantage of the lull before the storm to stop at Jack's for a quick shower before what was almost always a busy night. It was possible that there were any number of her contacts that might be calling her about any number of magical problems, but the chime was distinctly the one she used for her family. Of those, only Jackson had the number and that was only for emergencies. Frowning, she twisted and ran through the walls, phasing intermitantly to take the most direct path to the phone. She scooped up the silver flip phone and checked the number. "Jackson, what's--" "-Wrong?" The voice that crackled mockingly across the phone's metallic speaker made Taylor's blood run cold. That voice, that wrong voice. She'd heard it before, months ago. A creature of dark, wet places and the hiss of the storm moments before it broke. A shapeshifter given human form and face. "Wrath," Taylor hissed the name. Her hand clenched the phone so tight her knuckles went white. "Phantom. Or should I say Taylor? No matter. Here, say hello to big brother." Despite herself, Taylor flinched at the sudden scream that echoed in the background before breaking into rasping curses. Pressing the heel of one hand against eyes that burned, Taylor's voice came out so cold she didn't even recognize it at first, "You had best pray that I don't find you. Because when I do, hell itself will look like paradise when I'm through." "Promises, promises." The line went dead.
Avenger Assembled Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 Jack was up on his feet when Taylor began talking, his face set as he heard the anger and fear in her words. "What is it?" he asked her, shutting easily aside the casual ease he'd been projecting before. "What's wrong?"
alderwitch Posted October 20, 2009 Author Posted October 20, 2009 With deliberate, almost jerky movements, Taylor snapped the phone closed. Her voice was like her movements, too tightly wound. Jack had seen Taylor angry before, of course. She'd knocked him into a wall before. Taylor's anger generally ran the same course. A quick burst of temper, usually violent, followed by grumbling until she let it go. This was nothing like that. "An enemy took my brother. Jackson. They took Jackson. They called because they want me to follow." She dropped the phone on the table. "Those damned spy-imps. I must have led them right to my family."
Avenger Assembled Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 Jack swore, just once, and put his hand on Taylor's back. "We'll get those bastards," he assured her. "I'll come with you," he promised her. "There's no way they'll see me." He thought of Jackson, so warm and alive, so very human; he knew just how much Taylor loved him. "Do we have time to get anyone else?"
alderwitch Posted October 20, 2009 Author Posted October 20, 2009 "Going after him is the one thing I can't do, Jack. Not now." Taylor bowed her head once and her voice was as raw as Jack had ever heard. She straightened her shoulders and looked up at him, her hands tightened into white knuckled fists at her side, "That's exactly what they want me to do which can only mean one thing. They're gearing up for something big. Something cataclysmically big. Which means I can't go anywhere, not even for my family. Not even for my brother."
Avenger Assembled Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 "Oh, God..." Jack ran his hands through his hair, making plans as fast as he could. "I'll go, then, if you're needed here. And whoever else you need." He looked her dead in the eye. "Anything, Taylor. Just tell me, and I'll do it."
alderwitch Posted October 20, 2009 Author Posted October 20, 2009 Taylor shook her head slightly, refusing to send him off on some epic goose chase. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, trying to chafe warmth back into limbs that felt leaden. There was nothing to even lash out at, and Taylor hated that. "Thank you." She said finally, looking up at him. Taylor looked lost for a moment as she reached out to catch his hands, "I don't know where I'd start looking. Wrath was an interdimensional black magic dealer. Not exceptionally powerful, except for deception and misdirection. I needed Grim to help find him last time. Wrath's got to be working for something much larger. He traveled the primal dimensions before we stopped him last time. Now, working with the infernals, he could take Jackson to any number of hell-shards."
Avenger Assembled Posted October 20, 2009 Posted October 20, 2009 He squeezed her hands, feeling her pulse beneath his fingers, then put his arms around her. "We'll find him," he promised Taylor, his tone hard steel in reassurance. "Whatever it takes. Do we need to bring Grim in on this one?" he asked quietly.
alderwitch Posted October 23, 2009 Author Posted October 23, 2009 Taylor turned her face into his chest, fingers clenching the fabric of his shirt. The shuddering breath she took in made it quite clear how close to the edge Taylor was running. She didn't speak as she struggled to force her frozen brain into motion. Struggling with rage and terror, it took her several long moments to organize her thoughts into something like order. "No. No, not yet. I don't know where to start looking." Taylor tipped her head back, her eyes dry at least. "I'll need to cover his absence. We're going to get him back, so we'll need to make sure he has a life to come back to. Then, we need to know what we're facing. If its a full scale invasion, they're going to hit hard. Every scrap of information we can track down could save countless lives. So our first step is doing exactly what they want us to, tracking down where he was taken from. Eventually, we won't follow the script but until then, let them think they've got us right where they want us."
Avenger Assembled Posted October 25, 2009 Posted October 25, 2009 He hugged her tightly, his hand on the side of her face as he looked down at her. "We'll get him back," he promised her. This was an enemy he knew nothing about; he could be confident that after so many victories, they'd overcome one more foe together. "His apartment?" he suggested to her. Tactical comfort, the comfort of ideas and plans, was the best he knew how to give. "We may actually find clues there, if we're lucky."
alderwitch Posted October 25, 2009 Author Posted October 25, 2009 "His apartment." Taylor confirmed and tightened her arms around his waist. She tucked her face once more against his shirt, closing her eyes against the chill of the Void before they appeared in a small entry way. The door behind them had been forced open and there was a subtle but present stench of sulfur in the apartment itself. Taylor let her senses flare out as she automatically took a step away from Jack. The entry way wasn't overly large but they were both too experienced of fighters to stand that close together when there might still be a threat. "I don't feel anyone else in the apartment."
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