Muddy Waters played through the speakers throughout the house. The sound of a guitar wailing out the woes of the wicked reverberated down the walls of the hallway and into the bedroom. The people that had originally built the house strategically placed speakers into the ceiling of almost every room in the small little one story. Whatever was playing in the main stereo that sat in the kitchen could be heard through the place with ease. Titus liked that little touch.
Blues was a mandatory move-in ritual as he loaded the over and under shotgun and slid it under the bed. Titus had already lived in New Orleans once so this time he decided to slide out into the suburbs. Nonetheless, with his line of work it was sound advice to always be prepared with whatever eventuality came down the road. Thankfully, he found a place with a short lease with relative ease. With the way he moved around he was unsure if he'd be here next month so unfortunately finding short leases were what he had to soldier through mostly.
He had already unloaded the few items he could always fit in a 20 foot U-haul. Right now the truck stood in the driveway like a quiet sentinel guarding the house and also alerting the neighborhood that there was someone new in town. He stood in the open door with the screen door tightly sealed to repel any six-legged intruders that felt on sucking on his blood tonight. The two-legged kind would have to be stopped another way. He looked down and kicked at the threshold to the house. It wasn't a home, just a dwelling so he figured the threshold wouldn't be too strong, just strong enough he hoped. He'd have to paint the front door too.
The other mandatory item was a solid twelve pack of suds to help in the move. Titus walked through the house, which was mostly put away. Thankfully it had some furnishings in it, or else the place would be as bare as bones. He dipped into the fridge and pulled out an Abita. The last place he had been didn't have an Abita for three hundred miles which to him was a felony offense. He snapped the top to the trash can and heard the satisfying sound of metal hitting metal, right in the basket. Titus took a long pull from the Restoration and let out a long sigh. It was near the end of May and you would have thought hell was next door with the heat. Louisiana was notorious for humidity so thick you could drink the air, and so far this summer was no exception. Rolling the beer across his forehead he moved to the living room and deposited himself into a chair, looking back out the front door. He could have turned the air on but he honestly enjoyed the smell of the breeze coming off Pontchartrain. The moist air was a lot better than the desert he had spent the majority of his adult life. It was also a damn sight better than the air in Vegas.
Muddy Waters belted out his Early Morning Blues as he stared out the front door and into the street. Something had drawn him here like a moth to a flame. The postings on the Marshal boards were pretty varied but something had moved him towards the Louisiana position. He always trusted those feelings-to date they had yet to lead him wrong-so he found himself back in New Orleans putting together a secondary response team for the parrishes surrounding New Orleans. Simple work and along with his court duty in the federal building, it would all be a decent time with a good paycheck.
The hell was she? Alex blinked, looking up at the bright moonlight, and lifted a hand, hissing out a breath, and squinted...had she missed a moon cycle?? She knew she'd been heading back towards New Orleans, but she had no idea what side she was on, nor how far it was going to be untill she got back there. Really, the little blond was just wandering, and looking like shit. Still covered in blood, and clothing dirty and ragged. Ugly red burns around each wrists, and welts at the bends of her arms from the needle marks. Alex looked like hell.Her eye's held a slightly glassy look to them still, and her mind was going in a million different directions at once.
She had to hide. Had to find someplace where Xavier wouldn't find her. She could hear that voice, that mocking hillbilly voice in her mind, talking and talking and talking. God damn. Even dead the man didn't shut up....Crouching down in the mouth of an ally, she clamped both bloody hands to the sides of her head, and let out a low frustrated growl. Her head was starting to hurt now. Hell it had been hurting. The lack of food was weighing on her, even having gorged before leaving Xavier's little shack. Hands slid down from her face, leaving trail marks on her skin where sweat mingled with dirt and blood, and her head came up, a scent that was oh so familar catching her nose, and she frowned. Standing slowly, she sniffed again. She knew that scent....but....he....No he wouldn't be back here would he?
Memories flooded her already overstimulated mind, and Alex snarled in frustration. Only one way to find out....Pushing her exausted and battered body forward, she tracked that scent. And after a few blocks, found herself standing on the sidewalk looking up at the house. So familar...safety....One shakey step infront of the other, and she was up on the front porch, silent as a shadown, and sank down on the steps. Leaning against the railing, and letting her eye's close as she breathed in deeply that scent that made her so comfortable and even seemed to calm her with it's familiarity.
Even as she dozed off, she managed to let out a soft, "...Titus...."
-- Edited by ALEX SINCLAIR on Friday 27th of May 2011 01:20:28 AM
The soft sound of falling alerted Titus to the front door. To any other person in the normal world it would have been nothing but an animal or something mundane. Titus wasn't normal though and the majority of the times, the animals were a bit more than they seemed.
Cautiously he stepped into the kitchen, grabbed his Para-ordnance and Tac flashlight, and slid out the back door. With bare feet making quiet sounds, Titus stepped around the corner of the house with the flashlight on a quick pulse. It would disorient anyone looking and give Titus those few extra seconds he might need to make that crucial friend or foe decision.
He sighed and pressed the plunger in on the flashlight returning it to a normal beam. There on his own front porch was his past, covered in blood, dirt and God only knew what else. He shook his head and moved over towards Alex as he bent down smelling that coppery scent on her. Titus bent over and while wrapping Alex in his welcome mat, picked her up with ease. Using his foot as a free hand he opened the door and stepped into the house, making his first destination the bathroom.
The flickering light made her groan, and lift a hand against it, muttering something as eye's fluttered open, and then shut again. Half in and out of consicienceness, she felt her body being bundled up in the mat, and picked up. To weak to really protest much about it. Plus, it was Titus. He wasn't going to hurt her. Not unless shit had seriously changed since Hawaii.
Into the bathroom they went, and she hissed as the light was flicked on, and the water started running into the tub and she was placed on a toilet seat, blinking up at him wearily, and trying to focus on his face. "Day....what day is it...the date...." She was clinging to his arm as he workd to get the tattered and totally trashed clothing off of her. Her grip was weak, and shakeing. She let him stand her up as he got the jeans off, and when he picked her up to lower her into the tub, she let out a soft wimper at the feel of the water against the burns on her wrists. Silver burns fucking SUCKED. the Skin was raw and painfully abraded from being in contact with the metal for as long as it had been.
Sinking down into the water though, after the initial shock of pain wore off and she sank into numbness, she closed her eye's again. Dunkin her head briefly, and comming up with hair streaming water, leaning against the edge of teh tub, arms up out of the water, she murmmered softly. "....warm....Titus....m'tired...." She looked damn near skin and bones. Like someone who had lost too much weight way to quickly.
Looking up at him, she let him take care of her. if he remembered as well as she did him, he'd realize how telling that was.
Normally removing the clothes off a woman was exciting. The slow reveal of skin normally unseen by the eyes of the world would get Titus's heart racing. Right now though it was clinical, as if he were cleaning one of the many firearms he had scattered in hidden places around the house. He'd dealt with his share of having to remove clothes off of crackhead werewolves and heroine-filled magi, so this was just a part of the job.
He poured Epsom salts into the tub and a few other bathing salts to soak into her skin. A quick examination showed a lot, her belly seemed empty but hard, signs of malnutrition and she looked dehydrated. Judging from the blood and mud she'd been in the wilderness for days if not a couple of weeks. Not a good sign for a werewolf. He'd ask about the blood later, whether or not it was hers or if he'd have to start sniffing around things he probably shouldn't. Business with werewolves was always a tricky thing, sometimes the blood was just animal blood, sometimes.
Lowering her into the tub, he recited the date to her and then stood up and moved to the kitchen. She was conscious enough not to drown so he left her alone for a bit to soak. He quickly deposited the welcome mat into the washer and placed it on a hard wash, hoping the blood wasn't set in, or else he'd have to by another welcome mat that said Go The Fuck Away. Hands moved through the cabinets as he prepared a drink for her. Sugar, salt, a shot of rye whiskey, water, and two scoops of whey protein were deposited into a large cup of ice. He also grabbed the three steaks he had planned on eating the next day as a small celebration of him getting here and, with speed, placed them into a skillet to fry. Titus knew most shifting breeds could digest raw meat efficiently, but he had yet to meet one that didn't want a cooked steak from time to time.
Titus slid back into the bathroom and sat on the toilet. He handed Alex the drink as he took a sip of his fresh Abita. "Drink all of that right now, or I'll put a copper ball in your foot." He meant it jokingly as he sat and watched her soak in the cloudy mixture of water. What once was pure and milky white, was slowly turning the colors of brown and red.
Alex dozed. She was safe enough against the side of the tub, so she figured it was ok. hair that was stringy and wet hung into her eyes, and she opened them slowly when he came back in the room. Holding the glass out to her, she eyed it suspiciously, sniffing it and wrinkling her nose. "Smells gross...." But she did as he asked, and took a drink. Shuddering, she made a face. "...ew...." came the weak response to the taste, and she looked up at him. "....whazin it?" She knew he was jokeing, but...Well she wasn't sure just how much he was jokeing. While she did trust Titus, there had just been too much shit happening to her in the last month. Holding her breath, she downed it quickly, and shuddered again, holding out the glass to him, and resting her head back on her other arm.
"m'sorry to just show up....." voice was still soft, and weak. accent thick enough to walk on as always. Was just Alex. Lifting her hand once he took the glass, she ran it through her hair, and finally forced herself to sit up, so she could wash off the dirt and dried blood that caked her body. Hissing again as the water hit her wrists, she grit her teeth and worked through it. Once she was clean, she slumped back agaisnt the tub, not caring that she was naked infront of him. A, it never really bothered her. and B, it wasn't like he hadn't seen and touched it numerous times before!
The smell of cooking meat had her stomach growling loudly, but she didn't seem to acknowlage it other than that. After a few minutes of quiet...".....Thank you...."
"It's water with a bit of salt, sugar, protein, and a shot of rye whiskey for the pain." He took another pull from the beer as he watched her. Eyes looking over the bits of wounds. "I hope this is something unrelated to whatever wolves are running through Louisiana, because if this is how your Alpha is treating you, he and I are gonna have a come to Jesus talk." Something told him it wasn't though. Alex was a submissive, but she wasn't weak. That meant a lot in Titus's book as he stood up and grabbed a rag for her to use to wash. He gave it a pitch, letting it land on her head before disappearing again. He came back with a rare steak and a shirt and gym shorts that were too small for him, but was sure she'd have to cinch up.
"Eat slowly, you're malnourished and eating too much at once might kill you." It was his only warning as he drained the last of his beer and stood up again to grab another. Silence had filled the house so he went to shake his computer back on, which sent sound through the house once more. Muddy Waters and whatever else was on his station crooned through the house in Southern blues fashion.
He finally made it to the kitchen and went to the sink to wash his hands. He'd have bits of blood and dirt on his hands so he went to wash off, he scrubbed thoroughly and then checked for cuts or scrapes on his arms. Nothing he could see. Titus had too many close calls to ever not be cautious and seeing as she was covered in someone's blood, made him wonder.
He returned back to the bathroom and leaned against the sink, staring at the opposite wall and took a few more pulls from his beer. "We wanna talk about whose blood is covering you, or is this something for us lawmen not to get too involved in?"
The rag landing on her head had gotten a tiny smile from her. At his statement that he hoped this was unrelated to the wolves in the area, and that it had better not have been her Alpha that hurt her Alex gave a choked laugh. "My Alpha is the same as it's been since Hawaii...Ash wouldn't hurt me...." She went quiet though, frowning, and didn't say anything else while he left her alone in the room again. Ash wouldn't hurt her....but Ash hadn't come to find her either...it made her question. Made her wonder...She shook her head, as Xavier's voice filled her mind once more, and she growled out in annoyance and shook her head, makeing her vision swim.
Looking up as he came back in, she had gotten out of the tub, and dried off. Accepting the shirt and short. Pulling them tight at her waist, and then took the plate, lifting the steak to her mouth, and would have wolfed the meat down if he hadn't given her that cautionary warning. Nodding her head, she sank down onto the floor, not caring it was still the bathroom and ate slowly. Forcing herself not to inhale the steak.
Fuck she was hungry. and even though she ate slow, it was still gone by the time he came back and Alex was licking her fingers clean. Looking up at him, she met his gaze, and very matter of factly answered. "Xaviers.....he's dead." No remorse. No grief. Nothing. Just cold facts that her sibling was dead.
Titus simply let out a grunt in reply. His only regret in that was not pulling the trigger on Xavier himself. Xavier was one of the few that Titus thought he would have no problem in killing cold. Xavier and that group of snakes from back when were on his list, well the snakes now at least.
Titus opened the drawer in front of him and handed Alex a comb, "Here you look like shit." He then disappeared out into the living room. Shutting the front door and deadbolting it, he moved back into the kitchen draining his beer. At this point he'd be hammered by midnight, but disregarded the matter. He pulled out another Restoration, counted the rest, frowned, then moved back to his computer chair and sat, waiting for Alex to finally gather her wits and get fixed up.
When he didn't say anything, she just watched him with those still slightly glassy eyes, and took the comb when handed to her. As he walked out of the room with the decliration that she loked like shit, she glanced in the mirror as she stood, and combe dher hair back from her face. She'd been held captive in a basement for the last three, almost four weeks by her own sibling...She had a right to look like shit.
Hair combed, and looking presentable, she slipped out of the bathroom and found the kitchen, putting the plate on the counter, and then moved intot he living room where he sat in hisc omputer chair. moving to him, she sank to the floor, legs bent and pulled up to her chest, arms around them and chin on her knees. Eye's rolled up to look at him. "......he kidnapped me....said it was for my own good....that he was doing it cause he had to fix me....that Ash fucked me up...and he had to fix me..." She looked away from him. confusion setting in again as she tried to quiet that voice in her mind.
then...."....He attacked some kid in town....infected him....i got so pissed i went looking for him....I called and left Ash a message...." She shook her head. she didn't want to think about Ash right now. "....we fought....next thing i knew, i was in some dark basement, chained up and gagged....he drugged me....wouldn't give me any food....said he was doing it for my own good...."
In Xavier's twisted mind....did he really believe he was helping his baby sister? OR had he just been that far fucking gone that he didnt' know the difference anymore?
Titus looked at her as she entered and slid to the floor, he did in fact have chairs but for right now he said nothing. She started to talk about what happened and it annoyed Titus even more that he couldn't pop Xavier from a hundred or so yards with a well placed shot. Titus kept all that inside and slid a hand through Alex's damp hair. He knew werewolves, well most shifters, liked to be touched, much like most animals on the planet. (even humans)
"I'm sure Ash didn't abandon you Alex," he could read between the lines, believe it or not, and caught the struggle her lips made when she said the word. The pause after her tone confirmed it. It was as much about Xavier as it was about Ash. Titus had met Ash once (over a can of Boddington's if he remembered) and didn't feel like the guy was a bad seed.
"As for Xavier...judging by the blood, I'd say he's in a few pieces right now and therefore of no harm to the rest of the world. Cheers." He toasted himself, it was no secret that Titus wanted Xavier dead since about the first second he met the weird fuck. Aside from the murder syndrome and the psychopathy, he also didn't like him because he gave the South a bad name.
He continued to pet her as he leaned down to her, "Is there anyone I need to call. I have a second bedroom, it's not set up and I was going to use it as a guest room and office. You're welcome to use it for as long as you need." He gave her a warm smile and stood, walking to the kitchen to get her another steak.
Alex let her eyes close as that hand slid through her hair. listening. To him as he defended Ash. Looking up she rolled her shoulders. "i dont know. I dont even know if they are still here.... Ash i guess... Or Silent.." she burried her face against his leg. "Laney.... If you cant get whold of Ash try Laney... She'll pass the message along...." when. He moved into the kitchen she rolled ti her feet and followed. Sinking into a chair she watched him cook.
"thank you, Titus... I... This wasnt exactly the reunion i had thought about for us...." cimbing fingers through her hair she gave a little grin. " and... Yeah.. Whats left of Xavier is in peices... I um...i sorta...um...." oh hell. He had starved her. She'd eaten enough to get her the fuck out of the swamp... Didnt mean she was proud of it....
He gave a quiet nod as he went through the names. Ash he knew, Silent he knew but was kind of scared of, finally Laney was one he never knew. He made his mind up to look Ash up at the Marshal's office. If he was still in service, they'd have a contact address.
He finished the steak and handed it to Alex with a smile. "Not too fast now." He madehimself a steak too, cut the pieces into thin strip and made himself a steak sandwich. He sat down on the opposite side of her as he slid a beer to her and tossed the top into the trash. "I'll try Ash tomorrow, it's late enough as it is."
"Yeah I might have imagined a bit of a different get together, but it is what it is." He smiled to her as he gave a bite of his sandwich. Eyes moved towards the windows, the doors, and finally back to Alex.
The second steak tasted just as good as the first, and while she still forced herself to eat slower than she wanted, she still ate fairly quickly. Soon her stomach was full, and she sat back, sipping at the beer he'd slid across the table to her.
" i lost my phone at some point....gonna have to get a new one eventually I guess....If you got one I can use, I'll call Laney and Ash myself..." She rubbed at her eyes, and let out a yawn. She was exausted. Wincing as her injured wrists touched the table top again, she looked up at him. "...Jessie too...all things considered I think i should get checked out...You got any gauze and medical tape? Wanna wrap these so i don't keep bumping them..."
Alex rubbed at her hair, and then knuckled at her burning eyes. The comfort of being around Titus again seemed to quiet that nasty voice that kept whispering through her mind. Laying her chin in her hand, she watched him eat. "Till I get ahold of someone i wouldn't mind crashing here....though, once i figure out what's going on, I'm going to go back to my house...Xavier's gone...no reason I can't use it now...."after it had been repaired, repainted, and refurnished. As well as probably fumagated....Who the hell knew what that sick fuck had been doing in that house since he'd been back....
Alex wasn't sure she wanted to know....but she did know that right now, she didn't want to be alone.
Titus gave a nod and then stood up. He disappeared into the bathroom and came back out with the bit of gauze and tape he had. Placing them on the table he sat back down and finished his sandwich, watching her put herself back together.
"You can use the land line in the living room if you want, but I don't have a spare phone, sorry." He swallowed the last bit down and chased it by draining his beer into his mouth before standing once more and grabbing the plates to put in the kitchen. "And yeah, you can stay here as long as you want. Letting you know ahead of time, I am going to have a crew come in here this week to fix up a couple of problems with the place. Shouldn't be too bad though, be in here around 7 in the morning and gone a little after lunch. I'll be at the Federal building if they need anything."
Titus also gave a thought to the things Xavier did in that house. He shook his head as he rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Xavier was one of the bad ones that he knew he'd end up seeing a warrant for or finding torn to pieces in the middle of an alley. Either outcome seemed fine with Titus and he guessed that was the justice Xavier deserved.
Accepting the gauze and tape, she carefully wraped the gauze firmly around her wrists, and secured each with tape. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it would do untill she could get to Jessie and have her look at them and check her over. Takeing another drink of her beer, she set it on the table, and settled back, listening to him as he talked about workmen comming to fix things. Nodding her head.
"I'll probably be passed out tomorrow at least...." She yawned again, and knuckled at her eye's once more, starting to doze a bit as he went about cleaning up the kitchen and dishes. It wouldn't take long before she was nodding off in the chair, having slumped forward against the table, with head resting on folded arms, and fast asleep.
She hadn't ment to, but she was so tired. So very very tired after it all. And she hurt. Something deep down hurt inside of her, and the best way to escape it was sleep. Though the dreams that would come now, were not going to be pretty.
He had finished what he had to say and looked to see Alex quietly dozing. Titus had to smile and then after he had finished the dishes, picked her up as gently as he could and carried her off to the second bedroom. Her journey was a hard one and she needed much deserved sleep.
He deposited her onto the bed and pulled a summer blanket over her before he left, closing the door behind him. Stifling a yawn he dipped into his own room and slid onto his own bit of dreamy heaven. He pulled the Para-Ordnance from his waistband and laid it within reaching distance. You never know that whatever went bump in the night might come to find ya. It didn't take him long before slept crept over him as well.
