Darkest Before Dawn – Part Three of Four
Mar. 29th, 2004 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deannawolOkay, its up :) but be warned, it's kinda nasty! Couldn't get a handle on it for a while ... but when I did, this was what came out...
Some people call it America’s sewer. Some people think that it embodies the land of opportunity. Doesn’t really matter which side you’re on, the fact is that sooner or later, everybody ends up in there, the degenerates, the affluent, the criminals, the nobodies, the high rollers, America’s dispossessed. It’s Heaven, Hell, Elysium, Gehenna, Xanadu and Tartarus all wrapped up into one not so neat package. But where is this otherworldly place? It’s the west coast city of Night City, home to the biggest corps and the worst scum of America.
Kevin “Merc” Specter hurried down the filthy street, his eyes darting around, constantly watching. Crossing the street every time something suspicious appeared in front of him, he went about his business. A sound to his left attracted his attention. He glanced at his watch. Little early for the gangs, he thought to himself. Another sound caught his attention. Involuntarily turning to locate the source of the sound, he sees a woman rush around the corner, flinging herself flat against the wall.
He watched as the woman, dressed entirely in black, closed her eyes, breathing heavily. He paused. She put a hand to her ribs, wincing slightly. She opened her eyes again, looking around. His eyes locked with hers before they both moved off again in opposite directions.
Lex was moving down the street quickly, not quite running. Her mind was trying to focus on anything that wasn’t the pain in her knee and ribs. She had taken a few serious blows and was feeling the worst for wear. Her ribs ached as she breathed in and out, trying to take shallow breaths. She rounded a corner and pushed herself against a wall. Closing her eyes, she took account of her injuries. Dusk had gotten in a few punches during the fight. She figured that she had at least one broken rib maybe more and her knee was in agony.
A noise from across the street made her open her eyes again and look around. Her eyes stopped on a small, ratty man staring at her from the opposite side of the street. His unkempt, unwashed hair hung in strings over his eyes. His filthy clothing made Lex thankful that she wasn’t upwind of him. Lex quickly dismissed him. He wasn’t a threat. Lex looked away and kept up the fast pace that she had set for herself.
She made her way to the end of the street, looking behind her as she turned the corner. The street was now empty. That man must have gone back to whatever it was that he was doing. Lex started down the street, resuming her usual walking pace.
Lex’ mind wandered as she walked thru streets whose name were just beyond reach. Images came unbidden to her mind, unbanishable until they were relived.
Lex stood in front of Pieter, the cold metal of the gun she always carried but never drew caressing her hand. Humanity slid from her being as she fell into an uncaring state. The total absence of emotion showed on her face as she lined up the gun sight with Pieter’s forehead. Her focus shifted momentarily to Pieter’s face. His smile slowly slipping as realization set in. Momentary questioning setting in before acceptance dawned . His mouth opening in exclamation. Lex’ finger muscles tense. A loud sound echoes in her ears. She watches as the bullet hits him between the eyes. Pieter’s body is slammed back and seems to hang in the air for a second before starting to fall. He hits the ground again and bounces once, coming to a stop, forever. His eyes open. A small stream of blood follows the bridge of his nose, leaving a trail to just under his unfocused eye, stopping as its momentum dies out, leaving a totally still corpse to add to the rubbish on the trash-filled street.
Corner after corner, street after street, Lex tried to lose herself in the spider web that was the Combat Zone. Trying with each turn, to get farther away from these unwanted memories.
Lex looked away from what used to be Pieter and focuses on Yuri. Shock is evident on his face, however, realization takes it place almost instantly. He starts to turn as the barrel of Lex’ gun lines up with the bridge of his nose. Yuri’s whole body starts to turn as he tries to escape a fate that is already inevitable. Lex’ finger flexes again, another bullet leaving the Colt AMT handgun. It just misses his ear lobe, entering the exposed skin behind the ear. A crack signals the bone breaking as the bullet penetrated it. A spray of gore accompanies the bullet as it reemerges and crashes into the street behind Yuri. Yuri doesn’t seem to realize what has happened. He finished the turn and tried to take a step. His foot kept on running even though it had not been put on the ground. His knee hit the ground. Yuri made no effort to break his fall. His chin hit the ground, bouncing once before coming to its final rest, side by side with someone he considered family.
People passed, time passed. All unnoticed as she fought the memories, the horrific memories, that were brought to mind.
A strike to Dusk’s chin with her hand caused Dusk’s head to snap around. A combination of the blood dripping from his nose and the saliva forced out by this hit flew in an arc with only slightly more momentum than his head. Dusk brought his head back to its original position, using a hand to wipe at his mouth and then spitting a glob of spit and blood onto the asphalt. His eyes were hard with hate. He lifted his arm to take a punch but Lex got in with a jab to his solar plexus. He folded over, arm dropping and picking you speed on its decent, hitting Lex in the side. Lex bent over slightly with the force of the punch. She brought her hands together and locked them together. Taking a deep breath, she aimed. Her arms circled up until they found their target. She hit him full force with her locked hands in the Adam’s apple. Dusk took an involuntary step backwards, followed by another one. His face went from slightly flushed to purple as he gasped for breath. Lex stood back, taking a moment to survey the crowd and drop into a fighting stance.
The slow motion video that was her minds eye, stuck on repeat forced her to watch the images again and again, adding increasingly impossible detail to each image.
Lex squeezed the trigger. Dusk’s shoulder snapped back but didn’t affect him too much. Dusk kept coming, the glass shard still in his raised hand. He lunged forward. Lex lined up the gun sight with his head and squeezed the cold metal. Her arm jolted again and the shot left the barrel. She could see herself reflected in Dusk’s eyes. The gun out in front of her. The cold look in her own eyes. The sneer on her hardened features. The contempt that she felt towards Dusk shone in her eyes. The image was getting closer and closer until it was cut off abruptly as Dusk came to rest on the ground. As she looked around again, she saw hate-filled faces condemning her for what she had done.
A sound invaded Lex’ consciousness. She tried to focus on the sound. It sounded like footsteps on the steps behind her. She looked back over her shoulder. There were two men on the road behind her. They were talking quietly to each other, but their eyes never left her. Lex looked back to the path in front of her. Picking up her pace she started to walk a little faster. She listened carefully to the footsteps behind her. They started walking faster, keeping pace with her. Lex started jogging along. Over her heart beating in her ears, she heard them jogging after her.
Blind panic overtook Lex for the first time of the day and she started running. The two men behind her ran too. Lex sped down the streets, the coat trailing out behind her as the wind caught it. Lex turned randomly down streets trying to lose her twin tails.
Alley faded into alley, street into street as Lex ran, her heart pounding in her ears. Randomly turning corners in hopes to outfox her pursuers, she kept going. She risked a glance behind her as she turned a corner. They were still there and gaining on her. Her body cried out for oxygen. Turning her head back, to look for the next turn, she found a fatal flaw in her plan. She had turned into a dead end. Brick walls enclosed her on three sides. She turned to run out again to see the two men turn the corner and pull themselves up just inside the alleyway’s entrance.
Lex looked around frantically for some point of escape but nothing presented itself. She took a deep breath, followed by another, giving her body the oxygen it had been wanting, also trying to calm herself.
It’s okay, she thought, been thru worse than this today. But she knew she hadn’t. The piranhas wanted to intimidate her, not necessarily kill her, but they had just been kids anyway. The two gangers, Yuri and Pieter hadn’t known it was coming. Dusk had been a fair fight. These two had chased her down with the sole purpose of killing her, she could see that in their eyes. You can’t reason with unreasonable men.
Lex took her stance and ducked one hand under her coat. As she withdrew it, she saw a flash of reflected light, followed closely by a sharp pain in her hand. The shock made her drop the gun she had been pulling. She brought her hand up to look at it. Embedded thru her hand was a knife. It’s point just breaching her palm. She noted detachedly that it wasn’t bleeding, it wasn’t even that painful. She grabbed the knife in her other hand and pulled it out. Her hand was starting to throb now, blood trickling from the injury.
Keeping the knife in one hand, she retook her fighting stance. If they want it the hard way, they are going to get it, she thought to herself. No one is going to take me down without a fight.
With her bleeding hand, she beckoned them closer. The alley was just narrow enough that they approached one after the other.
When the first was close enough, Lex used the hand with the knife in it to make a punch at his jaw. He saw it coming and ducked back slightly. He dropped, swinging a leg as he did. Lex jumped over his leg, landing on one leg and bringing the other down on his knee. He howled in pain as it cracked. Lex used the same foot to kick his jaw. She sent him flying backwards, skidding slightly as he landed on plastic packaging lying around the alleyway.
His friend took the opportunity to grab hold of Lex’ leg. He had a firm grip on her ankle. Lex hopped, trying to keep her balance. Using his hold as a steady point, she jumped, kicking out at her assailants crotch with her free foot. She watched his face as his eyes crossed and he dropped her leg as his hands flew to cradle his injured parts. Lex fell but rolled immediately, flipping back up to a standing position. She kicked out at his chin, connecting harshly with it. He fell backwards. Lex wasted no time in slamming her foot down on his throat.
Lex looked at his friend, her disorganized hair falling over her face. Keeping eye contact, she twisted her foot.
SNAP!
Both realized what had been done. With that simple twist, she had snapped her attackers neck.
“Leave now and you live.” Lex spat out the words, using her bloody hand to move the hair from her face.
Her words and actions seemed to drive the remaining attacker into a frenzy. He ran at Lex, cursing her with every word he knew. She side stepped his attack and slammed an elbow into his kidneys as he passed her, pushing him forward further. He turned for another attack, Lex punched out at him. It was only when she saw the line of blood running down his face that she remembered that the knife was in her hand. He put his hand up to his face, it came away stained with his blood. He ran towards her again. Again she sidestepped, this time wrapping an arm around his neck as he passed.
The force nearly knocked him off his feet as he came to an abrupt stop. He felt a tickle along his throat as he was turned. Thru foggy eyes, he saw a fountain of blood sweep in an arc. It sprayed over Lex. Her black armor shiny with the black liquid. Her face spattered with red. Her faded pink hair, red in spots. As he hit the ground, he realized what must have happened.
“Na Panele…” The last words he speaks as his head drops for the last time.
The blood covered knife drops from Lex’ trembling hand as she watches him fall. She looks at her hands, covered in blood, blood that is not hers. She drops to her knees in the alleyway. Tears running down her cheeks, causing streaks on her blood spattered cheeks. The back of her throat starts to burn as bile rises from her stomach. She bends over, her hands supporting her as her stomach empties its contents onto the cold, hard ground. The only thing she can smell is the irony smell of fresh, spilt blood.
It is after dark before Lex can force herself out of that alleyway, crawling until she is past the bodies and then very slowly getting to her feet. She holds the wall as her knees won’t support her. She stays close to the wall as she turns the corner, putting some distance between herself and the site of her atrocity.
She walks for hours, taking no notice of where she is going, just going. She avoids the prying eyes of the people she passes. She walks as straight as possible, showing no weakness, even though there is nothing but weakness in her spirit. She cannot show weakness. She was convinced that if she showed weakness that evolutionary ideals would invade the people she passed and she would be culled from the herd. She wondered if that was a bad idea, dismissing the thought just as quickly as it had arrived in her head.
Buildings faded into each other as she passed them. Instinct was drawing her somewhere, guiding her steps. It also told her when to stop. She had knocked on the door before she had realized it. She did not have the energy to figure out where she was. She heard a latch being unlocked and drawn back. The door slowly opened.
At the door, a man appeared. He was tall, blond hair, broad shoulders, in one hand was a raised katana. The other hand was holding up a towel. It struck Lex as hilarious but before she could do more than smile, she started to fall forward. Her world was fading to black. She heard the katana hit the floor and a hand under her torso, catching her, before the darkness claimed her.
Some people call it America’s sewer. Some people think that it embodies the land of opportunity. Doesn’t really matter which side you’re on, the fact is that sooner or later, everybody ends up in there, the degenerates, the affluent, the criminals, the nobodies, the high rollers, America’s dispossessed. It’s Heaven, Hell, Elysium, Gehenna, Xanadu and Tartarus all wrapped up into one not so neat package. But where is this otherworldly place? It’s the west coast city of Night City, home to the biggest corps and the worst scum of America.
Kevin “Merc” Specter hurried down the filthy street, his eyes darting around, constantly watching. Crossing the street every time something suspicious appeared in front of him, he went about his business. A sound to his left attracted his attention. He glanced at his watch. Little early for the gangs, he thought to himself. Another sound caught his attention. Involuntarily turning to locate the source of the sound, he sees a woman rush around the corner, flinging herself flat against the wall.
He watched as the woman, dressed entirely in black, closed her eyes, breathing heavily. He paused. She put a hand to her ribs, wincing slightly. She opened her eyes again, looking around. His eyes locked with hers before they both moved off again in opposite directions.
Lex was moving down the street quickly, not quite running. Her mind was trying to focus on anything that wasn’t the pain in her knee and ribs. She had taken a few serious blows and was feeling the worst for wear. Her ribs ached as she breathed in and out, trying to take shallow breaths. She rounded a corner and pushed herself against a wall. Closing her eyes, she took account of her injuries. Dusk had gotten in a few punches during the fight. She figured that she had at least one broken rib maybe more and her knee was in agony.
A noise from across the street made her open her eyes again and look around. Her eyes stopped on a small, ratty man staring at her from the opposite side of the street. His unkempt, unwashed hair hung in strings over his eyes. His filthy clothing made Lex thankful that she wasn’t upwind of him. Lex quickly dismissed him. He wasn’t a threat. Lex looked away and kept up the fast pace that she had set for herself.
She made her way to the end of the street, looking behind her as she turned the corner. The street was now empty. That man must have gone back to whatever it was that he was doing. Lex started down the street, resuming her usual walking pace.
Lex’ mind wandered as she walked thru streets whose name were just beyond reach. Images came unbidden to her mind, unbanishable until they were relived.
Lex stood in front of Pieter, the cold metal of the gun she always carried but never drew caressing her hand. Humanity slid from her being as she fell into an uncaring state. The total absence of emotion showed on her face as she lined up the gun sight with Pieter’s forehead. Her focus shifted momentarily to Pieter’s face. His smile slowly slipping as realization set in. Momentary questioning setting in before acceptance dawned . His mouth opening in exclamation. Lex’ finger muscles tense. A loud sound echoes in her ears. She watches as the bullet hits him between the eyes. Pieter’s body is slammed back and seems to hang in the air for a second before starting to fall. He hits the ground again and bounces once, coming to a stop, forever. His eyes open. A small stream of blood follows the bridge of his nose, leaving a trail to just under his unfocused eye, stopping as its momentum dies out, leaving a totally still corpse to add to the rubbish on the trash-filled street.
Corner after corner, street after street, Lex tried to lose herself in the spider web that was the Combat Zone. Trying with each turn, to get farther away from these unwanted memories.
Lex looked away from what used to be Pieter and focuses on Yuri. Shock is evident on his face, however, realization takes it place almost instantly. He starts to turn as the barrel of Lex’ gun lines up with the bridge of his nose. Yuri’s whole body starts to turn as he tries to escape a fate that is already inevitable. Lex’ finger flexes again, another bullet leaving the Colt AMT handgun. It just misses his ear lobe, entering the exposed skin behind the ear. A crack signals the bone breaking as the bullet penetrated it. A spray of gore accompanies the bullet as it reemerges and crashes into the street behind Yuri. Yuri doesn’t seem to realize what has happened. He finished the turn and tried to take a step. His foot kept on running even though it had not been put on the ground. His knee hit the ground. Yuri made no effort to break his fall. His chin hit the ground, bouncing once before coming to its final rest, side by side with someone he considered family.
People passed, time passed. All unnoticed as she fought the memories, the horrific memories, that were brought to mind.
A strike to Dusk’s chin with her hand caused Dusk’s head to snap around. A combination of the blood dripping from his nose and the saliva forced out by this hit flew in an arc with only slightly more momentum than his head. Dusk brought his head back to its original position, using a hand to wipe at his mouth and then spitting a glob of spit and blood onto the asphalt. His eyes were hard with hate. He lifted his arm to take a punch but Lex got in with a jab to his solar plexus. He folded over, arm dropping and picking you speed on its decent, hitting Lex in the side. Lex bent over slightly with the force of the punch. She brought her hands together and locked them together. Taking a deep breath, she aimed. Her arms circled up until they found their target. She hit him full force with her locked hands in the Adam’s apple. Dusk took an involuntary step backwards, followed by another one. His face went from slightly flushed to purple as he gasped for breath. Lex stood back, taking a moment to survey the crowd and drop into a fighting stance.
The slow motion video that was her minds eye, stuck on repeat forced her to watch the images again and again, adding increasingly impossible detail to each image.
Lex squeezed the trigger. Dusk’s shoulder snapped back but didn’t affect him too much. Dusk kept coming, the glass shard still in his raised hand. He lunged forward. Lex lined up the gun sight with his head and squeezed the cold metal. Her arm jolted again and the shot left the barrel. She could see herself reflected in Dusk’s eyes. The gun out in front of her. The cold look in her own eyes. The sneer on her hardened features. The contempt that she felt towards Dusk shone in her eyes. The image was getting closer and closer until it was cut off abruptly as Dusk came to rest on the ground. As she looked around again, she saw hate-filled faces condemning her for what she had done.
A sound invaded Lex’ consciousness. She tried to focus on the sound. It sounded like footsteps on the steps behind her. She looked back over her shoulder. There were two men on the road behind her. They were talking quietly to each other, but their eyes never left her. Lex looked back to the path in front of her. Picking up her pace she started to walk a little faster. She listened carefully to the footsteps behind her. They started walking faster, keeping pace with her. Lex started jogging along. Over her heart beating in her ears, she heard them jogging after her.
Blind panic overtook Lex for the first time of the day and she started running. The two men behind her ran too. Lex sped down the streets, the coat trailing out behind her as the wind caught it. Lex turned randomly down streets trying to lose her twin tails.
Alley faded into alley, street into street as Lex ran, her heart pounding in her ears. Randomly turning corners in hopes to outfox her pursuers, she kept going. She risked a glance behind her as she turned a corner. They were still there and gaining on her. Her body cried out for oxygen. Turning her head back, to look for the next turn, she found a fatal flaw in her plan. She had turned into a dead end. Brick walls enclosed her on three sides. She turned to run out again to see the two men turn the corner and pull themselves up just inside the alleyway’s entrance.
Lex looked around frantically for some point of escape but nothing presented itself. She took a deep breath, followed by another, giving her body the oxygen it had been wanting, also trying to calm herself.
It’s okay, she thought, been thru worse than this today. But she knew she hadn’t. The piranhas wanted to intimidate her, not necessarily kill her, but they had just been kids anyway. The two gangers, Yuri and Pieter hadn’t known it was coming. Dusk had been a fair fight. These two had chased her down with the sole purpose of killing her, she could see that in their eyes. You can’t reason with unreasonable men.
Lex took her stance and ducked one hand under her coat. As she withdrew it, she saw a flash of reflected light, followed closely by a sharp pain in her hand. The shock made her drop the gun she had been pulling. She brought her hand up to look at it. Embedded thru her hand was a knife. It’s point just breaching her palm. She noted detachedly that it wasn’t bleeding, it wasn’t even that painful. She grabbed the knife in her other hand and pulled it out. Her hand was starting to throb now, blood trickling from the injury.
Keeping the knife in one hand, she retook her fighting stance. If they want it the hard way, they are going to get it, she thought to herself. No one is going to take me down without a fight.
With her bleeding hand, she beckoned them closer. The alley was just narrow enough that they approached one after the other.
When the first was close enough, Lex used the hand with the knife in it to make a punch at his jaw. He saw it coming and ducked back slightly. He dropped, swinging a leg as he did. Lex jumped over his leg, landing on one leg and bringing the other down on his knee. He howled in pain as it cracked. Lex used the same foot to kick his jaw. She sent him flying backwards, skidding slightly as he landed on plastic packaging lying around the alleyway.
His friend took the opportunity to grab hold of Lex’ leg. He had a firm grip on her ankle. Lex hopped, trying to keep her balance. Using his hold as a steady point, she jumped, kicking out at her assailants crotch with her free foot. She watched his face as his eyes crossed and he dropped her leg as his hands flew to cradle his injured parts. Lex fell but rolled immediately, flipping back up to a standing position. She kicked out at his chin, connecting harshly with it. He fell backwards. Lex wasted no time in slamming her foot down on his throat.
Lex looked at his friend, her disorganized hair falling over her face. Keeping eye contact, she twisted her foot.
SNAP!
Both realized what had been done. With that simple twist, she had snapped her attackers neck.
“Leave now and you live.” Lex spat out the words, using her bloody hand to move the hair from her face.
Her words and actions seemed to drive the remaining attacker into a frenzy. He ran at Lex, cursing her with every word he knew. She side stepped his attack and slammed an elbow into his kidneys as he passed her, pushing him forward further. He turned for another attack, Lex punched out at him. It was only when she saw the line of blood running down his face that she remembered that the knife was in her hand. He put his hand up to his face, it came away stained with his blood. He ran towards her again. Again she sidestepped, this time wrapping an arm around his neck as he passed.
The force nearly knocked him off his feet as he came to an abrupt stop. He felt a tickle along his throat as he was turned. Thru foggy eyes, he saw a fountain of blood sweep in an arc. It sprayed over Lex. Her black armor shiny with the black liquid. Her face spattered with red. Her faded pink hair, red in spots. As he hit the ground, he realized what must have happened.
“Na Panele…” The last words he speaks as his head drops for the last time.
The blood covered knife drops from Lex’ trembling hand as she watches him fall. She looks at her hands, covered in blood, blood that is not hers. She drops to her knees in the alleyway. Tears running down her cheeks, causing streaks on her blood spattered cheeks. The back of her throat starts to burn as bile rises from her stomach. She bends over, her hands supporting her as her stomach empties its contents onto the cold, hard ground. The only thing she can smell is the irony smell of fresh, spilt blood.
It is after dark before Lex can force herself out of that alleyway, crawling until she is past the bodies and then very slowly getting to her feet. She holds the wall as her knees won’t support her. She stays close to the wall as she turns the corner, putting some distance between herself and the site of her atrocity.
She walks for hours, taking no notice of where she is going, just going. She avoids the prying eyes of the people she passes. She walks as straight as possible, showing no weakness, even though there is nothing but weakness in her spirit. She cannot show weakness. She was convinced that if she showed weakness that evolutionary ideals would invade the people she passed and she would be culled from the herd. She wondered if that was a bad idea, dismissing the thought just as quickly as it had arrived in her head.
Buildings faded into each other as she passed them. Instinct was drawing her somewhere, guiding her steps. It also told her when to stop. She had knocked on the door before she had realized it. She did not have the energy to figure out where she was. She heard a latch being unlocked and drawn back. The door slowly opened.
At the door, a man appeared. He was tall, blond hair, broad shoulders, in one hand was a raised katana. The other hand was holding up a towel. It struck Lex as hilarious but before she could do more than smile, she started to fall forward. Her world was fading to black. She heard the katana hit the floor and a hand under her torso, catching her, before the darkness claimed her.
Intense!
Date: 2004-03-29 01:40 am (UTC)You rock!
*Fights down inner Sansygh who is having a fit at what's happened to poor Lex*
Re: Intense!
Date: 2004-03-29 01:45 am (UTC)I figure Lex has hit rock bottom by this stage and literally can't go on! So next part will be building Lex back up piece by piece! :/
Bon
Re: Intense!
Date: 2004-03-29 04:32 am (UTC)Re: Intense!
Date: 2004-03-29 05:02 am (UTC)But ... its in Lex' background. After she left the Blood and Tears the first time, she started into petty street crime, becoming a fixer and a sneak at the same time. You want it, she stole it and got it for you ... She tried a run on a dojo to steal a katana, but ran into the sensai. He didn't fight her, just asked her why she wanted it. Convinced her that this wasn't the way for her. He offered to teach her and that was where she picked up japanese and the social skills that go with it. But the thing is, he's not japanese. However, in keeping with the CP culture, he decided to get a name to go with the image so its Master Wu's dojo, Sensai Wu teaching, but his real name was Brian and he was from NY. He's the one who helped her piece together her life last time she messed with the Blood and Tears. They were "close" back then, very "close".
Re: Intense!
Date: 2004-03-29 06:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-29 02:16 am (UTC)well not nice, but well it's pretty good.
hmm
Date: 2004-03-29 03:05 am (UTC)And while defending her own life with the two guys on a vengence kick, she knows that she brought it on herself by killing Dusk, so she killed two guys unnecessarily and brutally, cause she needed to go one step beyond where she was and technically went into combat frenzy.