MS - Rav's newest story
- Thread starter Ravynlee
- Start date
woodyloveslinkin
New member
*insert the sound of someone falling off their chair*
Yeah I'm with Fribby....WTF? Return of Rob? Wow that was so unexpected. What a nasty little shock some characters are gonna be in for, I dare say.
When I read the part where Rav was thinking of having her own family consisting of a child she originally doesn't own, I was like "Go to **** ***** she ain't yours."
I'm so looking forward to the day that Nick's *** gets kicked by at least someone, hopefully my character for taking Ava. And wtf? All Matt can do is say "she's my niece" and do nothing about it? I was gobsmacked at his reaction....
**** it. No one's having Ava. Not Ravyn, not Greyfoxx. She's Sarah's daughter by birth. I especially want Ava away from those junkies.
**** (again lol)...Not even the warning that you gave us could compensate for the rollercoaster ride you had us in for.
Good job, once again. Made me yell at the screen twice this time.
Yeah I'm with Fribby....WTF? Return of Rob? Wow that was so unexpected. What a nasty little shock some characters are gonna be in for, I dare say.
When I read the part where Rav was thinking of having her own family consisting of a child she originally doesn't own, I was like "Go to **** ***** she ain't yours."
I'm so looking forward to the day that Nick's *** gets kicked by at least someone, hopefully my character for taking Ava. And wtf? All Matt can do is say "she's my niece" and do nothing about it? I was gobsmacked at his reaction....
**** it. No one's having Ava. Not Ravyn, not Greyfoxx. She's Sarah's daughter by birth. I especially want Ava away from those junkies.
**** (again lol)...Not even the warning that you gave us could compensate for the rollercoaster ride you had us in for.
Good job, once again. Made me yell at the screen twice this time.
Ravynlee
New member
More 
“You going to join in or what?”
Feeling a tattooed arm drape around his shoulders Frib blinked up and smiled.
“Come on, it’s meant to be a party! Get with it, little brother!” Benji declared.
With a playful tussle the younger man pulled back, patting down his hair with a look of feigned annoyance. He accepted the beer with a thankful smile. Though he didn’t like the bitter taste of this particular ale he sipped at it anyway, happy of nothing else for the distraction. Folding his arms and resting them atop the bar in front of him Benji hunched down to watch the other man over his shoulder.
“What’s up?” he prompted.
Frib shrugged and let his eyes wander.
The bar was packed with people and music was warbling away from the old style Wurlitzer in the corner. No matter where he looked there was colour and movement everywhere, more than he was used to seeing here on the rare occasions he and the rest of his team had come to unwind after a particularly stressful day. Sipping at the beer and licking the foam from his upper lip he pouted again and echoed his friend’s body language across the bar top. He opened his mouth to say something then stopped.
“It’s just… this thing with Lupe and stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” Benji asked around the rim of his beer.
Frib shrugged and shook his head, struggling to mentally process it and not knowing where exactly to start.
“I don’t know, something just doesn’t add up. Someone said it was a drive-by but we know from Ballistics it wasn’t. It was a point-blank shot right in the head.”
“Hard to dodge that one,” Benji seemed to joke.
Frib snorted at him, more frustrated that what he was trying to express wasn’t getting through clearly enough or as coherently as he mentally wanted it to.
“No. What I mean is, why would he have everyone believe it was a drive by when we know it wasn’t-?”
“He?”
“Mike!”
“Oh not this again-”
“I’m serious,” the young detective urged as Benji rolled his eyes.
They had been discussing theories back and forth for days now, since well before Lupe Fiasco’s untimely passing, and the paper trail that one way or another Frib was convinced all lead back to the Manhattan businessman.
“Just think about it-”
“I think you need to forget about work for a few hours and just let it go.”
“But that’s exactly my point! I think that’s what he’s counting on-”
“Who?”
“Mike! **** it, aren’t you listening to me? It’s like he’s deliberately trying to fuel the fire or something by making it look like Chester’s team had-”
“Listen little brother,” Benji said, sliding his arm around the other man’s shoulders again and drawing him close like a confidante sharing a secret.
“In case you haven’t noticed, okay, we’re at a ********* party, you see that? You see those women over there dancing? You see? Let me give you some advice, brother to brother. Chicks hate it when you bring your work home with you, hear me? It’s boring. And let’s face it, it’s depressing. If you want to get laid get your sorry workaholic *** up and get over there and introduce yourself before I die from old age or something, alright?”
Benji chuckled and slapped Frib on the chest. The shirt that Frib wore felt unusually dressy compared to Benji’s usual punk-rock garb. Smoothing out the material with a nervous hand Frib gave back a small chuckle as Benji tugged him with his arm again to stress his point – and to roughhouse him. It was endearing how the older twin had taken the young detective under his wing in recent months, especially with Rob’s passing, but in some ways it was kind of unsettling for the young man too. Benji may have had the heart of a gentle giant but the intimidating size of his arms covered in tattoos gave off an opposing impression. Sculling more of his beer Frib watched the women, three in all, dancing to their individual beats on the other side of the bar half a room away. They were all young, pretty, slender but not waif-like, with nice legs spilling out beneath short skirts and smooth skin pouring from out the top of their brassieres. His eyes studied them all as he mentally sized up his ideal prospect amongst them. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular but he allowed a moment for his mind to wander where his hands, at least for now, weren’t allowed to traverse. The thud of Benji clapping him in the chest with the back of his fist stole his attentions again with a less than impressed glare.
“What?” he hissed setting his beer down.
He turned his head in the direction where Benji was nodding. Across the room Joanna and Joel were dancing together with their arms respectively draped around one another’s shoulders and waist. Frib pouted. He couldn’t help but glance down at the woman’s *** before he guiltily lowered his eyes to the floor. He had always considered Rob’s widow attractive but had never entertained the notion of actually putting the hard word on her after her late husband’s disappearance. Truth be told he had morally and ethically opposed such a move when he learned Joel had beat him to it, but jealousy was fickle and on occasion just as fleeting. He smiled as Benji raised his glass to them and nodded as if saluting.
“See? That’s what it’s all about. That **** right there.”
“What, dirty dancing?”
“No, douche bag. Love.”
“Listen to Hugh Hefner over here.”
“I believe it was John Lennon. The Beatles.”
“All you need is love,” Frib stirred.
---
“You going to join in or what?”
Feeling a tattooed arm drape around his shoulders Frib blinked up and smiled.
“Come on, it’s meant to be a party! Get with it, little brother!” Benji declared.
With a playful tussle the younger man pulled back, patting down his hair with a look of feigned annoyance. He accepted the beer with a thankful smile. Though he didn’t like the bitter taste of this particular ale he sipped at it anyway, happy of nothing else for the distraction. Folding his arms and resting them atop the bar in front of him Benji hunched down to watch the other man over his shoulder.
“What’s up?” he prompted.
Frib shrugged and let his eyes wander.
The bar was packed with people and music was warbling away from the old style Wurlitzer in the corner. No matter where he looked there was colour and movement everywhere, more than he was used to seeing here on the rare occasions he and the rest of his team had come to unwind after a particularly stressful day. Sipping at the beer and licking the foam from his upper lip he pouted again and echoed his friend’s body language across the bar top. He opened his mouth to say something then stopped.
“It’s just… this thing with Lupe and stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” Benji asked around the rim of his beer.
Frib shrugged and shook his head, struggling to mentally process it and not knowing where exactly to start.
“I don’t know, something just doesn’t add up. Someone said it was a drive-by but we know from Ballistics it wasn’t. It was a point-blank shot right in the head.”
“Hard to dodge that one,” Benji seemed to joke.
Frib snorted at him, more frustrated that what he was trying to express wasn’t getting through clearly enough or as coherently as he mentally wanted it to.
“No. What I mean is, why would he have everyone believe it was a drive by when we know it wasn’t-?”
“He?”
“Mike!”
“Oh not this again-”
“I’m serious,” the young detective urged as Benji rolled his eyes.
They had been discussing theories back and forth for days now, since well before Lupe Fiasco’s untimely passing, and the paper trail that one way or another Frib was convinced all lead back to the Manhattan businessman.
“Just think about it-”
“I think you need to forget about work for a few hours and just let it go.”
“But that’s exactly my point! I think that’s what he’s counting on-”
“Who?”
“Mike! **** it, aren’t you listening to me? It’s like he’s deliberately trying to fuel the fire or something by making it look like Chester’s team had-”
“Listen little brother,” Benji said, sliding his arm around the other man’s shoulders again and drawing him close like a confidante sharing a secret.
“In case you haven’t noticed, okay, we’re at a ********* party, you see that? You see those women over there dancing? You see? Let me give you some advice, brother to brother. Chicks hate it when you bring your work home with you, hear me? It’s boring. And let’s face it, it’s depressing. If you want to get laid get your sorry workaholic *** up and get over there and introduce yourself before I die from old age or something, alright?”
Benji chuckled and slapped Frib on the chest. The shirt that Frib wore felt unusually dressy compared to Benji’s usual punk-rock garb. Smoothing out the material with a nervous hand Frib gave back a small chuckle as Benji tugged him with his arm again to stress his point – and to roughhouse him. It was endearing how the older twin had taken the young detective under his wing in recent months, especially with Rob’s passing, but in some ways it was kind of unsettling for the young man too. Benji may have had the heart of a gentle giant but the intimidating size of his arms covered in tattoos gave off an opposing impression. Sculling more of his beer Frib watched the women, three in all, dancing to their individual beats on the other side of the bar half a room away. They were all young, pretty, slender but not waif-like, with nice legs spilling out beneath short skirts and smooth skin pouring from out the top of their brassieres. His eyes studied them all as he mentally sized up his ideal prospect amongst them. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular but he allowed a moment for his mind to wander where his hands, at least for now, weren’t allowed to traverse. The thud of Benji clapping him in the chest with the back of his fist stole his attentions again with a less than impressed glare.
“What?” he hissed setting his beer down.
He turned his head in the direction where Benji was nodding. Across the room Joanna and Joel were dancing together with their arms respectively draped around one another’s shoulders and waist. Frib pouted. He couldn’t help but glance down at the woman’s *** before he guiltily lowered his eyes to the floor. He had always considered Rob’s widow attractive but had never entertained the notion of actually putting the hard word on her after her late husband’s disappearance. Truth be told he had morally and ethically opposed such a move when he learned Joel had beat him to it, but jealousy was fickle and on occasion just as fleeting. He smiled as Benji raised his glass to them and nodded as if saluting.
“See? That’s what it’s all about. That **** right there.”
“What, dirty dancing?”
“No, douche bag. Love.”
“Listen to Hugh Hefner over here.”
“I believe it was John Lennon. The Beatles.”
“All you need is love,” Frib stirred.
Ravynlee
New member
Taken aback by the rare ribbing Benji opened his mouth to protest then wrapped his arm in under the other man’s chin and scuffed his knuckles across Frib’s scalp like kids in a playground. They tussled a moment before they were interrupted by another’s voice.
“Is this a private party or can… anyone join in?”
Slowly raising their eyes up the two men fell silent staring at the young woman known only as Phoenix. They both blushed and chuckled and struggled to recompose themselves.
Mel smiled and glimpsed around. The bar was crowded and cramped but she rather liked it, it was disorganized chaos, the kind that in some ways reminded her of a home full of siblings. Though she didn’t know anyone and felt out of place she relished in the anonymity here, even chuckling a little too as she waited for one of them to say something.
“I wasn’t too sure if I had the right place?” she started.
Benji grinned at her. His eyes followed her every move and with a little thrill Mel actually relished it. It wasn’t like it was with Mike who seemed to be trying to invade her head space every time he stared at her with those big dark eyes. Feeling herself blush Mel looked around again, folding her arms across her chest to trap her nervous fidgeting fingers behind. When she heard Benji say something over the music she turned back and nodded, more entranced by the colors inked into his skin than what he was saying. She enjoyed rebellion; it was a trait in her line of work she could inherently relate to.
“I didn’t think you were going to show.”
“I wasn’t sure myself, but… here I am.”
“What changed your mind?” Benji asked.
He smiled at her still nursing an arm around Frib’s neck as if the two of them were the absolute best of friends. Mel chuckled and couldn’t maintain eye contact. It wasn’t from the fact that the other man, Frib, was staring at her awkwardly, but it had more to do with her own inhibitions. She didn’t know what had changed her mind, only that on some level she knew she needed to break out of the rut that she had found herself in, and tried for a while at least convincing herself that her decision had nothing at all with trying to get over Shwag’s sudden departure. With a shrug she looked up. She heard people bellowing and realized someone was calling out a toast to the happy couple.
Mel balked to feel Benji’s breath blast the side of her face and ask her what she wanted to drink. Mel shrugged again. She didn’t care. She didn’t even notice as she watched the blushing couple on the other side of the room Benji stealing the glass from Frib’s hand and passing it over. Blindly Mel accepted it and smiled in thanks. With an incredulous scoff Frib rolled his eyes and sunk back into the shadows. Benji had slipped his arm free anyway; vacating space he hoped at some point would be available for his new best friend named Phoenix.
“For Joel and Joanna!” someone cried and everyone cheered them.
Dozens of drinks were held aloft towards the ceiling as the happy couple embraced and thanked them. They kissed and people clapped and whistled. Even Karl and Oded, two often-stern faces of the NEU were caught cracking toothy grins to the salutations. As Frib wove his way to the other side of the room he lingered just outside the men’s room door, sweeping his eyes around the room full of cops, detectives, their partners, children, and loved ones, and smiled fondly. A real sense of peace overcame him. For the first time in his life he actually felt as if he were right where he needed to be and it was a feeling so new to him that at first all he could do was stand there and kind of revel in it. Then someone in the crowd made a wisecrack about the happy bridegroom-to-be and he even chuckled along. Even without anyone beside him he felt happy, well, a sense of contentment anyway which was a tiny ray of hope in his otherwise mundane existence. Staring at Benji and his new friend canoodling near the bar Frib scoffed to himself with a degree of acceptance. Sure she was cute but on some level Frib must have known subconsciously she was not meant for him. Still, the idea had been fun while it lasted. Turning his back he made his way into the bathroom and let the music of the party mask the door squeaking to a close behind him.
“Is this a private party or can… anyone join in?”
Slowly raising their eyes up the two men fell silent staring at the young woman known only as Phoenix. They both blushed and chuckled and struggled to recompose themselves.
Mel smiled and glimpsed around. The bar was crowded and cramped but she rather liked it, it was disorganized chaos, the kind that in some ways reminded her of a home full of siblings. Though she didn’t know anyone and felt out of place she relished in the anonymity here, even chuckling a little too as she waited for one of them to say something.
“I wasn’t too sure if I had the right place?” she started.
Benji grinned at her. His eyes followed her every move and with a little thrill Mel actually relished it. It wasn’t like it was with Mike who seemed to be trying to invade her head space every time he stared at her with those big dark eyes. Feeling herself blush Mel looked around again, folding her arms across her chest to trap her nervous fidgeting fingers behind. When she heard Benji say something over the music she turned back and nodded, more entranced by the colors inked into his skin than what he was saying. She enjoyed rebellion; it was a trait in her line of work she could inherently relate to.
“I didn’t think you were going to show.”
“I wasn’t sure myself, but… here I am.”
“What changed your mind?” Benji asked.
He smiled at her still nursing an arm around Frib’s neck as if the two of them were the absolute best of friends. Mel chuckled and couldn’t maintain eye contact. It wasn’t from the fact that the other man, Frib, was staring at her awkwardly, but it had more to do with her own inhibitions. She didn’t know what had changed her mind, only that on some level she knew she needed to break out of the rut that she had found herself in, and tried for a while at least convincing herself that her decision had nothing at all with trying to get over Shwag’s sudden departure. With a shrug she looked up. She heard people bellowing and realized someone was calling out a toast to the happy couple.
Mel balked to feel Benji’s breath blast the side of her face and ask her what she wanted to drink. Mel shrugged again. She didn’t care. She didn’t even notice as she watched the blushing couple on the other side of the room Benji stealing the glass from Frib’s hand and passing it over. Blindly Mel accepted it and smiled in thanks. With an incredulous scoff Frib rolled his eyes and sunk back into the shadows. Benji had slipped his arm free anyway; vacating space he hoped at some point would be available for his new best friend named Phoenix.
“For Joel and Joanna!” someone cried and everyone cheered them.
Dozens of drinks were held aloft towards the ceiling as the happy couple embraced and thanked them. They kissed and people clapped and whistled. Even Karl and Oded, two often-stern faces of the NEU were caught cracking toothy grins to the salutations. As Frib wove his way to the other side of the room he lingered just outside the men’s room door, sweeping his eyes around the room full of cops, detectives, their partners, children, and loved ones, and smiled fondly. A real sense of peace overcame him. For the first time in his life he actually felt as if he were right where he needed to be and it was a feeling so new to him that at first all he could do was stand there and kind of revel in it. Then someone in the crowd made a wisecrack about the happy bridegroom-to-be and he even chuckled along. Even without anyone beside him he felt happy, well, a sense of contentment anyway which was a tiny ray of hope in his otherwise mundane existence. Staring at Benji and his new friend canoodling near the bar Frib scoffed to himself with a degree of acceptance. Sure she was cute but on some level Frib must have known subconsciously she was not meant for him. Still, the idea had been fun while it lasted. Turning his back he made his way into the bathroom and let the music of the party mask the door squeaking to a close behind him.
---
Ravynlee
New member
(By the way worth mentioning, cause sis isn't here to ask, and she's kind of all-things-Madden aficionado that I could be wrong on who's older. Tried Yahooing it but just got distracted. Meh, correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks )
“I wish we didn’t have to get a sitter for Haily,” Joanna murmured against Joel’s lips. “I wish she was old enough to be here. This is a special day for her too. She’s going to have a new daddy soon.”
“I know,” Joel smiled. Their lips met in another quick peck. “But it’s a party and she’s still so little. Can’t damage her ears yet. She’ll do that to herself when she’s older.”
“Yes she will.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Are you happy?”
Joanna pulled her head back a fraction to meet her fiancé’s eyes. She smiled disbelievingly. “What?”
“I’m just asking,” Joel confessed. His arms were warm around her and tight. Joanna s******ed and shook her head in amazement before she leant forward again to align herself against his chest.
“Yes, I’m very happy. Thank you. Why? Are you?”
“Are you kidding? I’m marrying the most gorgeous woman in the world, what’s not to be happy about that?”
Joanna giggled and burrowed her reddened cheeks into his shirt. She smiled up at the underside of his jaw.
“You mister,” she marveled. She didn’t quite have the words to say what she wanted, nor in a bar full of people was she in the right time or place, but smiling with her gleaming eyes and rosy cheeks she leant forward and nuzzled another kiss against his lips. She purred. Joel s******ed at the sentiment. Then he sighed.
“But?” he asked.
With her arms locked around his neck she lay her head on his shoulder and lightly shook it. Now that he couldn’t see her face she let a glimmer of truth slip out. She tried to cover it with a smile but the gesture sat uneasily on her face. The fact he already seemed to know her so well to tell when there was something worrying her was disarming as much as it was a comfort.
“Is it your sister again?” he asked.
Joanna nodded closing her eyes to the feel of his warm hand sweeping her spine.
“I’m sure she’s okay,” he reassured, his voice reverberating through his chest more than resounding in her ears over the din of the music. Someone was playing some poppy ballad but the two of them were locked together seeming to sway and rotate to their own internal beat instead. With a sigh Joanna nodded again to affirm she agreed with his statement when her heart told a different story. Looking out at the sea of faces that surrounded her Joanna searched in vain for Ravyn’s face but didn’t see her. Her sisterly sense told her what her eyes already knew – wherever her wayward sibling had gotten to it was nowhere near here.
“I hope she can at least make it to the wedding?” Joanna said as if trying to make light of an otherwise plummeting conversation.
Joel agreed. He kissed her mane of thick dark hair and ran his fingers through it, sweeping it back over her shoulders. Then he kissed her upturned brow and held her back.
“Let’s have another drink.”
Joanna went to stop him but couldn’t. The faces all grinning around her made her objections die prematurely in her lips. It was a celebration after all but without her baby and her sister she was feeling somewhat incomplete, robbed of the ability to completely let herself go with the joy of the moment.
When Joel returned a moment later she was weaving her way through the crowd. The cocktail he held before her face had more color to it than a sunset over a Greek beach front but she shook her head and apologized without taking it.
“I’m just going to call home quickly, see if Jos and Haily are-?”
“I’m sure she’s fine, someone would have called,” Joel rationalized sensibly. He was still wearing his fedora inside, as his brother was, making the unacquainted few that didn’t know the difference occasionally call the wrong twin by his brother’s name to some amusement, and shifted it atop his head as someone jostled him from behind. He laughed at the dance floor antics but Joanna wasn’t laughing along. Even though Mike’s wife was still laid up in hospital and Jos was free and had offered her services free of charge, doubts and fears still niggled at the young mother in a way that words couldn’t express. Assuring him with a quick kiss and a smile that she would be back she walked away again only to find Joel had snagged her arm and stopped her. Frustrated Joanna frowned at him.
)---
“I wish we didn’t have to get a sitter for Haily,” Joanna murmured against Joel’s lips. “I wish she was old enough to be here. This is a special day for her too. She’s going to have a new daddy soon.”
“I know,” Joel smiled. Their lips met in another quick peck. “But it’s a party and she’s still so little. Can’t damage her ears yet. She’ll do that to herself when she’s older.”
“Yes she will.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Are you happy?”
Joanna pulled her head back a fraction to meet her fiancé’s eyes. She smiled disbelievingly. “What?”
“I’m just asking,” Joel confessed. His arms were warm around her and tight. Joanna s******ed and shook her head in amazement before she leant forward again to align herself against his chest.
“Yes, I’m very happy. Thank you. Why? Are you?”
“Are you kidding? I’m marrying the most gorgeous woman in the world, what’s not to be happy about that?”
Joanna giggled and burrowed her reddened cheeks into his shirt. She smiled up at the underside of his jaw.
“You mister,” she marveled. She didn’t quite have the words to say what she wanted, nor in a bar full of people was she in the right time or place, but smiling with her gleaming eyes and rosy cheeks she leant forward and nuzzled another kiss against his lips. She purred. Joel s******ed at the sentiment. Then he sighed.
“But?” he asked.
With her arms locked around his neck she lay her head on his shoulder and lightly shook it. Now that he couldn’t see her face she let a glimmer of truth slip out. She tried to cover it with a smile but the gesture sat uneasily on her face. The fact he already seemed to know her so well to tell when there was something worrying her was disarming as much as it was a comfort.
“Is it your sister again?” he asked.
Joanna nodded closing her eyes to the feel of his warm hand sweeping her spine.
“I’m sure she’s okay,” he reassured, his voice reverberating through his chest more than resounding in her ears over the din of the music. Someone was playing some poppy ballad but the two of them were locked together seeming to sway and rotate to their own internal beat instead. With a sigh Joanna nodded again to affirm she agreed with his statement when her heart told a different story. Looking out at the sea of faces that surrounded her Joanna searched in vain for Ravyn’s face but didn’t see her. Her sisterly sense told her what her eyes already knew – wherever her wayward sibling had gotten to it was nowhere near here.
“I hope she can at least make it to the wedding?” Joanna said as if trying to make light of an otherwise plummeting conversation.
Joel agreed. He kissed her mane of thick dark hair and ran his fingers through it, sweeping it back over her shoulders. Then he kissed her upturned brow and held her back.
“Let’s have another drink.”
Joanna went to stop him but couldn’t. The faces all grinning around her made her objections die prematurely in her lips. It was a celebration after all but without her baby and her sister she was feeling somewhat incomplete, robbed of the ability to completely let herself go with the joy of the moment.
When Joel returned a moment later she was weaving her way through the crowd. The cocktail he held before her face had more color to it than a sunset over a Greek beach front but she shook her head and apologized without taking it.
“I’m just going to call home quickly, see if Jos and Haily are-?”
“I’m sure she’s fine, someone would have called,” Joel rationalized sensibly. He was still wearing his fedora inside, as his brother was, making the unacquainted few that didn’t know the difference occasionally call the wrong twin by his brother’s name to some amusement, and shifted it atop his head as someone jostled him from behind. He laughed at the dance floor antics but Joanna wasn’t laughing along. Even though Mike’s wife was still laid up in hospital and Jos was free and had offered her services free of charge, doubts and fears still niggled at the young mother in a way that words couldn’t express. Assuring him with a quick kiss and a smile that she would be back she walked away again only to find Joel had snagged her arm and stopped her. Frustrated Joanna frowned at him.
Ravynlee
New member
“Please, just for a few hours, can’t you just stop worrying about everyone else and just be with me?” he seemed to plead.
Joanna stared at him. In her peripheral vision she saw people had noticed but didn’t know if they had heard or were just assuming with their jovial grins that the couple were sharing one of those tender moments in full public view. She stepped closer towards him. It dawned on her that not that long ago she had said these very same words, or their equivalent, to her late husband Rob. The outcome then had been far from desirable and here she was now on the verge of starting a new life with a new love repeating the mistakes of the past… and guiltily she smiled at him. She took the drink and thanked him with a kiss agreeing to let the impulse slide for a while longer. Joel even offered to call Jos himself if it would make her feel better, just to put her at ease. Joanna nodded. She loved him and it showed in the rosy glow that radiated from every pore of her face. Agreeing that they would mingle a while longer and that they would go after that if she was still feeling uneasy Joel slid his arm around her and led her back to the dance floor. Together they were joined at the hip and moved as one. People watched and others joined them but the happy couple didn’t care. After making the rounds and sharing idle conversation Joanna was happier to dance than to talk - though the room was full of well-wishers she couldn’t escape the nagging voices in the back of her head that kept reminding her that they were all cops, that they all knew her late husband in some form or another, and behind their kind words and happy smiles lay their disapproval behind Rob’s much maligned decent into corruption. They were looking at her with disdain, sympathy and a mixture of joy and relief that she was taking this positive step. Joel Madden after all was also a great cop and few had a bad word to say about him, at least that Joanna had heard. She smiled happily because she was happy but no matter what she did or thought or said there was always that unsettling feeling churning away inside of her. She put it down to fear for her sister but when Joel asked her is she wanted to go home and rest Joanna shook her head and smiled at him.
“Well okay, how about another-?”
“No, just water for me, thanks.”
“Water? Who the **** has water at a party?” Joel scoffed, slinging his arm around her shoulders. “What are you pregnant?”
Joanna’s smile dwindled and fell away guiltily as her eyes quickly followed suit. When she glimpsed up again Joel was staring at her as if she’d slapped him.
“What?”
Joanna chewed her lip and nodded. She cringed. She could feel eyes starting to fall on her and hadn’t anticipated such an intimate moment becoming such a public spectacle, feeling her stomach rise and nosedive in one sickening motion. When she smiled it screamed nervous and uncertain.
“Surprise,” she squeaked.
Joel just stared. Then slowly his lopsided smirk crept out.
“Are you serious?”
“Are you mad? I’ve been meaning to tell you, I just-”
Her explanation was cut off mid-sentence as Joel shoved his empty glass aside and swept down gathering his fiancé into his arms. He held her around the legs and kissed her stomach to her half-squealing, half-giggling elation, before she slid down enough so that he could kiss her lips in passion. The moment was accompanied by a thunder of applause. Nursing her face between his hands Joel told her he loved her and Joanna confessed the same. Then he threw his head back and cried out triumphantly.
“I’m gonna be a father! Drinks on me!”
Joanna laughed watching Benji wrestle his way through the crowd with a woman by his side to tackle his twin. The two men hugged and laughed before Benji turned his focus on Joanna. When she watched the twins hug again and the rest of the team make their way over to congratulate him, Joanna felt her smile slowly fade at the memories that haunted her. In her head she could see Rob amidst them jostling and wearing their digs and jibes and grinning with joy, even hugging his friend doomed to be his replacement – but she knew that wasn’t meant to be. Nor apparently was she spared the loss of her sister’s absence feeling the sharp pangs as she watched the revelry between Benji and Joel. Sweeping a hand to her stomach she smiled, distracted by the feel of a colorfully tattooed arm drape around her shoulders.
“Come sis, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Benji declared with an arm around his brother’s neck too.
The lady in front of them looked out of place in deathly black with piercing eyes and a stern look to her face that was barely softened by the delicate smile she forced.
“Guys, this is my new friend Phoenix. Her real name’s Melissa. Mel, this is my crew.”
“Phoenix,” Joel repeated as he shook her hand and kissed her cheek in greeting. “Don’t I know you from somewhere? You look familiar.”
“She works for the big guy,” Benji stirred as Mel shared her congratulations with Joanna on her engagement and new surprise.
“The church?” Joanna asked blankly.
The comment was met by sporadic laughter as Benji resumed his position on Mel’s side with an arm now bravely slung about her shoulders territorially.
“No, she works for Mike. Mike Shinoda. MS.”
“Yeah? Doing what?”
“Dispatch,” Mel said smoothly.
Then Benji laughed at her.
The joke was obviously a cop thing because Joanna was the only one not laughing as she studied the other woman on her brother-in-law-to-be arm with a dubious frown. That feeling of unease got progressively worse as Joanna excused herself and hurried off to make a phone call. She had to call Jos to tell her the news.
Congrats, by the way haha
Joanna stared at him. In her peripheral vision she saw people had noticed but didn’t know if they had heard or were just assuming with their jovial grins that the couple were sharing one of those tender moments in full public view. She stepped closer towards him. It dawned on her that not that long ago she had said these very same words, or their equivalent, to her late husband Rob. The outcome then had been far from desirable and here she was now on the verge of starting a new life with a new love repeating the mistakes of the past… and guiltily she smiled at him. She took the drink and thanked him with a kiss agreeing to let the impulse slide for a while longer. Joel even offered to call Jos himself if it would make her feel better, just to put her at ease. Joanna nodded. She loved him and it showed in the rosy glow that radiated from every pore of her face. Agreeing that they would mingle a while longer and that they would go after that if she was still feeling uneasy Joel slid his arm around her and led her back to the dance floor. Together they were joined at the hip and moved as one. People watched and others joined them but the happy couple didn’t care. After making the rounds and sharing idle conversation Joanna was happier to dance than to talk - though the room was full of well-wishers she couldn’t escape the nagging voices in the back of her head that kept reminding her that they were all cops, that they all knew her late husband in some form or another, and behind their kind words and happy smiles lay their disapproval behind Rob’s much maligned decent into corruption. They were looking at her with disdain, sympathy and a mixture of joy and relief that she was taking this positive step. Joel Madden after all was also a great cop and few had a bad word to say about him, at least that Joanna had heard. She smiled happily because she was happy but no matter what she did or thought or said there was always that unsettling feeling churning away inside of her. She put it down to fear for her sister but when Joel asked her is she wanted to go home and rest Joanna shook her head and smiled at him.
“Well okay, how about another-?”
“No, just water for me, thanks.”
“Water? Who the **** has water at a party?” Joel scoffed, slinging his arm around her shoulders. “What are you pregnant?”
Joanna’s smile dwindled and fell away guiltily as her eyes quickly followed suit. When she glimpsed up again Joel was staring at her as if she’d slapped him.
“What?”
Joanna chewed her lip and nodded. She cringed. She could feel eyes starting to fall on her and hadn’t anticipated such an intimate moment becoming such a public spectacle, feeling her stomach rise and nosedive in one sickening motion. When she smiled it screamed nervous and uncertain.
“Surprise,” she squeaked.
Joel just stared. Then slowly his lopsided smirk crept out.
“Are you serious?”
“Are you mad? I’ve been meaning to tell you, I just-”
Her explanation was cut off mid-sentence as Joel shoved his empty glass aside and swept down gathering his fiancé into his arms. He held her around the legs and kissed her stomach to her half-squealing, half-giggling elation, before she slid down enough so that he could kiss her lips in passion. The moment was accompanied by a thunder of applause. Nursing her face between his hands Joel told her he loved her and Joanna confessed the same. Then he threw his head back and cried out triumphantly.
“I’m gonna be a father! Drinks on me!”
Joanna laughed watching Benji wrestle his way through the crowd with a woman by his side to tackle his twin. The two men hugged and laughed before Benji turned his focus on Joanna. When she watched the twins hug again and the rest of the team make their way over to congratulate him, Joanna felt her smile slowly fade at the memories that haunted her. In her head she could see Rob amidst them jostling and wearing their digs and jibes and grinning with joy, even hugging his friend doomed to be his replacement – but she knew that wasn’t meant to be. Nor apparently was she spared the loss of her sister’s absence feeling the sharp pangs as she watched the revelry between Benji and Joel. Sweeping a hand to her stomach she smiled, distracted by the feel of a colorfully tattooed arm drape around her shoulders.
“Come sis, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Benji declared with an arm around his brother’s neck too.
The lady in front of them looked out of place in deathly black with piercing eyes and a stern look to her face that was barely softened by the delicate smile she forced.
“Guys, this is my new friend Phoenix. Her real name’s Melissa. Mel, this is my crew.”
“Phoenix,” Joel repeated as he shook her hand and kissed her cheek in greeting. “Don’t I know you from somewhere? You look familiar.”
“She works for the big guy,” Benji stirred as Mel shared her congratulations with Joanna on her engagement and new surprise.
“The church?” Joanna asked blankly.
The comment was met by sporadic laughter as Benji resumed his position on Mel’s side with an arm now bravely slung about her shoulders territorially.
“No, she works for Mike. Mike Shinoda. MS.”
“Yeah? Doing what?”
“Dispatch,” Mel said smoothly.
Then Benji laughed at her.
The joke was obviously a cop thing because Joanna was the only one not laughing as she studied the other woman on her brother-in-law-to-be arm with a dubious frown. That feeling of unease got progressively worse as Joanna excused herself and hurried off to make a phone call. She had to call Jos to tell her the news.
---
Congrats, by the way
haha
Ravynlee
New member
---
She awoke to sickness. Her stomach was hot and churning and her throat burnt. Her heart and pulse raced in fading echoes, and her head was dizzy. Her face was numb. Peeling open her eyes she quickly realized she was face first on a mattress. She groaned. Bile bubbled on the back of her tongue and she choked it down. On shaky limbs she reached out and pushed herself up a fraction. She wasn’t alone and swinging her head aside, to the detriment of her lagging senses, she saw him. She swallowed and a loud dry knock resounded.
“Am I dead?” she wondered.
There were tears in her eyes. It was panic and it was residual, huffing on her breaths with dread at the prospect.
“You’re dead. You’re dead so I must be dead too, right?”
He was sitting on the floor with a knee up lazily picking at something dangling from his fingers as Ravyn pushed herself up as if to crawl. But she moved backwards rather than towards him.
“You’re alive,” Rob said.
It was more an utterance than reassurance as he limply tossed the distraction away to face her. Ravyn sniffled and shook her head.
“No. You died. We buried you. You’re dead. You shouldn’t be here-”
“Neither should you.”
Rolling his eyes aside he stared up out the window to where a strip of blue sky could be seen wedged between two high-rises. Though only a few meters away the profile of his face was so familiar it caused her to shake her head again. Bathed in shadow festering across the barren floor Rob stared out the window and stopped when he heard her muffle a sob into her palm. He paused before lowering his eyes to his lap guiltily. Dressed in faded denim, scuffed boots and a loose fitting tee and jacket he looked weathered, slumped back against the corner of a built-in wardrobe, a sorry sight from the dashing figure he once cut in his brushed black and gold of the NYPD. Though his hair was longer, shaggier, and his face was laden beneath a haggard beard, the look in his eyes was familiar when he briefly raised them up to watch her. He pouted as if in apology but there were no words forthcoming as Ravyn stared back like she was staring at a ghost. In the barren room that she now found herself without artificial light, without blinds on the window or furniture around her or even carpet on the floor, it felt as if she had awoken in purgatory. For an indeterminate moment she was all-but convinced that she was dead, regardless what he told her. Unable to think and feeling hot sharp spasms stab her stomach and bowls she buckled over and pushed herself to the edge of the mattress feeling his eyes upon her every inch of the way. Ravyn stared at the cold grey cement in trepidation. She didn’t know where she was or how she got here or even what had been done to her since her arrival, she didn’t even know if what she could see and hear and feel was real but she wasn’t brave enough to test it. She panicked at the prospect that the minute she left the mattress the floor would disappear and she would be sucked down into some terrifying abyss – but the terror of remaining here to be haunted for all eternity by her past and the pains of her dying body unable to come to terms with it’s demise pushed her forward. On hands and knees she crawled across the floor but was forced to stop. The pains racked her insides. It was indescribable, hot, churning, stabbing, all at once.
“Oh *** help me, it hurts,” she whimpered helplessly at the cement. With teeth gnashed angrily she got back up. Nausea was making her shoulders heave. “I’m gonna die-” she said.
“No,” Rob behind her muttered. He sounded like he didn’t care. “You’re just withdrawing.”
Just? She wanted to scream. Just?! “How the ****- would you know?” she challenged over her shoulder. “You’re not even real.”
“I’m no more dead than you are,” he said, but his lifeless monotone implied something else.
As she coughed and hacked and dry-wretched he rolled his eyes aside and kept staring out the window. Though she didn’t know what time it was all she could guess was that it was mid morning or late afternoon judging by the way dark shadows dissected the red bordering buildings.
“I showed you what I had to. I had to make you think that-”
“Why?” Ravyn barked at him. On her knees she clutched at her stomach with one arm and used the other to feel her way back to the mattress behind her. As the sound of her voice echoed off the empty walls and cracked ceilings she curled up on the dirty crumpled sheets that stunk of sweat and age and shivered with beads of sweat gathering in a pool on her lower back.
“Why would you do that?”
“To protect you.”
“From what? You?”
Rob said nothing as Ravyn glared in his general direction. In truth she didn’t want to see him nor could she as she curled up into something of a fetal position as she had awoken, facing in the opposite direction, facing a closed and darkened doorway. She sniffled and the sound morphed into another groan. Delicately she gripped at her neck and rubbed it, feeling the heat impressed into her skin radiating with a sudden new pulse – but it wasn’t a new feeling for her. She sobbed and lost herself briefly in the horror of her memories that made no sense caught between the past few months, the past few hours, and the seconds now passing down.
“You- you tried to kill me- last night-”
“No,” Rob disagreed adamantly. “I just did it- I had to shut you up.”
“By choking me?!”
“10 second hold. Standard procedure.”
“Standard? You ******* killed him! I saw you! You broke his ******* neck! With your bare hands! I saw it!”
Ravynlee
New member
The sound of her voice pitched in anger and despair and wrenched with sobs and gagging coughs, echoed around the room. It quashed the hope for anything else. But Rob’s retaliation wasn’t as loud, it wasn’t even impassioned, as he kept staring at some point at the floor like a child being yelled at and accepted it guiltily.
“I did what I had to.”
“Why? He never did anything to hurt you! He didn’t even know you! I ******* loved him and you murdered him in front of me! You’re a monster!”
“Love him?” Rob finally asked with pitch to his voice. He turned his eyes to face her peering back just barely over her shoulder. “How could you love him, Rave? He was your *** damned pusher that’s all he was. Trust me, the world’s better off without people like him-”
“Who gave you the ******* right? You’re not a ***!”
“I did what I had to do!” Rob bellowed back, raising his voice and drowning hers out with due vehemence flashing on his face. “And I’d do it again! In a heartbeat! Believe me Rave, the man you knew, or the guy you thought you knew… he’s done a lot worse - He was a ******* pimp, all right! What did you think he was going to do with you when he-… if you knew what I knew, you-…”
Falling silent Rob huffed out his words left unspoken through his nose and slumped back against the cupboard door again. It made a dull thudding sound as it bounced on its aging hinges. Hearing a squeak Ravyn pulled herself up and struggled to cup her cresting nausea behind her palm. She stared across the room near Rob where she could just make out a blanket lay strewn on the floor. She frowned as movement on the other side of him briefly stole his attentions. A moment later a small face peeked up from behind him. With her bright blue eyes and pale face peering back beneath the hood Ravyn felt the wind being ripped from her lungs. She internalized a gasp and sobbed again.
“Oh ***,” she murmured.
It was a physical reaffirmation of her worst possible nightmare, that the horrors of the night before had actually happened and she hadn’t dreamed it. It wasn’t her late son it was Ava, Chester’s daughter, and whether it was the new light catching the side of her squared little face or the cold fist of reality slamming into her brain with the drugs breaking down in her system, she finally recognised the resemblance.
“I had to bring her here,” Rob rationalised as Ava crawled up onto her knees to seek shelter behind him.
She gripped his sleeve with her little fists and squeaked as if to say she had no intentions of going anywhere now with anyone. Rob smiled at her. She blinked up into his face and smiled back. Though it was tiny and reactive it was Ava’s way of thanking him as she appeared to regress back into infancy amidst the turmoil of the last few days. Then she lay her head down against his arm and curled a little finger into her mouth as she stared warily at Ravyn like a wild dog she was trying to steer clear of. Lightly Rob put his arm around her and patted the little girl’s back.
“I couldn’t let you take her to Chester. Her life’s in danger as it is even away from him. May as well paint a target on her back, Rave. She’s four years old. She didn’t need it.”
“Listen to you. You’re all heart,” Ravyn scoffed with her jaw tight. “What about her mother?”
“Sarah,” Rob said. He looked down at Ava. “She’s not in the best position to take care of anyone.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning… she’s in hospital. Mike’s buddies got to her. She’s not in a good way.”
“And why would they do that?”
“Why else?” Rob asked.
He looked again at Ava who stared back with her eyes so full of wonder and more trepidation than no child her age should ever have to endure. The sound of Ravyn’s guttural scoff a few metres away severed the moment, sounding equally dubious, bitter, and spiteful all at the same time.
“Why do you give a ****? She’s not even yours. You abandoned your daughter, remember, and now you want to save his?”
Rather than retaliate as the look on his face sorely attested, Rob pursed his lips and nodded, weathering the insult with his usual defensive silence. With a sniff he drew his shoulders up and motioned to the little girl’s worried stare that they should soon make a move.
“I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re a dead man.”
“Do what you want,” Rob said, pushing himself up to the pop and creak of his joints. “But it’s only a matter of time before someone finds your friend’s body, and when they do, they won’t be looking for me. I’m dead, remember?”
“You’re a murderer,” Ravyn hissed. She paused for a sneeze. When she stopped Rob was standing at the foot of the mattress holding the little girl’s hand. He stared at her, a towering giant with lifetimes of anger and pain in his eyes.
“We’ve all done things we wish we hadn’t,” he said.
He paused watching her writhe around on the mattress without the slightest modicum of interest or sympathy. He sighed. He told her in a grunt that she had to get up and get something to eat.
“That… would be a first,” she snickered up through hot slitted eyes. “You were always telling me when we were married to stop.”
“Things change. Now get up. You need to put something back in your system or you’ll dehydrate. The withdrawals will get worse.”
“Since when have you been an expert?” Ravyn pondered, getting to her feet.
She was unstable and fell once before she managed to push herself up all the way.
Rob reached out to help her but she slapped his hand away. His lackluster attempt at goodwill was enough to warrant her abuse as she leant up into his face and barked at him with her jaw locked tight, “You weren’t even a Narc a few months before you ****** off!”
Ava whimpered and darted behind Rob’s legs. She didn’t let go of his hand.
“I did what I had to.”
“Why? He never did anything to hurt you! He didn’t even know you! I ******* loved him and you murdered him in front of me! You’re a monster!”
“Love him?” Rob finally asked with pitch to his voice. He turned his eyes to face her peering back just barely over her shoulder. “How could you love him, Rave? He was your *** damned pusher that’s all he was. Trust me, the world’s better off without people like him-”
“Who gave you the ******* right? You’re not a ***!”
“I did what I had to do!” Rob bellowed back, raising his voice and drowning hers out with due vehemence flashing on his face. “And I’d do it again! In a heartbeat! Believe me Rave, the man you knew, or the guy you thought you knew… he’s done a lot worse - He was a ******* pimp, all right! What did you think he was going to do with you when he-… if you knew what I knew, you-…”
Falling silent Rob huffed out his words left unspoken through his nose and slumped back against the cupboard door again. It made a dull thudding sound as it bounced on its aging hinges. Hearing a squeak Ravyn pulled herself up and struggled to cup her cresting nausea behind her palm. She stared across the room near Rob where she could just make out a blanket lay strewn on the floor. She frowned as movement on the other side of him briefly stole his attentions. A moment later a small face peeked up from behind him. With her bright blue eyes and pale face peering back beneath the hood Ravyn felt the wind being ripped from her lungs. She internalized a gasp and sobbed again.
“Oh ***,” she murmured.
It was a physical reaffirmation of her worst possible nightmare, that the horrors of the night before had actually happened and she hadn’t dreamed it. It wasn’t her late son it was Ava, Chester’s daughter, and whether it was the new light catching the side of her squared little face or the cold fist of reality slamming into her brain with the drugs breaking down in her system, she finally recognised the resemblance.
“I had to bring her here,” Rob rationalised as Ava crawled up onto her knees to seek shelter behind him.
She gripped his sleeve with her little fists and squeaked as if to say she had no intentions of going anywhere now with anyone. Rob smiled at her. She blinked up into his face and smiled back. Though it was tiny and reactive it was Ava’s way of thanking him as she appeared to regress back into infancy amidst the turmoil of the last few days. Then she lay her head down against his arm and curled a little finger into her mouth as she stared warily at Ravyn like a wild dog she was trying to steer clear of. Lightly Rob put his arm around her and patted the little girl’s back.
“I couldn’t let you take her to Chester. Her life’s in danger as it is even away from him. May as well paint a target on her back, Rave. She’s four years old. She didn’t need it.”
“Listen to you. You’re all heart,” Ravyn scoffed with her jaw tight. “What about her mother?”
“Sarah,” Rob said. He looked down at Ava. “She’s not in the best position to take care of anyone.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning… she’s in hospital. Mike’s buddies got to her. She’s not in a good way.”
“And why would they do that?”
“Why else?” Rob asked.
He looked again at Ava who stared back with her eyes so full of wonder and more trepidation than no child her age should ever have to endure. The sound of Ravyn’s guttural scoff a few metres away severed the moment, sounding equally dubious, bitter, and spiteful all at the same time.
“Why do you give a ****? She’s not even yours. You abandoned your daughter, remember, and now you want to save his?”
Rather than retaliate as the look on his face sorely attested, Rob pursed his lips and nodded, weathering the insult with his usual defensive silence. With a sniff he drew his shoulders up and motioned to the little girl’s worried stare that they should soon make a move.
“I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re a dead man.”
“Do what you want,” Rob said, pushing himself up to the pop and creak of his joints. “But it’s only a matter of time before someone finds your friend’s body, and when they do, they won’t be looking for me. I’m dead, remember?”
“You’re a murderer,” Ravyn hissed. She paused for a sneeze. When she stopped Rob was standing at the foot of the mattress holding the little girl’s hand. He stared at her, a towering giant with lifetimes of anger and pain in his eyes.
“We’ve all done things we wish we hadn’t,” he said.
He paused watching her writhe around on the mattress without the slightest modicum of interest or sympathy. He sighed. He told her in a grunt that she had to get up and get something to eat.
“That… would be a first,” she snickered up through hot slitted eyes. “You were always telling me when we were married to stop.”
“Things change. Now get up. You need to put something back in your system or you’ll dehydrate. The withdrawals will get worse.”
“Since when have you been an expert?” Ravyn pondered, getting to her feet.
She was unstable and fell once before she managed to push herself up all the way.
Rob reached out to help her but she slapped his hand away. His lackluster attempt at goodwill was enough to warrant her abuse as she leant up into his face and barked at him with her jaw locked tight, “You weren’t even a Narc a few months before you ****** off!”
Ava whimpered and darted behind Rob’s legs. She didn’t let go of his hand.
Ravynlee
New member
“I mourned for you! I grieved for you, me and my sister, Rob! Your wife! You have no idea what you put us through, and now you come back and expect what, that I’d just instantly bow down to you? Why should any of us listen to you? Where were you for us? For Haily, for your little girl, you remember her don’t you? **** you and **** your help. We don’t need you, none of-”
Her tirade was silenced as he snagged her collar in his fist and dragged her close. Ravyn fell silent – but only briefly. She wept but it was as much in anger as it was shock and fear and anything else running rampant through her toxic system. Ava squealed but she was left standing rigid by the mattress. In one, two, three hurried strides Rob tore Ravyn across the room and shoved her loose. He pushed her forward and stabbed a finger at the floor sharply.
“See that?” he cried. “See that? Look at it! Now you tell him! Tell him!”
It took her a moment to realize through the tears and her spinning head and distorted focus that she was on the other side of the room. Shadows festered around her ankles but the light from the nearby window reflecting off the barren walls or maybe something subconsciously seemed to keep most of it at bay. There was carpet here and in her peripheral vision Ravyn realized there was no other carpet left in the room besides here. Though graffiti marred the walls and detritus lurked in the corners marking it as a squatter’s hovel, the fact that such a precious commodity for warmth remained untouched struck her as odd – until she realized there was a large dark brown discoloration to it that made it stand out from the rest. It looked like a giant rose that had blossomed and was left to wilt and die and meld into the fiber. Seizing the back of her head Rob pushed her face towards it brusquely.
“Tell him! Tell him his ******’ mother’s a junkie! Tell him I’m a monster! Say it! Say it loud enough so the whole ******* world can hear!”
With a pained wince Rob shoved her loose and took a step back, uttering what sounded like the word ‘*****’ under his breath. But whether he said it aloud or not, Ravyn wouldn’t have heard it anyway – his point had been made. In her tears she saw it, she saw the room in her peripheral vision reverting back to the way she remembered it to be, she saw the paint come back, saw the soft glow of the fluorescent light, she heard the sound of the TV playing in the next room, some cartoon he used to love, and then she saw him – she saw herself holding him, on her knees, clutching the lifeless corpse of her son in her arms. She could still feel his body heat; she could still smell the stench of gunpowder and fresh blood, like burning copper, as the sound of her voice rang wretchedly around her. It seemed never-ending; the sounds, the smells, the tears, as Ravyn found herself once again on her knees on the carpet. She cried into her hands until the memory went away. When she looked up again Rob was hefting Ava into his arms. She stared back still lost beneath the baggy jersey with the word MATIX branded across her legs. Ravyn sobbed morosely and smeared her eyes with the back of her hand that wasn’t just trembling it was quaking.
She wanted to say something, she wanted to yell and scream, she wanted to ask him why he brought her here, why he forced her to remember any of that at all, but before the words made it to her throat sense kicked in. She saw all the proof she needed in his guilty stare.
“You left me,” he uttered. “You left me first... I call it even.”
Ava tugged at his shirt.
“I want my mommy,” she mumbled. Rob smiled at her. It was as soft a gesture the haggard six and a half foot giant could manage now as he jostled her in his arms.
“I know. But your mom’s very sick right now. When she’s better I’ll take you to her and you can go home, okay? I promise.”
“Will Uncle Matt be there?” She wondered. She asked so quietly that it barely came out as a coherent sentence more a fearful garble of sounds. She pouted when she looked up into his face again. Rob shook his head.
“No. No he won’t hurt you or your mom anymore. He’s… gone away.”
“Where… um… where did he go?”
Considering his answer a moment Rob turned to Ravyn as she slowly peeled herself up from the stain on the floor. He looked at the little girl again.
“He’s gone to Heaven,” he said with his voice thick.
“Is he a angel?”
“Maybe.”
“Can I be a angel one day?”
“One day, when you’re old I guess. But not right now. You know why? Because your mom needs you. All kids need to be with their mothers. It’s not right otherwise… It hurts, doesn’t it?”
Ravyn blinked up to meet Rob’s eyes. She nodded sadly.
“Yeah. It does.”
Stepping around the stain on the floor Ravyn made her way across the room to meet them, stealing glimpses backwards every few feet. With arms tightly folded she drew to a stop. Rob slid an arm around her and pulled her into a one-armed embrace against his side. Ava watched on, still on high alert. Sniffling against his jacket Ravyn pulled her head back and shook it. She didn’t say anything else. Then she pulled away completely. She felt so unwell that she didn’t even have the strength left to fight him anymore. They had reached a tentative truce, but only because she refused to speak to him. Making his way to the door with Ava still on his hip, Rob pushed it open and stepped out, lingering on the other side waiting for her to join them. Glimpsing back at the dark stain on the carpet Ravyn shivered and squeezed her folded arms against her chest tighter. She sniffed and bowed her face, then she slowly walked out. The door creaked to a close behind her.
All good?
Her tirade was silenced as he snagged her collar in his fist and dragged her close. Ravyn fell silent – but only briefly. She wept but it was as much in anger as it was shock and fear and anything else running rampant through her toxic system. Ava squealed but she was left standing rigid by the mattress. In one, two, three hurried strides Rob tore Ravyn across the room and shoved her loose. He pushed her forward and stabbed a finger at the floor sharply.
“See that?” he cried. “See that? Look at it! Now you tell him! Tell him!”
It took her a moment to realize through the tears and her spinning head and distorted focus that she was on the other side of the room. Shadows festered around her ankles but the light from the nearby window reflecting off the barren walls or maybe something subconsciously seemed to keep most of it at bay. There was carpet here and in her peripheral vision Ravyn realized there was no other carpet left in the room besides here. Though graffiti marred the walls and detritus lurked in the corners marking it as a squatter’s hovel, the fact that such a precious commodity for warmth remained untouched struck her as odd – until she realized there was a large dark brown discoloration to it that made it stand out from the rest. It looked like a giant rose that had blossomed and was left to wilt and die and meld into the fiber. Seizing the back of her head Rob pushed her face towards it brusquely.
“Tell him! Tell him his ******’ mother’s a junkie! Tell him I’m a monster! Say it! Say it loud enough so the whole ******* world can hear!”
With a pained wince Rob shoved her loose and took a step back, uttering what sounded like the word ‘*****’ under his breath. But whether he said it aloud or not, Ravyn wouldn’t have heard it anyway – his point had been made. In her tears she saw it, she saw the room in her peripheral vision reverting back to the way she remembered it to be, she saw the paint come back, saw the soft glow of the fluorescent light, she heard the sound of the TV playing in the next room, some cartoon he used to love, and then she saw him – she saw herself holding him, on her knees, clutching the lifeless corpse of her son in her arms. She could still feel his body heat; she could still smell the stench of gunpowder and fresh blood, like burning copper, as the sound of her voice rang wretchedly around her. It seemed never-ending; the sounds, the smells, the tears, as Ravyn found herself once again on her knees on the carpet. She cried into her hands until the memory went away. When she looked up again Rob was hefting Ava into his arms. She stared back still lost beneath the baggy jersey with the word MATIX branded across her legs. Ravyn sobbed morosely and smeared her eyes with the back of her hand that wasn’t just trembling it was quaking.
She wanted to say something, she wanted to yell and scream, she wanted to ask him why he brought her here, why he forced her to remember any of that at all, but before the words made it to her throat sense kicked in. She saw all the proof she needed in his guilty stare.
“You left me,” he uttered. “You left me first... I call it even.”
Ava tugged at his shirt.
“I want my mommy,” she mumbled. Rob smiled at her. It was as soft a gesture the haggard six and a half foot giant could manage now as he jostled her in his arms.
“I know. But your mom’s very sick right now. When she’s better I’ll take you to her and you can go home, okay? I promise.”
“Will Uncle Matt be there?” She wondered. She asked so quietly that it barely came out as a coherent sentence more a fearful garble of sounds. She pouted when she looked up into his face again. Rob shook his head.
“No. No he won’t hurt you or your mom anymore. He’s… gone away.”
“Where… um… where did he go?”
Considering his answer a moment Rob turned to Ravyn as she slowly peeled herself up from the stain on the floor. He looked at the little girl again.
“He’s gone to Heaven,” he said with his voice thick.
“Is he a angel?”
“Maybe.”
“Can I be a angel one day?”
“One day, when you’re old I guess. But not right now. You know why? Because your mom needs you. All kids need to be with their mothers. It’s not right otherwise… It hurts, doesn’t it?”
Ravyn blinked up to meet Rob’s eyes. She nodded sadly.
“Yeah. It does.”
Stepping around the stain on the floor Ravyn made her way across the room to meet them, stealing glimpses backwards every few feet. With arms tightly folded she drew to a stop. Rob slid an arm around her and pulled her into a one-armed embrace against his side. Ava watched on, still on high alert. Sniffling against his jacket Ravyn pulled her head back and shook it. She didn’t say anything else. Then she pulled away completely. She felt so unwell that she didn’t even have the strength left to fight him anymore. They had reached a tentative truce, but only because she refused to speak to him. Making his way to the door with Ava still on his hip, Rob pushed it open and stepped out, lingering on the other side waiting for her to join them. Glimpsing back at the dark stain on the carpet Ravyn shivered and squeezed her folded arms against her chest tighter. She sniffed and bowed her face, then she slowly walked out. The door creaked to a close behind her.
---
All good?
Pheonix791989
New member
its all good... all of it. im reading it before i got to go into work. love the bit with benji.... after all he is my favorite of the twins....no offense but joel is just too much of a ***** compared to him. i mean everything about benji is great from the way he holds his hands when he plays guitar to the way he talks with that lisp. ok ok i know corney but call it my rock star fantasey. and the return of rob...FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (means for the win by the way) was wondering when that big lug would reappear. i cant wait to read more mum!!
edit: benji is the younger one.
edit: benji is the younger one.
Ravynlee
New member
Ah thank you - and thank you! I know sis will kick my *** for forgetting but
it happens. Personally I can take or leave the Maddens. I have no real opinion/like/dislike for them either way. Meh. Each to their own, as I said.And happy as always you like.
Good luck at work.
More again soon-ish?
Pheonix791989
New member
i just got my laptop back... it went haywire last night and i had to take it to my friend to fix.... lol so i will be updating soon. since i forgot to say it last time... more?? pwease??
woodyloveslinkin
New member
Ok. Rob is an *******. Lol. There's no DS influence in this update. He's completely the opposite in MS.
The part where Ava wants her mum and she's asking to be an angel .... that was a Hallmark moment right there. I was like "awwww". Even mentioning Matt's name coming out of Ava's mouth and the way that she put it, it..just made me throttle Matt's character even more. I wish she was a bit older and knew how much of a mongulated ****** her Uncle was, it's so frustrating, her being too young to understand and Matt taking advantage of her young age (let alone what Sarah's being put through with all of this **** and now she's been given more ****!! I reckon she deserves better..well...it's Chester who she decided to mate with...anyone could do better with the state he's in right now!!). She's so small and so innocent and yet she's somehow always in the middle of everything!
Kudos!
edit. Since you didn't come on before 1 am I went to bed. So since I saw the time of your last post, try about 4 am...I love the dedication you have for your story...but stop staying up to 4 in the morning!! It's called ******* your sleeping patterns up and on top of that, as I read from a couple of other posts, you had a little bit much to drink...didn't you? Wow. Enjoy your hangover/work and see you on here sometime tonight.
The part where Ava wants her mum and she's asking to be an angel .... that was a Hallmark moment right there. I was like "awwww". Even mentioning Matt's name coming out of Ava's mouth and the way that she put it, it..just made me throttle Matt's character even more. I wish she was a bit older and knew how much of a mongulated ****** her Uncle was, it's so frustrating, her being too young to understand and Matt taking advantage of her young age (let alone what Sarah's being put through with all of this **** and now she's been given more ****!! I reckon she deserves better..well...it's Chester who she decided to mate with...anyone could do better with the state he's in right now!!). She's so small and so innocent and yet she's somehow always in the middle of everything!
Kudos!
edit. Since you didn't come on before 1 am I went to bed. So since I saw the time of your last post, try about 4 am...I love the dedication you have for your story...but stop staying up to 4 in the morning!! It's called ******* your sleeping patterns up and on top of that, as I read from a couple of other posts, you had a little bit much to drink...didn't you? Wow. Enjoy your hangover/work and see you on here sometime tonight.
crazy robster
New member
Dear Lord that was... 0_o Sis this is getting more and more awesome you must be glowing like the Sims in Freetime everytime they maximise the hobby they have a natural tendency to! You have reached the top sis I am simply speechless... I wish I could print this whole story out and make a book out of it to read and reread and cherish as the most valuable piece in my library! And don't say I'm biased! It's not because you're my sis, it's because it's just THE Awesomest!! (notice the capital A here?)
I am so moved... I am pregnant to Joelly...<3 <3 <3 My darling awww we all know what a wonderful daddy he is already. As for telling you off for not knowing who's the younger twin, well, no I won't. It's not a big deal anyway, is it? AND OMG Robbie is back!! *flashing hearts in abundance* As much as he has been a bit of an ******* in this story I can't help being happy that he's back, I've missed him...*snuffle* I'm happy he kicked Nick's ***, he deserved it! And you could do better sis!! Get another man for Christ's sake! Haha awww <3 Well, Matt's death was a bit of a shock admittedly... you DID push the envelope there but I guess no one wants to interrupt this creative ****** of yours right now, that's why no one seems to really complain about it. All we can do is stay here, excited, breathless, just waiting for more of this masterpiece!!
CONGRATULATIONS!! *applauds*
I am so moved... I am pregnant to Joelly...<3 <3 <3 My darling awww we all know what a wonderful daddy he is already. As for telling you off for not knowing who's the younger twin, well, no I won't. It's not a big deal anyway, is it? AND OMG Robbie is back!! *flashing hearts in abundance* As much as he has been a bit of an ******* in this story I can't help being happy that he's back, I've missed him...*snuffle* I'm happy he kicked Nick's ***, he deserved it! And you could do better sis!! Get another man for Christ's sake! Haha awww <3 Well, Matt's death was a bit of a shock admittedly... you DID push the envelope there but I guess no one wants to interrupt this creative ****** of yours right now, that's why no one seems to really complain about it. All we can do is stay here, excited, breathless, just waiting for more of this masterpiece!!
CONGRATULATIONS!! *applauds*
Pheonix791989
New member
my fiancee and I just adopted a little black kitten and named it Monster. he wants to read more too mum lol. im kidding. by the way i love how this masterpiece is refered to as a creative *******. its so true
woodyloveslinkin
New member
:rofl:
Don't worry. My partner only has to grab hold of three female names, a male name and an object then turns the story into a ***** story.
Sick sick puppy he is.
Im so serious. If I've got my laptop in bed and checking **** out, he rolls over and starts coming out with random ****. And I'm like "roll over and go back to sleep".