KingJ, Monica Stane, and 1 more like this
Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2020 17:57:28 GMT
The journey had not been fun from her original home to where Gryphon was to end up. It was going to be a very long trip that stretched through two states. The research of places to live was strenuous and had to take in the face of the action that she read about had peaked her interest. Without a business or a father to return home to, she managed to pack up what she didn’t need and take with her what she could fit into her SUV. It was without a doubt sometime before dark, with the different shades of oranges and light reds, causing her anxiety to rise. The roads narrowed a bit and the town she had crept into didn’t look all that appealing to her. The graffiti on the concrete walls and the houses that were barred down with security mechanisms on the windows didn’t give any good reason to stay.
She had passed a small gas station with the visual of dark silhouettes that crowded the door to the business. Upon inspection and looking down, she growled. The gauge on her gas level was in the red. Her fingers twitched holding on tighter to the plastic lined steering wheel before shaking her hands off in the air.
“You can make it to the next station. Just get out of here. Just need to set the cruise and hope that the next station isn’t too far from you.” She muttered the pleas over in her head several times before the unwanted sound of her car sputtering to an stop occurred. No amount of pressure on her gas pedal could make it go faster or further and the light on her gas gauge finally, unceremoniously, lit up as the other colors of the dash gave her an unwelcome greeting.
Slowly the car sputtered to a stop just as she pulled it off to the side.
“Shit…” The light from the lamppost was her only salvation to visually seeing what was around her as she surveyed her surroundings. The run down houses that littered the street and the buzzing sound of the lamppost danced with flittering bugs making it seem like a disco ball but without the fun colors. Gryphon got out of her car walking to the trunk with curiosity to blame if she had indeed packed a small gas bottle. It wasn’t a familiar thing to forget to stop to refuel, but the exhaustion of the thirteen hour drive had finally taken its toll on Gryphon.
Running her fingers through her hair, she pulled at the knots that had accumulated through the small curls she had possessed and scratched her scalp in frustration knowing that the only way to get gas at this point was to walk back to the station yet that would mean to risk being around so many unfamiliar individuals.
“Come on. Might as well. Who are you going to call?” She asked herself as she dug through the trunk finally coming across a one gallon gas can and pulled it free from her belongings.
Before she began her trek back, she remembered to shut the doors, locking them and taking a giant breath.
Twenty minutes down the way, she finally came into view of the gas station, but thankfully the people that she had seen now only housed around three slinking around the entrance as she gave them a court nod with a gentle, greeting under her breath. Her fingers trembled as she passed over a few bucks to the man at the counter. She felt the burning sensation of being watched when she looked to the door to see three pairs of eyes before they turned away.
Gryphon walked out releasing the gas into the tank she had carried. A minute later, she was screwing the lid back on and picking it up, not wanting to return inside to retrieve the receipt.
Walking more quickly away, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up with every footstep or crash that resonated within her ears. She felt the noises grow louder but when she looked behind her, nothing seemed to be there.
“Evanese, it’s just your imagination.” Soothing her own fears, she shifted the gas tank to the other hand before looking to the sky and seeing the first stars appearing as well as the moon's bright glow for the early night. A gentle grin appeared on her lips. She loved the night life a little too much and would often times look out her window in her home office just to take in the beauty. But when she looked back down it was only a grim reminder that her old life was gone. Gryphon noticed her car not too far ahead, happy that it was still sitting under the lamppost, but something seemed off.
A gut feeling sent her reeling.
Slowing in her step, she shifted off to the right to get a glimpse of someone bent down at her passenger side door trying to pick the lock. “HEY! What are you think you are doing?” She questioned, instantly making the man regret the decision to break in by standing up without hesitation. He began to speak before taking in the fact of who it was he was coming face to face with.
“Oh, an outsider. This yours? I’s wonderin who done have left such a nice piece of scrap metal on the street near my place. Whatchu doing out here all by yerself?” He questioned as he dusted his hands off as if to remove the evidence of the ill fated timing. He leaned against her car, nearer to the back when he noticed the gas can. “Ran out of gas, didja. Guess you’d just be staying with us a little longer? Hungry? I’m sure my old lady will give you something real nice if you wanna come o’er. We like to show some hospitality ‘round here to those that happen to- stop by.”
With a shake of her head, she declined while holding her free hand up. “No thanks. I need to get to my aunt’s house in ten minutes or she’ll send the entire police force after me.” The jest was only supposed to be a warning to him, but he neither removed himself from her vehicle nor spoke another word as he beady eyes followed her when she opened her tank and began to pour in the contents of the liquid. The smell of the potent liquid filling her nose all the while not letting the man out of her sight. His posture posed her a threat when he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
“If you don’t mind, kindly move away from my car while you are smoking. I’d rather not create fireworks.” Politely, she gestured to the sidewalk so she could feel more comfortable in general. Instead of listening to her, he shook his head and approached her after pushing off from the car. “Now what kind of man would I be if I left a pretty little thing like you on side of the road? Anyone could just… walk up and scare ya. Yer too purdy to be out this late alone.”
“I’m managing just fine, sir. I’m actually finished if you wouldn’t mind letting me get into my trunk. I”ll be on my way and outta your hair. Thank you for sticking around. Appreciate it.” The words felt like venom on her tongue. The taste too bitter to expel the truth of the hatred to be kind to the slime she felt he truly was.
With both hands up, he pushed off from her vehicle again, this time backing off a few steps and turning his back on her walking back to where he said he had lived.
Gryphon felt the strum of her heart beating more wildly even though the creep had walked away. She capped the gas can before opening her trunk and throwing her items aside to tuck it back where it had been before she felt a prick of something against her back and immediately, she bite into her tongue, urging the saliva and blood to mix before she turned around to see the man's intentions pouring onto her.
The motive was clear, as he pushed the blade harder against her back causing a sharp intake of a breath before she cemented herself where she was. “What do you want. Money? I don’t have much - I swear. I lost my job. I’ve got barely enough to get me into Astaria and…”
“I don’t care about that, girl. You know what I am want’n from ya. Just a little company to visit the old lady - she won’t mind yer staying for a while, what with you travel’n and all.” His hand pulled the blade off her back a little, not so much digging into her flesh as it was before, but she was all too worried. Her palms began to sweat, willing the caustic moisture to form in case the man didn’t move away.
“Please. Just let me get home. Like I said, my Aunt’s waiting on me. I need to be there in ten minutes or you’re going to end up in jail.” Persuasion that didn’t seem to phase him as he clicked his tongue. Gryphon felt her fingers prickle as she quickly turned against the knife at her back, clawing at the flesh before her sweaty palm slapped him across the face.
“Ah, you bitch. How dare -” And with that a growl escaped his mouth as the heat began to increase with the man’s howl. His pain was something that seemed to catch him off guard, dropping the knife. It clambered to the ground beneath his feet, her blood seeping into the metal already causing a reaction she couldn’t see. The darkness that surrounded the two was even more daunting as she saw his fight with his face to end the burn but there was no way she could help him. Not now.
Not when there wasn’t anything she had that could dilute the acid eating away at his skin. “I’m sorry - I didn’t mean to. I’ll go get help.” Gryphon reached out to touch his shoulder but stopped mid way realizing that if she touched him again, it would be worse. She began to look around and reaching into her pocket, she opened her phone, quick to touch it and sat it on the hood before listening to the dispatcher.
“911, what is your emergency?”
She hesitated. Gryphon was fearfully worried to disclose what had just happened and just how she was supposed to be helping him. Her voice disappeared into nothing but the small squeak of insecurity that gave away that she was still on the phone.
“911. What is your emergency.” The operator paused waiting for a response. “Are you able to speak? We are tracing the ca…”
“He’s dying… and I didn’t mean to. I tried - he wouldn’t leave me alone. I was scared.” The words poured out of her mouth as she peered over the car at the man still moving on the ground but he was writing in pain. Seeing what her powers did always seemed to freak her out but as she turned her attention back to the phone, the operators voice returned again asking another question about how she knew the guy was dying.
“He’s got acid on him - I am acid.” The words just seemed jumbled, adrenaline coursing through her veins exciting the caustic tensions flowing through her veins.
“What’s your name, miss.”
“... Caustic. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” Gryphon covered her eyes for a moment, messing with the keys in her pocket, debating on leaving the scene, but her subconscious just told her to stay. A tingling sensation ignited her back as she felt something slowly saturate her shirt and she pulled on it gently. Putting the caller on the backburner for a moment she walked over to the side of the car the man was not to look in the side mirror at her back. She felt her face pale watching the redness seep through the shirt but tiny holes began to form.
“No…” Gryphon wiped at her eyes and walked to the back of the vehicle to look up on the guy that was on the ground before noticing that he was not where he was supposed to be. “Sir? Are you okay?”
Frantically, she raced back to the phone where the operator had been saying a few words to her and immediately her voice broke down. “He’s gone - I don’t know where he is. He was on the ground. He was hurting- maybe he ran off?”
“Do what, Caustic? Did you say he is gone?” Gryphon nodded her head without trying to voice the words to the professional on the phone. Silence seemed to carry her to circle the vehicle once more hoping that it was just a misfire from her vision to her brain, but upon reaching the location where he was supposed to be it was as if he never existed.
“Bitch!” Gryphon turned just in time to see the man, face boiled away with his right side of the face and the peeling skin. He limped toward her, his vision obviously disoriented. His stance awkwardly unbalanced as he stood in front of her. “Yer nothing but a mutated freak…”
“I’m sorry - I didn’t mean to.” Gryphon jumped back to go for her phone before she felt the wind on her face and the direction of the ground coming at her face with lighting speed. A scream emerged from her lips as she felt the pressure of his weight against her back where his very knife had bit into her back lightly, but whatever body part that was on her must have come into contact with her blood because again, she heard his screams of pain and in an instant, she rolled to her back and reached up digging her nails into his face, and neck fighting to get him off.
“You should have left me alone…” Gryphon bellowed, scooting away from the man before covering her ears. She couldn’t watch the man as his skin began to peel away. The scratch marks on his face and neck gave off the most horrid odor that turned her stomach. She began to wretch the contents of her stomach but the feeling passed a moment later, remembering at that moment the operator was still on the line. She had no strength to move.
“Please hurry -” She wondered if the operator was still tracing the call or if anyone would even be coming to help. Questions about what to do with the man came into question. Was she just supposed to leave him or would she be shot upon arrival seeing what damage she had done to him, if he wasn’t going to die before they got to him.
Gryphon closed her eyes, drawing out the sound of the man until he became quiet and commotion in the distance caught her attention, but she couldn’t seem to care at this point. The lights from the car routinely mixed between blue and white. She looked up, her eyes distant and gone as a bright light was shone in her direction. She looked up, fearful no more as the person approached her.
“Caustic, I presume? I'm detective Luca Moretti...” Gryphon shook her head lightly and dropped her head back down again against her knees she had drawn up against her, her arms wrapped to keep from touching anything else.
“Don’t come near me… I don’t want to hurt you.” It was almost a pitiful silent voice that emerged, not of someone that dangerous by the look of the man not far from her. “I’m Caustic… I’m caustic… don’t get near.”
The word caustic was merely her warning. If he could figure it out, he'd understand why she wasn’t moving to seek his assistance nor trying to assist the assailant.
“Mind telling me what happened? Are you hurt or anything?” His voice seemed caring or maybe it was just that he didn’t know what to expect. Afterall, why would a women be sitting and afraid to move while the man that had attacked her was hardly even noticeable.
Gryphon shrugged and squinted to the light that was shining in front of her. She watched him aim the light next to the person that was probably already close to -
“Is he dead?” Gryphon felt the tears start to well up as she shrugged once more, this time no longer willing to hide her voice as she tried to speak, voice crackling, before she cleared it in effort to respond.
“I think so. I didn’t want to touch him again.” She felt the emotions circling around her as she shifted her sitting position to drop her knees slightly wondering if he was going to go and look at the guy. Then she wondered if her acid would still be eating away at the flesh and if the cop touched him, would he also suffer the wrath of her chemical acidity?
“He might be caustic- be careful.” She flinched slightly when she reached behind her back, touching the spot where she could feel the slight separation of skin before bringing her fingertips back now dipped with her blood. “He- he put a knife to my back- I ran out of gas. I had to walk to the station, an-and when I got back, he was trying to break into my car- and then he tried to… he was going to -”
A loss for words told her to hold back what she had thought was going to happen. The feeling was still so very fresh in her mind. She pointed to the man, visibly shaking. “He wouldn’t leave so I tried to. He kept saying he wanted me to go home with him- I didn’t want to. Cause- cause I am a danger to him but he wouldn’t listen. I am a danger to you and… and myself.” She watched him, wondering if he was going to call for backup or bring out his gun. Hell, from what she knew, people who had abilities that weren’t human were looked down upon especially when a dead man was laying only feet away from one.
She shuttered.
“I can leave if you just let me. I will never come back-I’ll disappear.” Gryphon began to stand, flinching, yet awkwardly looking at the detective in front of her. The blue lights that started drawing attention to the commotion. Chatter started to haunt her as she turned her head around to notice a few heads popping out from behind the front doors and busy bodies needing to know what was happening on their streets. Obviously, she had driven to the wrong side of town by the looks of it. The tears that had accumulated in her eyes began to saunter down her cheeks, falling and soaking onto the pavement. “Can you save him?”
This post is in reference to FIRST WE WORK, THEN WE PARTY/SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST CAUSTIC
@scorch
