E a r l y M o u r n i n g ; ; C e n t r e t o w n . { Jacob | Ophelia | Hanna }
he wasn’t quite familiar with most of the mutants who’d gone missing ; or none , at least , save for beatrix humphrey , about whom jacob was quite concerned , both for herself and for her husband . it was a tragedy , how this town was slowly falling apart but , quite frankly , the young lad was most disappointed to hear that he couldn’t partake in the search - and - rescue mission alongside his most trusted mentor ; felix had become a sort of emotional anchor which , oddly enough , grounded him . but the people he was instead selected to search with seemed friendly at least , and the bright - eyed boy was more than pleased to be partitioned into the centretown group , especially since it meant the ability to bring his trusted pup , angel .
in fact , jacob might go so far as to say the white ball of fluff was their fourth member , a secret weapon , and though he was definitely not the investigating sort , the placebo did have a passion for helping others , so he would do whatever he could , as best as he could . except , right now , his best consisted of him perched on a bench in town , eyes skipping from person to person as the crowd from the selection subsides until eventually it was just the three of them remaining .
❝ i’m jakey ! ❞ offered he by way of introduction . ❝ and this is angel . i , uh . . . disappear sometimes ? by accident ? things go right through me . . . like a ghost ! or , no . not a ghost . those are s c a r y . . . ❞ a pause as the hayes combs brunet strands from his visage , lakeside hues flicking between both of his search - mates . he knew , rationally , that he wasn’t the brightest of the lot , that he wouldn’t be much assistant in any department , really , but he had spirit ; and that had to count for something , right ? ❝ i’m not sure where we should start looking , but . . . i’m all up for any ideas ! what do y’all think ? ❞
a child, hanna thought incredulously as jakey introduced himself to her. they’ve paired me up with a fucking child. that he was twenty-three didn’t much matter. his upbeat attitude – dare she call it optimism ? – in the face of such a tragedy had her convinced that he was nothing less than a little boy, and a heavy weight began to settle at the bottom of her stomach as he continued on, talking about his dog, his powers, something hanna didn’t hear as she very quickly stopped listening, ears beginning to ring. it wasn’t jakey’s fault that she stared blankly at him, through him; he seemed a nice enough kid. it just so happened that, overnight, she had lost everyone who she truly cared about on the island, and being paired with the youth didn’t exactly fill her with confidence that her lost friends would be found.
her skin crawled every time she thought about it. had ruby come home the night before ? or had she been at the circus still, helping to clean up after the first party ? had they snatched her on the way home ? had they been in their apartment, across the hall ? had ruby screamed, fought, done anything ? had she slept through the songbird’s kidnapping, ignorant and oblivious in the black of the night ? the thought of it made her sick, but oh, god, she couldn’t get it out of her mind. i could have helped her, she thought despairingly. i could have tried. i could have done something, anything, fuck –
matty had been announced missing too, and initially, hanna had seized upon it as a way to assuage her guilt. if the two were gone, they must have been together when they were taken, right ? they were inseparable. they could help each other. they could escape – but what if they had both been in the apartment, two people taken, and her none the wiser ? her thoughts chased one another around her mind, guilt pursuing anger, pursuing despair, pursuing the faintest glimmer of hope that they might be okay, that they might be found. there was another member of the search party, wasn’t there ? she didn’t know her, hadn’t known jakey ‘til he had opened his mouth – perhaps, the third person could be useful.
❛ ghosts aren’t real, kid, ❜ she managed after a long moment of silence, pulling herself back to reality, addressing the last snatch of conversation she had caught as she ran a hand through messy hair, unwashed, unbrushed, unstyled – upon realizing she was alone, and receiving the summons to the town square, she had simply thrown on her clothes from the evening before and run from the house, panic growing at the sight of the empty streets. ❛ and even if they were, there are far worse things out there. ❜ how cryptic. how true.
introductions, though – hadn’t they been making those ? their names had been called as they had been grouped together, but already, hanna had forgotten their companion’s, was forgetting jakey’s, was barely hanging on to her own. conversation could be grounding, though; could help reign in the panic she still felt before it transitioned into sheer terror. folding her arms, she looked down, lips curling back to reveal sharp teeth, growing sharper. not quite a smile – something more like a warning. ❛ hanna. people call me skeletor. ‘ dinah called her skeletor, bright, beautiful, vivacious dinah, who had disappeared overnight with everyone else, who could be dead for good this time, for all she knew. could you die twice ? would they use dinah to find out ? don’t think about it, she scolded herself desperately, but how could she not ?
❛ … skeletor, yeah. ❜ dark eyes turned upwards to meet jakey’s, teeth still elongating, sharp, pointed. feral. ❛ and i can turn into somethin’ you could really be scared of. ❜
call it dramatics; a test; a coping mechanism. a way to sound her companions out, to make sure they could hold their nerve. still, after a moment, the teeth – the fangs – began to recede, as hanna let out a shaky exhale. as annoying as jakey’s optimism was, maybe it would be useful. negative thinking and guilt didn’t seem to be doing her much good. if only she could bottle his attitude. she looked towards jakey for a moment, trying to gauge his reaction, before turning her gaze to their companion, posing a different question, rather than echoing jakey’s much more useful one.
❛ did you … is there anyone you know who’s missing ? ❜ another empty smile, tinged with bitterness. ❛ or are you one of the lucky ones, with everyone accounted for ? ❜
—ϟ Ophelia had been in the middle of trying to move a fridge magnet when the report had hit their solitary laboratory and they had come stumbling through. The news had been absolutely TERRIBLE, terrifying even, they had come to Aglæca as a safe haven and as a place of new discoveries, and during their first weeks it had been just that. Until NOW. It pained their golden heart to see all those affected by the tragedy, strangers and friends alike, the auburn haired tried to give an encouraging smile to everyone that meet their eyes. They weren’t an expert on investigating such things, but they had SCIENCE on their side, and if there was one thing the biochemist trusted more than anything was that EVERYTHING could be known if studied enough.
—ϟ The auburn haired was covered head to toe in black, a first for them, but they thought it would camouflage their body into the night; that or they could be watching too many action movies before bed. Finishing the look was a black ribbon that kept their unruly curls away from the visage and their trusty gloves, especially through emotional times as these they needed to maintain such dangerous UNCONTROLLABLE palms covered. Hanging from one of their shoulders was a satchel that contained items Ophelia thought were needed, including of course, a vial of nitroglycerin just in case they needed to get defensive.
—ϟ As soon as the search parties were rounded up the biochemist diligently went to where their group awaited. A young boy and a rather intimidating woman met their sight and nervously they adjusted their glasses further up their nose. It felt like high school all over again, except with a much darker outcome. Ophelia smiled WARMLY at the boy, he seemed too innocent for his outward age and immediately they felt the need to protect such a thing. The female on the other hand, considering her demonstration, clearly did not need ANY protecting. And they averted their gaze before she caught them STARING. Thankful for the night, less of a chance they’ll notice the sudden crimson in their cheeks, Ophelia gnawed on their bottom lip both in thought and nerves.
—ϟ ❝ I’m Ophelia, ❞ they pipped softly, their voice as soft as the wind. ❝ I don’t have a nickname, though I have been called a ‘nerd’ a couple of times. High school. ❞ Shoulders lifted in a shrug as if to say ‘high school is always the worst, right?’. They played with the ends of their gloves as they looked at the female that poised them a question. Sadness mixed with anxiety rattled through them like a lightning and they gave a very solemn nod. ❝ Her name is Juniper, we’re really close. We have to do everything to find them— all of the mutants. We just have put our heads together. Tackle this as if it were any other experiment. ❞ Though the last words were muttered very lowly, intended for their ears solely.
—ϟ ❝ OH! I feel the need to warn you both I don’t really have much control over my power yet, especially in such stressful situations. I recommend no touching and keeping a good distance, just in case. ❞ Even though they FINALLY knew the main component of their mutation, they were still a risk to others, especially considering just how many energies they could manipulate without meaning to. ❝ Shall we start walking around? Maybe we could test soil for foot prints, or for any residual blood? They all couldn’t have been drudged, some of them had to have been taken by force which by conclusion should leave marks of some kind. It’s proven that people in distress make more mistakes. ❞ Only after realizing that they had rambled about, they shut their mouth with an audible click. ❝ ...but that’s just me, and my thinking. What do you guys suggest? ❞
