Pandora

Pandora Only Hope was left within her unbreakable house, she remained under the lip of the jar, and did not fly away. Before [she could], Pandora replaced the lid of the jar.

[boxedintotheworld]

He wasn’t certain that ‘thrilled’ would have been the right word to describe how he felt, finding new emotions were continuing to crop up every day that passed since he’d found her in that diner. Before it’d only been one thing on his mind, his need to find and protect her until she could be trained once again, strong enough the save the world that was continuing to fall around them. That’d been it. And now it was supermarkets and motel rooms, late night television and poptarts. It left him feeling out of place.

The only place he knew was by her side, uncomfortably so when he inspected the looks that were garnered from the public that knew nothing of their plans of the reasons for their actions. They didn’t know how special she was to them all. They knew nothing but the products she placed in the metal contraption she pushed to the front of the store, ready to leave which was a feeling that he could reciprocate as he followed behind her, hands in his pockets.

"We shouldn’t stay in any one place too long. You know it is too dangerous." Even if they’d only been in there for twenty minutes or so, he felt the itch between his shoulder blades that it was ten minutes too long before they needed to be somewhere with better protection. Or at least with less windows. Anything was better than being surrounded by people that could change in the blink of an eye and destroy the only chance the world had, her. "Poptarts and all."

[pandorawithoutabox]

"Yeah, yeah. You know that I did survive alright before you started hovering over me, right?" Pandora sighed again before finally heading towards the check out. There were more dangers than he knew or at least she assumed he knew. He never did ask why she only paid in cash and picked up some hair dye and sharp scissors during the shopping trip. In many ways, it felt like Pandora was protecting him as much as he was protecting her.

They were a collision of two worlds now, his old ways versing her adaptations to the new world around them. It was no longer the time that these people thought were mythical. The check out was quick, some blonde snapping gum as she scanned their items. It was almost amusing watching as she took in Box, she grinned at the fluttering eyelashes, holding her laughter in. 

They were in the car when Pandora brought it up. He always seemed more relaxed when she actually followed his demands. Their groceries were shoved into the backseat and they were on their way back to their temporary stop. “So, that girl seemed interested. Perhaps you’d like to have a date before we go off to our next glamorous location?”

[boxedintotheworld]

He hesitated. It wasn’t a familiar sensation, finding himself stalled by not only her words but the gentle touch on his arm that drew his attention down to where she’d pressed her fingers onto him. All he could remember was moving forward, every step he took brought him a step closer to where she was hiding while he knew that the evil that roamed the Earth was doing the same. It took everything he had to ensure that he arrived first despite knowing it wouldn’t be easy. Many times he picked up her trail only to lose it to the darkness that was encroaching on the world, slowly swallowing it up the longer they went without fighting it back into remission.

It was hard to understand why she asked him to relax, a notion that wasn’t possible considering all that they had to do while they ‘shopped’ in a building that was large enough to store a fleet of demons and they would only have the one exit in the front, noting the back entrances were heavily locked down to keep them contained. His skin crawled at the thought as he watched her. “The sooner we can be on the move, the better,” was all he could say before she moved away in search of poptarts.

He didn’t need to eat as often as the world around him did, finding his attention drawn to the various text and image based advertisements that promoted the food that they were putting in the cart, avoiding others as she moved swiftly down the aisle towards something he’d said. “What’s a poptart?” He asked again, this time with uncertainty that hadn’t been in his voice earlier as he kept within arms reach of her but not enough to step into her personal space.

[pandorawithoutabox]

Pandora let out a pained sigh, it was all business with him. As serious and as damaged as she was, there were moments in life where she could relax. She hadn't seen that moment with Box yet. Perhaps junk food would be able to snap him out of it all.

Even though she found his hovering presence irritating, she wasn't going to send him away. For the first time, she wasn't alone in the world. There was someone by her side, someone from home and Pandora knew that it meant she wasn't going to screw this up. It used to be empty motel rooms, cold nights and a hollow feeling in her chest. But her companion, as silent and stoic as he was, was changing that. It was just nice to have someone in the world to wake up to, a reason to keep moving forward. 

"Poptarts." Pandora stopped in front of the aisle that was filled with different types of poptarts. It was hard for her to explain them, she racked her brain before she settled on an explanation. "It's basically a soft biscuit that is filled with something sweet, iced with sugar and you stick them in the toaster." Idly, she explored the different flavours, wondering which to show him before deciding on her favourites. He would have one eventually, she was sure of that. 

After one last look at her trolley, she nodded in approval. "I'm finished, let's go to the checkout. Then we're leaving, I'm sure that  this thrills you."

[boxedintotheworld]

His eyes darted across the aisles, missing nothing as she took them on the requested trek to one of the buildings that held food and other items that humans paid for with paper. He’d been through many towns, watching as others picked and chose what appealed to their tastes while he’d thought of nothing like that other than knowing when his body required sustenance. It would grow weak and lose stamina which he couldn’t afford to let happen then let alone now. Pandora depended on him. And the world depended on her safety. If his body grew too weak to protect her then there was no telling what would happen to the world.

Though as his thoughts grew cloudy along with his gaze, skipping the faces of people around them, they cleared the moment her voice called out to him. It pulled him from his stupor as he took another step closer to her and the cart she insisted on pushing around despite being hindered by it should they be attacked. “I’m not scaring anyone. I’m merely standing here, shopping.” He used the word she’d picked out for him to use earlier thought it felt foreign on the tip of his tongue as he peered at her calmly.

"I have no requests." He frowned in confusion. "What’s a poptart?"

[pandorawithoutabox]

Pandora knew it wasn’t intentional. He had been looking for her for so long, his aim had been to watch over her but it was like having a bodyguard. He was just hovering, always hovering and waiting for something to happen. 

She placed  a hand on his arm, it looked so tiny compared to his bulk. It was probably hard to believe that she used to be his caretaker ones. She was all graceful footsteps and lithe legs. He towered over her in more ways than one. Yet she was the one approaching him with ease. The action was meant to be soothing, a comfort. “Relax a little. I doubt we’re going to be attacked in a Walmart.” It didn’t seem to help anything and Pandora let it drop with a sigh. It was strange to think that his existence relied on her but her presence actually didn’t help him at all.

Her eyes widened slightly at his question. “You don’t know what a poptart is? I… Have you ever had junk food before?” She knew the answer before he said it, it was a stupid question. His entire human experience had been based around her location and that didn’t involve exploring trashy food. Pandora suddenly changed direction. “We’re getting you some poptarts.”

[pandorawithoutabox]

Pandora was shopping for supplies, with Box in tow. They really did have to think of a new name for him, she couldn't call him Box for the rest of their existence. It was strange and Pandora already felt uncomfortable with the fact that the gods had decided to turn him into a real person.

"Hey." He seemed so tense all the time and it constantly made her nervous. "It's a grocery store, you're scaring the old ladies." With gentle hands, she picked up a few oranges and apples. They weren't going to be malnourished, although it really did seem like this guy didn't eat.

"Do you have any requests for food? Poptarts, chocolate, junk food of any form? Otherwise you're eating healthy with me."

[leftoverbox]

If it were for not the centuries of time that had elapsed between meetings, he would have been surprised with her reaction. But time had prepared him for the best and worst of answers to the truth that he brought with him, the past following closely behind without any regard for whether she had a life to live or not. It would end just as the rest of the world’s if not for the two of them working together again. Whether it was wrong or not, that was not his judgment to call just as it was not hers.

"It’s not our place to question."

His gaze drifted downwards, staring at the table before him as he rested his arms while she left. He didn’t question. He didn’t think otherwise of their plans than that they needed to be done and completed in a timely manner. Too many years had passed, far too many for their work to be easy by any means but instead, it forced the hand of those who had made him into the man he was now. A tattoo in the corner of his eye caught his attention, it hadn’t shifted in three days now while the rest had sought to point him in the direction of the woman in the other room. It was a mystery to even him. Another one. Yet he had seen it on her arm as well, the exact same symbol.

Her voice caught him in the middle of staring at his arm, though he did not raise his gaze to meet her eyes from across the room. He watched and waited to see if it would change again or if it was permanent like that.

"I followed the signs. The symbols."

[pandorawithoutabox]

Followed the signs.

The world worked in mysterious ways, she knew that too. It seemed that her mind was spewing everything that she once knew to the forefront of her conscious and a little part of her hated it. It was all factual, it was her trying to find an answer where there wasn't one. And as she pulled on a shirt, the tattoo on her wrist shifted. It actually shifted to point in his direction and she groaned. Her long sleeved shirt would cover it, but she was already trying to work out that the hell that would mean.

Were they compasses that only pointed to each other? So they could always be in contact? 

Pandora sat down again, across from what used to be her box. And she just gazed at him for awhile. He was human. Definitely human. His eyes were expressionless, she hadn't seen him smile once. It was like seeing a brand new human without any programming. A clean slate. It worried her.

"So, what's the plan?" She raised an eyebrow. "You find me, you take me to a place that I've never been, you order me around a little and give me a knife which I know how to weld. What comes next? Am I running for the rest of my life because, honey, I've already been doing that. The world is small, they'll catch up no matter where we go, just a heads up."

[leftoverbox]

He waited. It was what he knew best after so many long years, well met and hard fought to find himself in this place and this place alone, he could afford to wait. Though it would not be for long if they were to keep ahead of those who were hunting for her in the same capacity as himself. Where they sought to stop the end that she would bring about, he sought to make sure she was still standing when the time did come for them to fight the final battle. It was still a mystery to him, lost in the chaos of his own lack of memories of his life or the lack of one before her, before she clutched his old form in her grip and let loose all the evils on the world that only he, and one other, knew he contained. She did not. And for that innocence, the whole world suffered.

His eyes followed her movements, watching as she carried herself more put together than one would have thought possible after so many centuires spent hiding and running from everything he was there to bring back in full force. There was no hiding or running from the world, not anymore, the time for that had run out. They could only stand and fight or fall and be nothing more than legends of yore, written to explain the necessary evils on the world that would one day consume them all completely.

So when she spoke, he did not. Instead, he waited again. He watched as she took all the pieces he’d laid out before her, took them and pieced them all together until the answers she’d been seeking about him were finally realized. He could see the revelation take over as she caught the similar markings and he raised his chin then, holding himself up in the only way he knew how, together. While the world fell apart, someone had to still stand up and fight and that would be her with him by her side. “You were not alone that day. Just as you are not alone today.” How he’d come to be, that was still a question of his own that would have to wait until a later date, if ever, to be answered because what he did know was that he was meant to be there, with her, together. Again.

[pandorawithoutabox]

The markings, the ones that touched her skins, they all meant something. They were all an oath of some form, a message, reminders from her past lives. For him to have similar ones... It hurt her mind, she could not even handle it properly. 

She needed a cigarette.

"This is wrong." She muttered, a hand raking through her hair. "This is so wrong, you didn't ask me to release the darkness. That choice was mine alone, why would they...?" The gods that she had long forgotten had to be messing with her now, this was revenge or karma or something that the world had never seen before. This was her second chance to do something, a quest perhaps but she did not want to do it, she did not want to deal with it. So it was becoming a curse.

Finally, she looked him in the eye again. "I am going to get dressed." Pandora needed a moment alone, just to think without his gaze boring into her, getting under her skin. So back to the bathroom she went, slipping on her shirt, sliding on her jeans and frowning at the mirror.

Suddenly, she had a weigh on her shoulders, heavier than the one that had previously been there. He was a person now. A person that used to be the object that she would guard with her life, the object she slept with, the object she watched as much as possible. Her head poked out the bathroom. 

"How did you find me?"

[leftoverbox]

His eyes dropped to her fingers, watching as she rubbed the tattoo on her wrist that was almost identical to his own. So many secrets and unexplanated mysteries about himself lay within her but at the same time, he didn’t believe that she knew all the answers that he would have sought if not for the mission that lay before the both of them. He was not without his own secrets or questions, ones that could wait to be given or asked when this wasn’t his time to speak. It was her’s. He’d been the one to storm back in, disrupt whatever life she’d created for herself back at that diner before both him and the demons came in and took it from her. He had to wait until it was his turn to talk.

Lifting his gaze to meet her’s for a moment before she dropped it, he nodded. Her words were wise, filled with the knowledge of the world that many would seek but never survive long enough to understand that some things were never meant to be known. Certain knowledge must be earned. Other knowledge, must be given. She held her own knowledge ust as he did, but it was his time to share. “You are exactly who I think you are.” He spoke simply without pressure or frustration, there was no added insinuations masked by the clipped words that he spoke now or before. He searched the world for her, the one that’d opened him, and despite the many years that’d stretched out since their last meeting, he knew it was her.

It wasn’t until she looked back up that he did speak again. “Pandora.” Lips pressed together, he changed his position in the chair until he leaned forward, with elbows resting on the edge of the table and kept her gaze with his own. “I was never given a name because I was not a man was I was created, that wasn’t until much later when I was set on my path to seek you out again.” Another pause. “Neither. I’m here for your help in stopping what we started.”

[pandorawithoutabox]

His words were so measured, they had so much weight attached to them that Pandora had a hard time not believing them. He was so sure, so determined and she had a sudden feeling that this was not a man that she would lose easily. He had come into her like an unpredictable hurricane but it seemed like he was there to stay. Pandora hadn’t experienced a gut feeling such as that one in a long time and she softened. Just around the edges. Her grip on the knife loosened and for a moment, there was a connection pulling at her stomach.

Her name was uttered and her brown eyes connected with his. She let him speak his piece, let herself stand with her towel and she began to pace. Her language was beginning to change, reverting back to a tongue that she had tried so hard to forget. Formal, clipped, regal. She had been so much more in her past life. “You speak of magic that has been gone from the world for a long time. If you were not a man when you were created, what were you?” Pandora muttered, the cogs in her head hadn’t managed to fit the puzzle pieces together.

The words filtered into her brain and she understood the words but she could not comprehend them. This was not a man that she knew. “We? Since when were we a unit? Everything I’ve done in my life has been my fault. I take the blame, I carry the weight and if you have been suffering because of my mistakes then I plead for you to stop. Whatever this is, you don’t have to stop it. I hope you understand that.” She looked up, she studied him, he did not seem broken by the path that he was on. But a tattoo caught her eye and she followed her own skin until she found a similar one. It was only then that clarity hit. “No... you can’t be...”

[leftoverbox]

If he thought that it were possible, he would have smiled then. But the very action wasn’t a thought in his mind as he stared her down, watching as her own eyes took in the sight before her; both him and the weapon that still lay on the table waiting for her. They were both weapons. He’d just - changed. However long it’d been since the last time they were in the same place at the same time, it was only a matter of time before they were back there again. He knew that much. He’d always believed it. Anything else meant the desctruction of the world which he couldn’t allow.

As much as it may have been her fault for the evils that plagued the world, he never felt that the guilt should have laid solely on her shoulders. When she’d been put in charge of a box that held all the terrors that now consumed the world, plaguing it and turning all that was good and just to the side of darkness and evil, it was never just the hands that held the box but the box itself that should take some of the blame. And the ones that placed it in her hands. She’d been a girl then, not someone trained or even prepared for what would happen should she choose to open the box or if she should keep it tucked away for eternity. It was a test, or a game, depending on where one stood, to see what would come of such a box being put forth into the world.

He’d been set loose, just as much as the rest of the demons that roamed freely. Something that he couldn’t explain even if she asked it of him to tell her that much, but all he could recall was being present at the time they’d been set loose and coming to himself once again many years later after she’d been nothing more than a legend told to put a reason behind the evil in the world. “You’re right about that,” he spoke finally, putting to rest both the silence that he’d been holding onto since they’d first gotten into the car and once again when she sat down and his arms as he dropped his clasped hands to the table between them. “I don’t have a name.”

He’d never needed one before. “There’s no escaping the past.” It wasn’t the best start but considering he hadn’t exactly prepared for such a conversation, he should have been better prepared. “But we’ve met before. Once.”

[pandorawithoutabox]

Pandora’s gaze was steely, she was prepared for the worst. Her main trait was surviving and she had done pretty well in her years of being on the Earth. She had run until her feet hurt, swam until her chest burned, she had survived heartbreak, learned that happiness was always partnered with sadness and that the light that she was once meant to give the world was now tainted by so much darkness that no mortal being would ever be able to bounce back from that.

The thing was, she remembered all the faces, she remembered all the people she came in contact with after she had opened the box. Pandora did not know if that were some form of side effect but she saw the pain in people’s eyes, she saw the damage that she had caused but she did not, for the life of her, remember this man. And it was not as though he were an easy one to forget. A hulking form, a cold gaze, tattoos similar to hers littering his arms. They faded into the shirt line but Pandora was fairly certain that he was covered in markings. This was not a man one easily forgot. And she could not understand how she would have.

“I read a book once that said something like identify with that which haunts you, not in order to fight it, but to take it into yourself; for ir must represent some rejected element in you.” She traced the tattoo on her wrist, one that was abstractly shaped like a compass. “I still haven’t managed to achieve this so if the past is catching up with me here, you may need to be prepared for the fact that I am probably not what you think I am.” Pandora hitched up the towel, averting her eyes to the table.

“And I don’t remember you. I’m sorry.” She gazed at him, measuring him up. "But if you're from my past, you've probably got an almighty need to kill me or torture me."

[leftoverbox]

There wasn’t anything more for him to do the moment she shut the door, separating him from her for the first time since he’d found her again. The distance wasn’t to his liking but he understood the need for it as the blood had slowly caked and dried on the both of them, more so her than him. He cleaned the blades, leaving one on the table before him for her to take and keep on her person. He wouldn’t need the both of them, more were tucked away in the compartments of the trunk in the car he’d swiped a few towns back. It would have to do for now.

Not much else could be done other than stop for the night, let her out, and wait. It wasn’t unlike other interactions he’d witnessed over his years of roaming the planet for her when he watched the world change around him. Compromises were made, lives were joined and then ended as easily as they were given, and all he could do was watch as they would inevitably turn on each other by the rush of evil that flooded the world, preying on the unsuspecting people that had no protection against any of it.

It hit them hard and fast, devouring souls left and right as the evil infected the world and changed those who lived in it for the worse, never slowing down or settling on what it had already taken. Evil would never stop. It would continue to spread until it consumed the entire world and the only way to stop it lay on the shoulders of the woman who had decided for the both of them that they would stop for the night. He would have preferred to continue moving, not wanting to stay in one place for too long until they were better equipped for the fight that was sure to follow them wherever they went considering his tattoos hadn’t changed since that moment he found her in the diner. He’d found her.

And it would only be a matter of time before others would found her as well.

He picked up his head, watching the shadow splay across the wall as she stepped from the bathroom and took the seat across the small table from him. His back was in the corner, watching both the entrance as well as the bathroom she’d been in since she’d gone in there, but now his attention was focused on her.

"Where would you like me to start?"

[pandorawithoutabox]

Pandora eyed him coolly, studying him carefully. Tattoos, similar to hers, dark and fixed into place. Her eyes landed on one that sat on his arm, Pandora's gaze shifting to her own forearm. It felt like everything and nothing was clicking into place at the same time. There was so much confusion, so many memories of a time that she longed to forget, so much guilt still hanging over her head. It was hard to remember which way was up as everything she had avoided for millenniums came rushing back.

So she chose her words carefully, her tone measured and calm. She had spotted the knife on the table, her hand reaching out and curling around the handle. If it got rough, she would not be helpless. But a voice in her head reminded her that it was his night. He had put it out for her, no one else. He wanted her to protect herself but for what reason?

"You can start from the beginning if you would like. I do not understand what your aim is, at the present time. You are not like the monsters that were at the diner, you do not make me feel ill." Or make my skin crawl, she thought with a frown. Her body would always have that reaction to evil, it was as though it was trying to purge it from her system. "But you won't give me a name, this suggests you don't even have one. So who are you? One of them being a traitor?" Her thoughts began to pour from her mouth and she had to shut of the flow before she overwhelmed him.

"Sorry." She muttered softly. "I would like you to start wherever you see fit. I would like to make sense of this. I thought I escaped this world a long time ago."

[pandorawithoutabox]

The hot water pounded her shoulders and it gave her a moment to think. The blood that had dried on her skin swirled down the drain, the tangles in her hair smoothing out and the water cleaning her face of the grease from the diner. She was washing the events away from her skin, becoming a clear canvas again. The smell  of the motel soap filled her nostrils, the water began to run cold and Pandora finally turned the taps off, a shiver going down her spine as the cool air hit her skin.

Exhaustion was finally beginning to hit her bones, the weight of the day finally hitting her. It had been long, the drive even longer and it had been a near miracle that her nameless companion had stopped for the night. He seemed to be determined to put as much distance between them and the diner as possible but she was not a robot, even if he seemed to be. She had demanded a shower or she was going to run the first chance she got... He seemed to take her threat seriously enough.

As she stared at the mirror, her tattoos had changed. It was not an unusual occurance but now? Now they seemed darker, deeper, possibly more permanent than they had ever seemed before. Pandora wrapped herself in a towel, wet hair dripping down her back and traces of eyeliner smudged under her eyes. She had nothing once more, no change of clothes, no make up, nothing to hide behind. This was her in her raw form and it was startling. It had been a long time since she had been able to look in a mirror when she was like this. She just didn’t like what she saw.

The door to the bathroom opened and he was sitting at the table, waiting patiently. Her clothes were not dry from their wash yet, so she sat across from him in her towel, eyes narrowed and demanding answers.

“I do not know your name. And I don’t, for a second, believe the fake one that you gave downstairs. I did what you asked. It’s your turn now. I would like answers.”

[leftoverbox]

He shook off her concern, feeling it scanning his body as he continued to breath heavily, his heart pounding in his chest as he wiped off the blade on the leg of his pants. The blood would dry soon enough. It always did. Though it would not be the last creature to fall before his feet as he turned back towards her from the dead things on the ground, spying hers for any sign that she hadn’t finished the job on it but once it was judged to his satisfaction, he allowed himself to relax, somewhat. His guard would never be dropped completely, especially not now that he’d found her and the fact that it would only be a matter of time before others would come looking for her. She couldn’t stay here. Neither of them could, that much she had to come to realize when he met her eyes. “I’m fine. You?”

She’d held her own which was what he was expecting despite the centuries that’d passed between them. But he could see the whites of her eyes, the fear that was slowly taking over the need to survive, that would paralyze her and slow their movements if she let it. If she fell into rationalizing what’d just happened, they would never make it out of there alive as he stepped closer to her, closing off the distance like before but with none of the sexual overtones of before that’d gotten them out of the building. “They were demons. They were not people, they were not anything but pure evil. They needed to be destroyed or they would have only continued to shed more blood in their pursuit to find you.” His tone wasn’t gentle, not holding back anything as he watched for the signs that she understood him instead of the ones that told him she was on the verge of either passing out or fleeing from his side. Either would be a bad idea considering they only had minutes before others would descend on them, whether they be demons or humans.

They would have a lot to explain and no time for it as he slid the knife into the holster on his back, leaving her to hold onto the other one for the time being and gestured with his head back to the front where a car he’d procurred a few towns back was waiting for them. “There is a car out front. If we leave now, we just might make it out of here alive.” With that, he turned back around and took to walking around the outside of the diner to where the car was parked, not looking back to see if she was following him or not. If she wasn’t, he’d only have to come back for her and this time he wouldn’t be as kind as giving her the option to walk with him.

[pandorawithoutabox]

“I’m okay.”She muttered, a weak hand brushing away the strands of hair that had fallen on her face. Pandora watched as he checked her kill, as though she wouldn’t have done a decent job and some part of her that she had buried millenniums ago felt indignant. She could fight, she was strong fighter, why would he question her work? She shook her head out of it, refusing to indulge that piece of her psyche.  Pandora had shut it out, it was going to stay shut out.

That, however, left room for the hysteria that was making itself known. She knew that they had to move but now it felt as though her surroundings were swimming. It wasn’t until she heard him talking, heard the harsh words and tone that it stopped. She looked up carefully, taking a deep breath and nodding. “Okay.” It was hardly a comfort but after it all, it wasn’t comfort that she needed. Comfort would have meant that she could break apart and she couldn’t at that point. There was too much strain on their next move, they would have to get out and get out now. She could break down later, when she had some answers.  For now, she only nodded when he mentioned a car, trailed after him whilst turning her head to look behind them. The knife was still in her hand, her grip on it turning her knuckles white, like it was her only life line, her only defence... And in that moment, it really was.

The car was ordinary, non de script, no one would look at it twice and Pandora sunk into the passenger seat, her old world disappearing behind her. The silence was almost deafening as they sat. She finally let go of the knife, studying it carefully for a moment before she looked up. “You promised me answers.” 

[leftoverbox]

There was no time left. Not standing between them and the monsters inside that would soon figure out they’d been fooled into believing one of the few civilians inside were nothing more than just that. That the one they’d come searching for was outside, with him, and looking at him like he’d taken up another head. He felt his neck, knowing it wasn’t true and impossible. They did not pick up second heads, that was left for the creatures that masked themselves as human but were anything but. Maybe once they had been. Once they had been alive and felt nothing of the horrors that plagued the world now thanks to the pair that now took up the fight outside.

Just as quickly as she complained, her voice rising up and cutting through whatever he’d been working on to keep them alive. The door wouldn’t hold for long as he took a few steps backwards, his own blade reflecting the light as he spun it in his fingers masterfully. His gaze flicked over her, a tight line across his face that held none of the compassion he’d shown her earlier. This was not the time to keep up the charade of someone she was not. “You’ll use it or you’ll die. It’s your choice.” His tone of voice was not one to be ignored, his grip tightening on the blade in the palm of his hand as the door was gone and the bloody creatures were on them.

He could no longer watch over her, keep his body pressed between the two coming up on them and the woman she was pretending to be. If he were wrong, they both were dead. But he hadn’t been wrong in quite some time, following the trail and clues that’d led him to that diner in which he’d hoped would have been more time than he’d been given considering he hadn’t gotten so much a few sentences out before they were interuppted. Not once, but twice. His body moved swiftly, barely leaving an imprint in the dirt on the ground as he swung the blade out at the first creature that rushed him, looking to turn him into a bloody mess like many of the humans that’d been left defenseless inside. This was why he fought. He sought to fight for those who could not because they did not realize what they were up against but the two of the, they knew, they knew too well.

It was over in a matter of minutes. They were not seasoned or ageless as the two of them, perhaps following his trail and thought themselves strong enough to overwhelm but they’d been confused and lost the element of surprise they so desperately would have needed. Blood had found it’s way on his shirt that would have been left clean if he’d managed to keep his jacket but the hidden pockets that’d been filled with kevlar were necessary to protect her more than him. He was nothing but the intstrument while she was the key, able to lock away the evils they’d unleased on the world so many centuries before. His gaze lifted from the dead at his feet, kicking it off his boots as he took another step back and met her eyes. He gave her a small nod.

[pandorawithoutabox]

There was no compassion left in him, no pleading. He only snapped and she did what she had to do. It was a fight that she would have to survive and that was what she did. The jacket felt heavy as she whipped around to see if her new companion was okay. He gave her a nod, almost an approving one, like she had passed a test that she didn’t even know about. Pandora suddenly felt the weight of the entire thing; it was like a suit of armour, something to protect her. He was protecting her at the expensive of himself and Pandora holstered the knife quickly, moving closer to the person who saved her. Her heart was thrumming, adrenalin still pumping through her veins, she prayed that it would keep her going until she fully realized that she had just killed something, she had killed a being... She had to push it from her mind or she would collapse and that wouldn’t help anything.

“Are you okay?” She asked quietly, checking him over with her eyes for any damage that hadn’t been obvious the first time. It was difficult to close off that side of her that was caring and gentle, the world had hardened her, yes. But that did not mean that her core traits were not still in play. And it seemed like trusting someone quickly had been a good move in this case rather than a stupid one. He was covered in blood and it seemed to not be his own.

This was the only break they had before the gravity of the situation came rushing back. They would have to go. Even with the glamour fading, they had left three dead bodies at the back of a diner and someone would be called before long if they hadn’t been called already. “Do you have a way out of here?” She asked, whipping her head around. Pandora only had her van and that was hardly speedy enough for a getaway. Her mind was already rapidly going through ways of escaping, wondering if she would have enough time to fetch a bag of clothing for herself. She highly doubted it.

This was his play, she had followed him and she was going to follow his lead again before Pandora could feel it beginning to creep into her stomach. That realization that she had killed something, the realization that she had blood on her face, blood that wasn’t her own... Her breathing was becoming rapid, they had to get out of there.

[leftoverbox]

The confusion would only be temporary. Just enough time to get her out of there without the demons still wearing the masks of men putting their claws through her and taking away the only chance this world had to survive with them. He’d searched for too long and roamed too far to let them take her that easily as he felt the pressure of her hand slip within his own, taken with the plan to slip away while their confusion rose until the moment that it ceased to exist at all. Without so much as another word, he followed where she led, trying to keep his body close to hers like he’d seen so many others do when they sought the privacy of one other’s company.

Yet the moment they broke through the back door, he slid his hand from her’s and spun around to shut the door while looking for something that would work as a barrier should they get past the staff that were keeping the men from following them. Demons were not the smartest yet they were dangerous. Soon they would either decide to ignore the rules of man and get their way into the back or they would go around which left the two of them with very little options considering his car was parked out front. He hadn’t been expecting them so soon and if he had, perhaps there would have been more to his plan than take the back exit and wing it.

He was drawn from his thoughts, still considering their options should they make a break for it or the blades strapped to his back would deem enough if they made their stand in the back, turning back towards Pandora as he watched her calmly, listening to her proposal carefully. “I promise.” His second promise ever. The first was staring at him like she didn’t even recognize him or the fact that they were both responsible for the situation they were now in. Hearing a large crash from the other side of the door, he knew it would only be a matter of minutes before they were on them as he reached into the inside of his jacket and grasped the handle of one of the blades hidden within and pulled it out before tossing the jacket to her. “Wear it.” It would give her more protection than nothing at all. “There is another blade on the other side, do you remember how to use it?”

[pandorawithoutabox]

He was pressed close to her, playing his part perfectly and even she was almost fooled. If it wasn’t for that hardened look in his eye, she would have fallen for it, probably would have ended up kissing the guy, it wasn’t as though he were hard to look at.  But they stumbled outside and she saw him begin to weigh up his options, she saw him looking for an escape. Panic was beginning to rise in her throat, she couldn’t see a way out.

And yet, he promised to give her answers. She couldn’t tell you what it was but that promise calmed her, as though she knew that he was going to keep it. It was a comfort to know that maybe, if they got out of this alive, she would get some answers.

The jacket was miles too big but she rolled up the sleeves as quickly as she could, zipping it up but not before she carefully took the blade from its holster. “Are you insane, I can’t... There is no way that I will be able to use this? I’ll probably end up stabbing myself.” She hissed, still staring at the blade. It was sharp, silver, weighted and terrifying. Pandora was frightened of the blade that she was holding until all her fingers wrapped around the handle. The weight of the knife felt familiar in her hand and her grip changed from loose to confident. She knew this, it was all rushing back and she nodded once, balancing her weight, evening out her stance and gritting her teeth.

Two crashed through the door, there was blood already on their face and Pandora was frozen for a split second. Blood, someone else was already hurt. But her mind caught up with her body, remembering that there was a third and she spun on the spot, the knife in her hand slashing as she did so. There was no resistance to the blade, it cut through the monster as though he were butter, the blood hitting her face but she did not feel it, it did not bother her as it should have.

The monster only stumbled, of course it could not be that easy but Pandora had been living for longer than she would ever care to say. Her training was hard to forget, she had fought monsters before, she had ruined the world once. Her power wasn’t as limited as some thought and it was as though her body was on auto. Her moves were graceful, perfectly timed, as though she were dancing instead of fighting and she lost track of her ally, flicking her head around finally to see if he were okay. 

[leftoverbox]

Lifetimes. It’d taken him many to find her, locate her position, to see her again and he wasn’t about to give it all up for the three masquerading as men that’d come for a similar purpose. But where his was to find the one that could help him, they were there to destroy her. His gaze flickered across their faces until it landed back on hers when he saw the tendril of fear reflected in her eyes as she handed back the jacket.

He didn’t take it at first as he considered his odds against the men, disproportionate considering the amount of innocent bystanders in the diner and her being between him and them. The odds were stacked against him and the blades tucked into the small of back and the gun tucked into his boot. The rest of his usual load was locked in the trunk of the car he’d boosted a few towns over when he hadn’t wanted to frighten her. Less was better until it wasn’t as he nodded, grabbing her wrist again when reaching out for the jacket, taking a small step forward as the hard exterior softened considerably yet his eyes were still hard. “The only thing I liked wasn’t on the menu.” He needed her to read him; to see the truth that was hidden behind the false niceties in an effort to get them out without causing a scene.

Acting wasn’t his strong point, neither was human contact as her wrist was warm and soft in his grip as he reminded himself not to hold too hard unless he wanted to hurt her. If she went along; they could slip out and save the rest from being dragged into a fight that wasn’t anyone’s but their’s. If not, plan b would have to work as he leaned in a step closer and ignored the demons as they stood off to the side confused as to what they’d walked in and hopefully realize they found the wrong woman long enough for them to escape. “Or is it?”

[pandorawithoutabox]

She smiled, her eyes averting bashfully before she tugged at her apron. "Hey, Baz, I'm going on break." She looked back up at him, eyes locking, hoping she was reading this right. It was a good ploy, she could feel the confused waves off the men behind her. Demons they were, but it did not seem as those they had been blessed with an abundance of brains. "Come on..." Her voice was soft, flirtatious, a cheeky edge to it. All an act. Her hand slipped into his and she began to lead him out the back door, a knowing smirk on most of the staff's faces. It wasn't usually her that pulled these moves but no one was going to follow. Or she thought they weren't.

They had a lead but she could hear sharp words, arguing with the counter staff as they tried to follow. The fresh air hit her full in the face, goosebumps rising on her arms. It was cool out, she had left her jacket inside, her mind was throwing useless facts into her brain as panic began to take over. She was alone, with someone she didn't know and who was sprouting stories about needing her to come with him whilst also being followed by people who made fear radiate from her core. She was between a rock and a hard place.

And yet her gut instinct was telling her that going with this guy was safer than staying behind. "Promise you'll explain who the hell you are if I go with you. Promise it."

[leftoverbox]

He didn’t respond, not at first. Rising out of his seat slowly, the jacket still slung over the back of his chair and the menu closed on the table, his attention was turned fully onto the things that paraded as men in the diner. They were far from men. Farther than he was. Yet to the untrained eye or one that’d never seen true evil walking this Earth, they looked as everyone else and would have continued to do so if not for their attention being turned on the woman by his side. He frowned. They should not have been so closely behind him, finding her almost immediately after he had, not after all these years. It’d taken him lifetimes to find her and yet, there they were.

The blades tucked into the back of his jeans, hilts barely visible as he faced towards the men who’d entered, he didn’t reach for them, not yet. There was still a chance they hadn’t pinpointed her out, hadn’t located that out of the few women in the place that the one they were all looking for was standing by his side. “You would remember it differently,” he spoke finally, the corner of his mouth turned upwards just slightly before dropping back down. If one blinked, they would have missed the humor in his otherwise stoic exterior as he took a step towards the door, her by his side until she was not. Turning his head, he saw one of the men, the third and tallest of the trio, had his claws - no hand on her shoulder, holding her in place while the other two were looking right at her. None suspected him as anything but a paying customer.

"I forgot something," he said loud enough for them to hear yet his eyes were on her. "My jacket." He wasn’t leaving without her which they would soon find out.

[pandorawithoutabox]

His mouth twitched and Pandora couldn't help a tiny smile back. Maybe she had missed the joke but it was nice to know that this guy wasn't all dead eyes and glares. "It's been awhile." She admitted back a joke of her own but it carried more weight than that. This was the first time that she admitted that he was right. She did know. She had known.

Her instincts were kicking in full bore now but she would be safe with only one of the four men here. And he was talking about his jacket. Pandora's eyes were round, fear finally reflected in them. Demons. Her fault. She had let them out and they wanted to hurt her, she would be the cause of her own death. "Oh right, sir. Excuse me, I will be with you in a moment." Her upbeat voice must have not been what they were expecting, the claw lifted. They didn't want to draw too much attention, what if they had gotten the wrong girl, that was what she was assuming was going through their head. But as soon as the claw was gone, Pandora felt air rush to her lungs, her knees weak as she walked very slowly to fetch the jacket.

Every step seemed to echo as she reached out the jacket to him. Her eyes pleaded, please don't leave her there. He said he wouldn't leave without her, he had to deliver on this promise. "Here you are... I'm sorry that you didn't see anything you liked on the menu."

[leftoverbox]

Too long he’d waited for this moment, to find her again, to let her choose to walk away from her responsibilities and from him. Yet too long he’d been on his own, been left to figuring out the ways of the world and how to act in them by the time he’d found her. His grip still on her wrist, anger flaring up when she spoke out against him and continued to act as if she was a clueless to the world they were living in.

"Do not make me ask you again," he warned, his voice dangerously low when his attention was directed elsewhere. Bells chiming in the background, her eyes tore away from his own as he followed where they went and saw them. Demons. They wore the flesh of man, hidden behind their stolen faces yet he could see right through them to the howling, monstrous creatures that had no place among men. This was a world for the living, not the damned. Yet there they stood.

He slipped his fingers from her wrist, keeping his focus still on them, he hissed through clenched teeth at Pandora a second time. “You know this world. You know the evils that walk it because of us. You are the only one that can help set it right.” Pleading would have been his tone if not for the low growl the words came out in, thrown off balance by the entrance of those who were there for the same reason as he. The only difference, they would not ask while he did. They would destroy her and any chance the world had at being saved. “Let’s go.” He stood up.

[pandorawithoutabox]

Even with all the hope drained out of her, there was a woman with fight hidden under the depression. One that didn't responded well to threats. She would have responded if she weren't so on edge. Both their attentions were on men that were eyeing her like she was a piece of meat to be devoured. Finally, Pandora turned her head, turning attention back to him.

Pandora's eyes bored into his. There was no familiarity in them but one word he said caught her attention. "Us?" She asked softly, trying not to draw attention to what was happening between them. Pandora remembered vague memories of opening the box, unleashing horror onto the world around her. She remembered the guilt. But many millennium had come between that event and where she was now. "I only remember me." She spoke again, wanting answers then and there, not realizing about the time constraint until he stood up, his eyes on the men that made her stomach twist nervously.

"...Okay..." She went to move with him before she felt a hand on her, cold and hurting her shoulder.  Nails digging in and she felt fear grip her again as she tried to move it away from her. She knew this world, she knew it, that kept running through her head. Pandora had tried so hard to forget it all.

[leftoverbox]

This was not right. This was not what he’d expected or wanted to have happen as he held onto the very wrist of the one person he’d spent lifetimes scouring the Earth for and yet, felt as if he’d turned up empty handed. His eyes searched hers for any sign of familiarity or recognition yet nothing was reflected back besides the pain and turmoil that’d been released onto the world that now every single person had to live with and it was growing. It was consuming the world. And if no one could stand up to stop it, then they would surely lose.

She was the key to stopping it all. The key that started it all as she unlocked him and released the evils onto the world unknowingly all those centuries ago. A naive girl then, she was no longer. He clenched his jaw yet did not release his hold on her wrist while she continued to play her charade that she did not recognize the dangers that were looming across the globe and would prefer to stay ignorant to it all. “I cannot leave.” He spoke softly, still keeping her within his eyesight but also taking in the rest of the diner to make note should anyone look over and see their interaction take place. “Not without you, Pandora.”

[pandorawithoutabox]

There was a side to her, a side that knew what this was. But it was refusing to be acknowledged. Perhaps it came across as naive, maybe she was acting like a ditzy woman that she was not. But this was easier, it was safer, it was more invisible. But this man, it was throwing her into the spotlight and she was cowering away from it.

"I'm not going anywhere with y..." The rest of her sentence was drowned out by a few men walking into the diner. The bell rung, their voices carried and the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. They were ordinary men, nothing usual about them but Pandora tensed, without even meaning to, the grip on her pen and pad tightening before she let out a breath, surprised. That was not a normal reaction and it frightened her more than anything.

Fight or flight, that were the instincts that humans had. Pandora's instinct had always been flight. You run away from trouble, you don't stand to face it. Running meant survival for her. She was itching to get away, from this man, from those who had just walked in.