#d: oct1

[catalystunbound]

October 1, 2016 5:00 AM  Evangeline’s House [ @juniarose ]

If they survived this morning, if she made it to the end of the day without being made a villain because of this horribly hasty plan, then she would surely make a point to fix the lock on Evangeline’s back door. With gun hidden in the band of her jeans, tucked beneath a too-big shirt, Adelaide made quick work of the lock, which proceeded to fall off in a small puff of rust and chipped paint. She could not help but be exasperated by it for a short moment; while it helped in her mission, it would only be all too easy for someone with more sinister intentions to simply come and go as they pleased. 

Perhaps she shouldn’t have brought the gun; passing by a checkered tablecloth, a series of faded photographs on the wall, a folded sweater over the back of a rocking chair made her feel as if she was walking through her own home. She wouldn’t want anyone skulking through her house with a gun, as she was doing in Evangeline’s, though she had one thing on her mind -- and that one thing could assure Stella’s safety, and keep demons out of Paradise with as much frequency as they were now. Surely they would all understand, once she explained; there was no way to make them see, other than this, and if she could get an angel on her side, then there was no way they could contest her plan. 

Adelaide was the criminal of the bunch, after all; if there was anyone to trust, it was her. 

She could hear Evangeline stirring upstairs; there was little time now, and no time for caution. Adelaide absently reached behind her to touch the gun, the cool metal startling upon her back and her fingers. With a deep breath, and a thought of Stella and of Lydia, she hastened up the stairs, just in time to catch movement out of the corner of her eye. Through the closed door at the end of the hall she burst, hearing startled protests from the other end of the hall -- the voices were indiscriminate; she could not tell Evangeline from the others and vice versa, with so much blood rushing in her ears -- and into the room that she knew to be Junia’s from days of planning. Gun burning in her back pocket, she whirled around and slammed the door shut behind her, flipping the lock and reaching for the chair at the armoire, propping it beneath the handle to ensure their privacy. 

She whirled to face the room again, and there she was -- Junia -- the angel who she was so imminently about to betray in the name of humanity. But surely the woman before her would understand; she was an angel, after all. 

“I need your help. And your cooperation.” 

Adelaide didn’t want to have to use the gun -- but she’d done worse. 

[catalystunbound]

October 1st 7:10 AM New Utopia Prison [ @thesaintofsin ]

Self-preservation be fucked -- Adelaide’s primary goal was to find Stella. She’d already thrown the vast majority of what little reputation she had out the window in proposing the plan that had gotten them into this mess to begin with, and so she had very little to lose. Surely she would think to feel horribly sorry for Junia in hindsight, but for now all she could think of was her partner in crime; if all of this was for naught, she would hate herself for it. No matter what the cost, getting Stella back was a risk worth taking. And so she sprinted through the halls of the prison, dodging wayward guards and darting through low-hanging doorways, Stella’s name upon her lips at every turn. She was ready to shed blood, if that was what it would take. 

She saw her as she skidded to a halt at the end of a long hall, black hair whipping around a corner and disappearing into the darkness of early morning and outed power. “Stella!” she called, voice a desperate screech deafened by the metallic clanking of doors opening and closing, an alarm in the distance, and distinctly human cries from a floor above them. Adelaide was momentarily frozen by the sound, juxtaposed with the sight of Stella disappearing down the hall; was she alone? Was she running from someone? She could hear footsteps all around, from above, from below, but the metal frame of the prison sent discordant voices bouncing in every direction, disorienting her, making her feel as if Stella could have been anywhere. She suddenly felt dizzy -- and yet she still pitched forward, booted feet clanging across the grated floor. 

Little did she know, her moment of disoriented hesitation had made her a target, for with every corner turned she could hear and feel the flutter of raven feathers just over her shoulder. “Stella! Where are you?” she cried, discordant voice giving her away at every turn. Her toe caught upon a loose grate in the floor, and she pitched forward, scraping her palms and her elbows across the metal floor, but she persisted, scrambling to her feet again. The fall, however, had disoriented her, for she found herself at an intersection of four dark hallways; down which one Stella had gone, she did not know. 

And so she picked one at random, and with another desperate cry of Stella’s name, she began to run, unafraid of just what or whom she was running toward. To leave without Stella would be to ensure her death -- and Adelaide had killed enough innocents in her lifetime to never desire to experience such a feeling again. In the back of her mind, she could only wonder where the others were; she could not afford to think of them ( or of the demon she desired to see unhurt ) no matter how dangerous this was for them all. She pushed her throbbing legs forward, into the imposing darkness; Adelaide could only hope that she would find Stella there, and not something worse. 

She was just barely aware that she was not alone in the dark hall; black wings rustled above the sound of footsteps from above and below -- but it would take a force of nature to stop Adelaide in her quest to find Stella herself. 

( and it seemed that a force of nature was what lingered in the shadows )