somehow in a universe that Silas, Ned, Salma and the Jacks exist in, they use Ned's superpower (?) to get around the second death bit??? Like, let one Jack fully separate and then join the world, and then they kill her so that the other Jacks die again, but then after enough time has passed that the Jacks souls should have separated out and gone if only to avoid being destroyed when Salma's stopped existing then Ned touches her to bring her back and they keep the 3rd Jack hostage in the room, so that when her one minute is up, he's the only acceptable trade and the closest so that it kills him again, balances the universe, and brings her back to life so that they can all live happily ever after?!
After a while, there wasn't a time when your fingers hadn't been wrinkled from soaking in acid, when your lungs hand't burned from breathing in the ammonia that tore at your nose and lungs, when your eyes hadn't been blurry and watered and cross, and your body hadn't ached from fighting and bleeding and clinging to life with the iron of your own blood on your lips and the echoes of your own screaming in your ears.
It was then that you became a wild thing, feral, lost in the streets of a mind that had once been your own, now foreign ruins that you never could have recognized.
They'd let you loose then. If only for a few moments. They'd wash off a little of the potion, and but you wouldn't notice. Your powers would notice though, and they'd start trying to protect you in that ruined city, even if you couldn't protect yourself anymore. So in you'd wanted to an old mansion, an old theater, an old hotel scheduled for demolition. Someplace old and dusty, molding and crumbling under even the gentlest touch. You'd climb over the fallen doorways, hunting, sniffing the air, following memories towards somewhere that would be safe, deeper and deeper into the dream world, to a place they hadn't touched yet, that was only in ruins because you were.
Salma would always stop when she'd wondered into a big room- it was always the same room, not that she ever remembered. She wasn't ever really there anymore. She'd wander over to the top of a short staircase, one that should have split over at the sides, and stare up at a tall, torn portrait covered in dust and cobwebs. She didn't know why the couple in it looked so familiar, cuddled up and staring at each other like they didn't need anything else in the world. She didn't recognize the blond woman with the wild hair, but the tall, dark man with the ruby red eyes... so kind... so sharp... so intelligent and dangerous and... familiar. She would reach out and touch the lips of his portrait gently, and then draw back as if they'd been hot, but it would make her ache inside worse than when the scary man would stab her over and over and over...
Salma shook her head, humming again. She always felt like she had to hum in that room. She didn't really know why... but she felt like it was important, and so she'd hum and put her arms out, and start to spin around the room while words formed in a language she couldn't remember.
Dancing bears, painted wings
things I almost remember,
and a song, someone sings
once upon a December
Cold arms would come and land over hers, intertwining strong hands with her delicate ones- Salma would tense up in a momentary panic, but when she turned, it would be the man from her painting come to life, and so she'd relax and smile, and move her hands back into his, and one hand over onto his shoulder while his strong arm moved to her waist. For a moment then she'd feel safe, as the room took on the song and they grew from his working clothes and her rags to a ball gown and suit- clean and soft and smelling like fresh earth and clean air. Salma would lay her head on his chest and listen for the heartbeat that wasn't there, and stare up into ancient eyes, sad... such sad eyes...
Someone holds me safe and warm
Horses prance through a silver storm
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory
This was even easier to get lost in than the lies had been. To be comforted, to be loved... even if it was a lie, it was so beautiful, and so wonderful... she was always crying by the end, while the music faded, and the roof started to cave in to let the stars and the acid rain in again, when she'd look down and find herself back in her torn clothing and bleeding again, and even the man himself starting to feel not there, just... just see through. Then she'd be desperate, she'd try to cling to him, she'd reach up to kiss him and leave him covered in her blood too. But it always ended the same way.
The building fell.
The clothes faded.
The music box broke.
And the man... the man she loved so desperately would be pulled away from her and her from him bit by bit until their fingertips were forced to let go and she was thrown even back into the nightmare running for her life.
Far away, long ago
Glowing dim as an ember
Things my heart used to know
Things it years to remember
Salma stopped mid step, pressed up onto the balls of bare feet with a sheet gathered around her body in the darkness. “I thought you were asleep.” She whispered, turning back around, sheet falling down a graceful U over her back. “Did I wake you?”
Rayne ran as quickly as she could on her short legs. Being so small for her age had many disadvantages. But it also came with some good advantages. Her target at the moment was to hide behind one of the tombstones she could see a short distance away. Her shoes skidded on the ground as she slid behind the grave marker. There she curled up and waited for her breath to go back to normal.
Normally Mandy would prefer to be
alone on hunts like these, but seeing as she
had ended up in a graveyard sent a row of
alarming chills through her nerve web. How
was this ever going to sound like a good idea
while being on her own like this? Killing these
creatures was not a problem ---- tracking an
innocent vampire and crossing its territory
was definitely one.
❛ Hello...? ❜ A bittersweet question was
never wrong as she slowly backed away,
ready to flee like the hound she was.
