She.

she sought love

through razor-blades

upon her wrists

she found joy

in a needle's prick

liquid into her veins

they found her in an alley

her corpse on a pool of crimson

-Rae 

Angst.

When all the brightest lights

start drowning night by night

you don't know where to go

you don't know what to believe

and you don't even know what got you here

in the first place

you say life's catching up

but stop, you're already living in the past

what's there to fret?

you're barely there anyway

you try illusions and tricks

but they don't work

they merely make you tick

what's wrong with you?

"i feel nothing no more"

you stand over the edge

the rush has gotten into your head

adrenaline overwhelms you

a quick salvation takes you through

and you fall

you let yourself fall

your worries fade into the cool night

as apartment lights flick light by light

they've been crammed into an

already filled cabinet

but you don't care

cos' you aren't there anymore.

-Rae

Down's the only way up.

"John!" Lea shouts, hearing the advancing threat.

the shifters move towards the center of the room, back facing backs. One by one the porters phased in, with eyes of pure hatred and weapons not meant to put-down, but to kill. 


"Shit!" he said in agony. They barely have space to move, much less run. Down?

"Down!" he howled.

in an instant the shifters transformed. Some into their battle forms, others into the heaviest animals they had. Blood sprayed from all directions, some from the lions and wolves tearing at the limbs of their enemies while the rest from the daggers and guns their enemies employed. In the center of the room an elephant and two rhinoceros stomped while defending themselves from those who made past their protectors.


Now up! John tried desperately to *push while taking on two porters. 


They got his plan - the floor crumbled, the porters with it while the shifters safe in mid-air, wings fluttering frantically to gain balance. 


They were safe, for now.


-Rae.


Push = telepathy.

Death doesn't make it a pitstop.

"Stop it! Just... just stop it Lea. Just because you're still grieving doesn't mean the world stops for you. Well, guess what, the world will leave you behind if you don't catch up."

"Catch up? Catch WHAT up? Jesse's dead. He's dead. And if there's one thing I learnt from his death. One thing, it's that we can't win. We're losing. Or perhaps we've been fighting a losing battle all this while."

"Fuck it. You're not the only one grieving. You think everyday I don't want to give up fighting? Fighting for this... this 'war' we're unlikely to win? The fact that there are more out there. That there are more - waiting to die, more Jesse's. They keep me going. They're faith in me, in all of us, keeps me going."

"John..."

"And it's them I'm fighting the war for. I'm not fighting for the dead. I'm fighting for those, who are alive. So don't tell me to quit. Don't ever tell me to stop fighting. Because I stop, I stop when the war ends, win or lose -- Hell, I'd probably be dead anyway if we lose. We're having a meeting in 5, same place. Be there alright? We all need a little hope that everyone's still in this."

He leaves the room, the door left open. Lea is left sitting on the bed, still crying as when John entered. The impact of John's words has seeped into her and she realizes the state she is in. Her tears stop. She hastily crams her stuff into her duffel and scrambles for 5. Now 2.


-Rae