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(This prompt was answered between Adra and Das as if it were an RP. Adra has the first post.)
Air rushed noisily through pipes and tubes, and out through the open mouth of the frog-shaped frame around the air conditioner vent between the driver and passenger side of Melanie Reynolds' adopted car. It was kind of loud, but with how warm it was that evening, and the fact that the climate controls gave no more control beyond "on" and "off", it was wind tunnel sound effects or suffocation under glass. And, having a car and license, having to shout over the rush of air hardly bothered Mel at all.
She gripped the wheel until her knuckles were white, doing her level best to look around out windows and in mirrors to be absolutely sure she did everything right. Not only was this her first big trip anywhere further than the grocery store five minutes away since receiving her license, but it was her first trip ever to the new apartment of the game master for her weekly Corridors and Chimeras game. Any excitement about playing for the first time in two weeks was dampened by the sheer anxiety over going such a great distance and to an unfamiliar destination on her own.
Well. Never alone.
Safely stopped the requisite distance behind the car in front of her at a stoplight, Mel glanced over to her friend and smiled. She had given Serenity the directions Joe the Game Master had dictated over the phone, and she could hope for no better navigator than her best friend. The two of them had started with lowly level one characters in C&C about eight months ago, and were very likely to finally attain level nine tonight. The first part of that quest would just have to be getting to the Pear Tree Apartments.
"Hey, should I get into the left lane after this light changes?" Mel asked, venturing to pry her fingers from the steering wheel for a moment. She hated merging to different lanes. Was it still okay that they had given her a license?
Serenity didn't mind the wind tunnel, herself. Better than frying in the old junker Mel had inherited. She was glad she'd decided on a short-sleeved shirt that day, rather than her normal long-sleeved ones. The blonde leaned back in her seat, looking from out the window, to the directions kept firmly in her lap with one gloved hand. Damn Joe for having to move. They'd been just fine being able to walk to his apartment before! And he never was very good at giving directions.
'Ren looked to her best friend when she asked her question, then looked outside, looked at the directions, then outside again. Hmmm...She nodded and looked to Mel. "Yes. And then stay in it before the turn two lights down." Thankfully, they'd left half an hour earlier than they should have needed to.
"Okay," Melanie replied, fingers clamping around the steering wheel again as the traffic light turned green. She was quiet as they moved forward. Looking over her shoulder, she merged, then passed under a flashing yellow in front of a fire house, and then activated her signal for the next traffic light.
"This one, right?" she asked. "Second one?" The girl leaned over the wheel, as the flow of traffic the other way kept kept her from turning on green just yet. "Maple Park?" Melanie read off of the street sign. "I thought it was just Maple?" Her knuckles got, if possible, whiter as the light turned red, allowing one car out of the small side street.
She looked to her friend again, chewing her lip nervously. Her green arrow came up and the driver behind her allowed no time at all before laying on the horn. Melanie whimpered and turned the corner, drove a block, then pulled over. An apartment complex several blocks away rose above the small houses in the immediate area; the street up ahead was one-way with the arrow teasingly pointed away from the apartment towers.
"He said the red building?" Melanie asked, still holding onto her steering wheel for dear life even though the car was stopped for the moment. "So maybe it's those?" She pointed at the buildings, and scanned the surrounding streets, then sheepishly inquired, "Can we walk from here?" It was a toss-up whether the heat would make walking more or less unpleasant than trying again to find her way by road.
Serenity was about to answer after checking the directions when the a*****e behind them honked at them. As Mel turned, 'Ren sent an attempt at a withering glare behind them to the driver, resisting the urge to flip him off. She needed to maintain some semblance of decorum. And when the one way showed up...'Ren couldn't help but groan. Joe was so hearing it for the abysmal directions when they got there. "Probably, knowing our luck." She sighed and shook her head. "I think we can." She gave her friend a weak smile. "At the very least, we know Joe will have the AC turned up to max once we get there." It would be hot as hell until they GOT there...but hopefully the trip back to the car wouldn't be nearly so hot once the sun set.
Mel nodded and sighed, tilting her head back and closing her eyes to enjoy the air conditioning for a moment longer before turning the car off. Then she unbuckled her seat belt and twisted around to get her bag of dice and other C&C supplies, and got out of the car. Immediately, the girl paced around it, hunting up and down the sidewalk for signs indicating parking regulations.
It seemed almost too good to be true to her that she had been able to parallel park here without anyone nearby.
"I guess we can just head for the building and not have to worry about any one-way streets," Mel said to her friend, going so far as to check under the car for painted handicapped signs or any other possible indication that her parking job might not be legal somehow. "And yeah, cool off later at Joe's place." She forced a tiny smile, peering out from under her hair at 'Ren. "I'm really sorry. Maybe next week it'll be easier since we'll at least know where the apartment is."
While Melanie checked for signs and the like, Serenity retrieved her own C&C supplies. Bag grabbed from the back seat, she got out to join her friend...and was VERY glad she hadn't gone full-out with her outfit that day. Normal Steampunk attire, and she'd have been boiling! "It's not your fault, Mel. Joe fails at directions." She smiled reassuringly at her best friend. "Even I can get lost trying to decipher them." She moved over by the other girl and linked arms with her. "Shall we get our bums moving?"
Melanie, dressed in a light but long-sleeved blouse and a vest she had made out of an old jumper, was thankful she had finished her ensemble for today with a skirt and well-loved sandals. She locked the car and dropped the keys into her combination book-bag/purse, and cast the car a few concerned backward glances as she hooked her arm in Serenity's and started off towards the towering apartments.
The current neighborhood looked safe enough; residents did not look rich, but nor did they feel the need to outfit their properties with fences or bars over the windows. As she and her friend walked up the street counter to the one-way sign, Mel could see some shops up ahead on the next street: Fresh Ideas Smoothies; a hair-and-nail salon; Rosie's Rivets and Hardware; a pharmacy; and an ethnic grocery store with a name Mel was not confident she could properly pronounce.
She started to relax a bit, at least, once they were out walking, pleased to be avoiding the stress of finding her way while driving. Also starting to sweat, but she could still deal with that for the moment.
"Yeah, we can Google-Quest it next week, or borrow my mom's GPS," Mel sighed. "And we'll have already been there once, so the streets won't seem quite so ... scary." There was enough traffic on the roads they had to cross, but the roads the girls were following for the moment were a bit more sheltered and narrow.
Serenity nodded, looking around at things herself. Seemed like a nice neighborhood, at least. Though...kinda quiet for the time of day. "Exactly." Something...seemed off, though. And she couldn't help but tense at a skittering sound, like claws on the pavement. The green eyed girl looked behind them, frowning...and her fair skin immediately paled. "Uh...Mel. I...think we ought to run."
A block away from them was what could only be described as a monster. A monster that looked like a mad scientist bred a rat and a cat and a man, all in one go. The result wasn't pretty...and definitely was NOT friendly-looking. And she wanted gone before it noticed them. Fighters, they were not.
Mel huddled closer to her friend as she picked up the sounds as well, another small whimper rising in her throat. "What is it?" she whispered, clutching to Serenity's arm with one hand and to her crochet shoulderbag with the other. She was certainly not a fighter, either; the only sharp object she was confident she could use well was a sewing needle, and even in Corridors and Chimeras, she played an elementalist who stuck to the rear line.
Giving a quick nod in agreement, she started running for the other end of the alleyway with the other girl.
Whatever the creature was, though, it was surprisingly fast. Melanie felt something cold and slightly damp scraching at her ankles after a few strides. A moment later, it managed to actually grab her, and she fell to the pavement with a shriek. She rolled over onto her back to try to get a look at the thing and so she could flail her skinny arms at it.
"'Ren watch out it- it- it has three hands!" she stammered out, voice pitched high with fear. Whatever the creature was, its long naked tail seemed to have a mind of its own ... along with a clawed hand right on the end.
"I have no idea...a PC's worst nightmare." And she bolted with her friend. Monsters. There'd been rumors of them in the city, but she'd just brushed it off as too many people getting drunk or high or something equally stupid. Apparently, she should have listened.
She hadn't been expecting the thing to be so fast, and when Mel shrieked, 'Ren turned to face the thing again. That was HER best friend! And...holyshit. Gorram thing did have three hands! She growled and pulled her nice sturdy canvas shoulder bag from her shoulder and swung at the thing's tail, hoping to get it to let go of Melanie. The thing yelped when it connected, and glared at her evilly, moving to try and get her.
"Tzao gao!" She promptly tried climbing up onto a dumpster, trying to stay out of its reach.
Mel shouted again, holding her arms up to protect herself as the thing tried to snap at her with its teeth. But then 'Ren's bag came swinging in, knocking the monster back. THe little claws holding her ankle pulled free uncomfortably, leaving behind light scratches.
As soon as she was free, the girl scrambled to her feet, and followed Serenity to the dumpster. Reaching upwards, she tried to climb up as well, but between her fear and her shortage of upper body strength, she had some trouble. Jumping up and catching the edge, she kicked her legs to try to get up on top, all the while casting fearful glances back at the rat monster as it recovered its wits and started to come after her again.
"'Ren, help," she whimpered, knuckles going white again as she clung to the edge of the dumpster. At least she had strong fingers.
'Ren reached down to grab her friend's wrists, bracing herself as best she could and trying to haul her friend up. She wasn't THE strongest person around...but she wasn't too much of a lightweight either. And besides...adrenaline and the laws of leverage were in her favor, if she could manage it right...She finally put everything she had into it, not caring if she ended up falling on her butt because of it. Her butt would land on the dumpster, and propriety was NOT her first concern at the moment! She and Mel making it out ALIVE was. She managed to haul her friend up just as the monster tried snapping at Mel again, indeed landing on her bum.
Hopefully the thing couldn't jump. She pointed up, to the fire escape above the dumpster. "If we can get up there..." Someone was keeping plants on their fire escape floor. And the planters were the terra cotta sort that hurt like hell when dropped on someone.
Melanie lifted up her legs and tried to sort of walk up the side of the dumpster, to get up with her friend's help.
Unfortunately, the monster could jump at least a little bit. It tried to catch the edge of Mel's skirt just as 'Ren managed to haul her up on top of the big metal box. The creature fell back to the pavement, but promptly began scuttling around to try to find its own way up to go after the girls.
Hand to her chest, Melanie gasped for breath, trying to calm herself down. She kept her wide eyes fixed on the giant rat creature, though, which probably did not help with the calm part. Then she realized that it kind of reeked up on top of the dumpster, like rusty water and something that had been in contact with garbage for ages, even if there was not actually any in there, now. Probably what the rat thing had been living on, Melanie thought, her stomach rolling over.
She tore her eyes away from the monster, to follow Serenity's pointing up the fire escape. Mouth still hanging open a little, Mel nodded quickly and huddled towards the brick wall beside the escape. Rat claws were scraping against metal down below, and not being able to track the creature with her eyes made Melanie nervous all over again. But she still wanted to be a good friend; after all, 'Ren had helped her already. And she would probably be faster up the narrow ladder, too.
"Y- you first," she stammered, flattening herself against the wall next to the ladder.
'Ren couldn't help but cringe at the smells and the sound of the rat-thing's claws on the dumpster side as it tried to find a way up. She looked to Mel as she got up and dusted the back of her skirt off. Then thought a few seconds before nodding. "Alright." She didn't like the idea of going before Mel, wanting her friend out of trouble...but if she could get up, she could find them a way out...
She maneuvered to the ladder, stepping on the toes of the rat-thing when it managed to hook its wicked little claws on the side of the top. The monster yelped, making an audible 'thump' when it hit the ground again. And then Serenity was up the ladder, trying to keep her breathing even. She wasn't going to panic...much as she wanted to. Once up, she called down to her friend. "Come up quick!" And then pushed one of those terra cotta pots over and onto the rat-thing. Or tried to hit the rat-thing. She missed it by a few centimeters, but it distracted the thing.
As the ugly little glowing-eyed ratface peeked up over the edge of the dumpster, Mel whimpered again and immediately clung to the ladder. As soon as 'Ren was partway up, the other girl scrambled after her. She pointedly tried not to look down this time. She had heard the monster hit the asphalt again, but it was finding its way back up onto the dumpster again with greater ease now that it had already figured out a route.
"I hope it can't climb ladders," Melanie breathed as she made it onto the landing with the plants, pulled her legs up away from the opening she had just come through, and hugged her knees to her chest. Seeing the scratches on her ankle now seemed to cause them to hurt, sort of a burning like a bad cat-scratch. Mel would definitely have to wash the scrapes if and when they ever made it to Joe's place.
But for the moment, she worked to catch her breath again, and watched Serenity drop pots down on the rat.
When the thing made it back on top of the dumpster, she flinched and looked away from it, touching her friend's shoulder with one hand. "Should I call the police or something?"
'Ren watched it carefully, also keeping an eye out for any possible exits. In reality...the only way at this point that was viable was to somehow distract the thing. "That...that might be a good idea. Maybe if the police come, the thing will run off, since it'll be vastly outnumbered. And I saw a police station a block or two down from where we parked." Shouldn't take them long to get there at all. She shoved another pot over when the thing tried getting up again, getting the angle right this time. She gave a small, rather undignified snort of pride. "Take that, húndàn!"
Melanie nodded, fumbling her phone from her bag and dialing the number with shaking fingers.
The rat thing was glaring up at them from the top of the dumpster down below, and had just figured out that it might be able to climb the ladder most easily if it used the hand on its tail, but before it could make it far at all, a pot contacted with its face. With a clatter of ceramic shards, it tumbled back down noisily onto the dumpster. For several seconds, it looked visibly disoriented, its glowing bright eyes disappearing and reappearing as it blinked, then shook itself.
Though she had never really had need to call the emergency number before and was nervous about doing so, on top of being scared of getting eaten by the huge rat monster, Melanie managed to keep her voice calm and steady enough as she explained the situation to the police. They were understandibly reluctant to believe her, but it was also not exactly the first time someone had reported monsters to the police before in Celeste.
Once she was done with the call, the girl clicked her phone closed and chewed her lip fearfully as she peered down at the creature again, already starting to gather its senses enough to begin a second wobbly attempt at the ladder.
Suddenly, Melanie reached over to grasp Serenity's arm again. "Wait, we won't get in trouble for breaking someone else's pots when the police come, will we?" It would be terrible if they got arrested right after being saved from an ugly rat thing.
Serenity glared at the rat-thing, ready to shove another pot at it. It wasn't going to get them! They both had family, and couldn't afford to have a monster squish them or something! Why was it always rats? Even in their C&C games, there seemed to be a lot of rats and rat-monsters.
"I...I don't think we'll get in trouble. Or if we do, we'll just have to pay the owner of the pots or something." She could do that, with her allowance. She was MORE than willing to do that. "I really hope they get here soon. Rats are creepy as is. It's even worse since that thing has a third hand and glowing eyes and is apparently intelligent."
Rats certainly made good monsters, Melanie decided. They were gross and ate dead things and carried lots of germs and plagues. Maybe some people had pet rats, but that was different; people had pet snakes, too, and snakes could kill someone. Mel had great difficulty seeing the appeal in either creature, really.
As for the pots, Melanie nodded in agreement. "I could totally help pay, too," she replied. "Half and half is cool." It would be a small price to pay for delaying the nasty monster's way up the ladder. There was no question, of course, that even though 'Ren was the one tossing pots for now, and it had been her idea originally, that Mel help her friend pay for the damage if necessary; they were in this thing together for sure. That always went without saying.
And the waiting was difficult. The girl definitely did not want to just stare at the rat. This one even felt wrong. But at the same time, Mel was afraid to take her eyes off of it, just in case it tried somehow to sneak up on them.
"Do you think they'll shoot it or something?" Mel asked, finally taking one of the round ceramic dishes that one of the pots had been resting on, and chucking it downwards at the creature as it tried to balance on the lowest rung of the ladder in order to grab onto the second with its tail. The plate smashed harmlessly against the top of the dumpster, a few feet off-target, but Mel wanted to feel like she was still helping.
"Half and half sounds good." She took one of the planter plates, aimed, and dropped on the thing again...just as she heard vehicles at the end of the alley. Finally!
The rat-thing seemed to hear the cars too, ears pricking forward and eyes darting to see what was interrupting it. It didn't seem intimidated at first by the police officers. And then it did, indeed, get shot at. It yelped as a bullet hit it, then hissed and moved to try attacking the officers instead...only to get shot at again. It wasn't hit a second time, but it decided this was NOT worth it! Time to find easier targets! And it vanished into the shadows, skittering sounds heard as it left.
'Ren flopped rather unceremoniously onto the landing of the fire escape, sighing in relief. Oh thank God that was over. "You girls can come down now!"
Mostly. They were still going to have to deal with the police. And whoever owned those pots. Well...at least they were alive to deal with it?
Melanie perked up at the sound of cars, clinging to the railing of the landing and waving when she caught sight of the police coming into the alleyway.
When they finally got the clearance to come down and the creature was finally dead (Where did it go? Did it leave a body?), Mel crawled down the ladder and waited on top of the dumpster for Serenity. As she moved to the edge, where the policeman waited with arms upraised to help them down, she leaned over and whispered to her friend with a small sheepish smile, "Maybe we could ask them for directions from here, too?"
'Ren smiled at Mel, accepting the help down with a gracious nod and a 'thank you' to the officers. It never hurt to ask for directions! And 'Ren did exactly that, the officers pointing them in the right direction after they'd given their side of the story, and the owner of the apartment attached to the fire escape they'd ruined the pots of was given Serenity's contact information. They would pay for the pots and the plants (if the plants could not be rescued), and all was good. They'd gotten VERY lucky.
Joe so owed them. So. Very. Owed them.
 Das Tor · Wed Sep 21, 2011 @ 02:55pm · 0 Comments |
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