♥ Starr Ranch ♥ 1x1 ♥ Remake/Continuation ♥

[minus infinity]

This is a 1x1 roleplay between SilentShadowDreamer and minus infinity. Lurkers, stalkers and/or readers are permitted, but no others will be accepted without permission.







1. This is where, upon arrival, campers parked their cars, which are most likely collecting dust by now.
2. This is the main house that Shannon, the owner of the ranch, lives in. The house has a living room, bathroom, kitchen where all the campers come to eat their meals, a guest bedroom and master bedroom. A walk in closet in the master bedroom has been renovated to become a laundry room.
The cabins where the campers will reside are behind the house and a little to the left - there is one cabin for boys and one for girls, each directly infront of and behind one another. Each has a small main room, three bedrooms with colored latches on the doors to identify whose room is whose, one half-bath [toilet,sink], and one shower room with three public showers each inside.
3. This is the barn, where the chicken pen, paddock and cattles all also reside. There are six kittens and their mother in the hayloft of the barn.Here is their picture.
4. There is a pond that is only reached easily by horseback, which is very wide, connects to the river nearby and is densely shaded by trees.
5. The river is not so heavily shaded, but is surronded by a few fields of fruit and vegetables Shannon uses for income [she also uses her cattle and chickens as a source of income.] Both bodies of water may be swam in if a camper chooses to do so.

Howdy, ya'll

Gaia name: minus infinity
Character name: Shannon Starr Barklee
Age: 54
Sex: F
Sexuality: Straight
Likes: Farming, animals, riding horseback, talking, meeting new people
Dislikes: Most insects, silence, losing, thunderstorms, being doubted.
Reason for being here: Owns the ranch.
Favorite song: Paramore - Misery Business (Tribute to the owner of the original roleplay, hurrr)
Crush: none
Horse Assigned:Dancing Dolly
Extra: Shannon is aging unusually gracefully and attributes that to spending her entire life on a farm.
Appearance: Shannon

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Gaia name: minus infinity
Character name: Kahlilia Mae Rose Thompson, or 'Lily'
Age: 18
Sex: F
Sexuality: Straight
Likes: The outdoors, animals, music, friends, chocolate
Dislikes: The cold, dust, spiders, mean or rude people
Reason for being here: As a sheltered only child, Lily was curious about others and the world around her. She left her small town
where she lived with her parents to come to Starr Ranch before leaving for a university in the winter.
Favorite song: All around me - Flyleaf
Crush: Roman
Horse assigned: Benvolio
Extra: Lily is 5 ft 3 and has what her friends might call "mosquito bite breasts." She is sweet and bubbly like her mother, but also has the knowledge her father gave to her. She had a goldfish back at home named Honey.
Appearance: Lily

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Gaia name: minus infinity
Character name: Xavier Maximillien Andrew Moreno, or 'X'
Age: 19
Sex: M
Sexuality: Straight
Likes: dogs, sex, girls, storms, spicy food
Dislikes: feeling threatened, competition, the color pink, mornings
Reason for being here: His parents, hoping for some peace and quiet, put both of their children in summer camps. Xavier wound up here, and Blaire wound up spending the summer at a college campus where she could learn all about university life first hand.
Favorite song: Carnival of Rust - Poets of the Fall
Crush: Freaking waffles, that's what (Nanina/Summer/Esmeralda)
Horse assigned: Lady
Extra: Xavier is 6 ft 3 and will sometimes speak in Spanish. He has an adopted sister named Blaire who is 14, and back at home had two male german shepherds: Dante and Tucker, ages 2 and 5. Blaire owned a female hamster named Bambi.
Appearance: Xavier


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Gaia name: SilentShadowDreamer
Character name: Esmeralda Sanchez
Age: 17
Sex: Female
Sexuality: Bi
Likes: Dancing, drama, horses, prank wars and random movie trivia
Dislikes: Being caught trying, losing prank wars, people prying into her business, and most of the time, her parents
Reason for being here: Her parents sent her in order to get her out of their hair for a summer. Since she has a few secrets of her own that she needs a break from, Ez was quite happy to go.
Favorite song: JTX, Love in America
Crush: She used to have a boyfriend back home, but now…she doesn’t want to have one. She has quite enough going on, thank you.
Horse assigned: Sahara Snowfall
Extra: Esmeralda might look sweet and innocent, but that’s part of what makes her such an accomplished liar.
Appearance: Esmeralda

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Gaia name: SilentShadowDreamer
Character name: Roman Sanchez
Age: 19
Sex: Male
Sexuality: Straight
Likes: Math, sports, girls, his sister, animals, and privacy
Dislikes: Being hit on, crowded areas, having someone try to take advantage of him or his family, and stupid people
Reason for being here: His sister talked him into it, but the more he thought about getting back into horses, the more he liked it. And so here he is.
Favorite song: Christina Parri, Jar of Hearts
Crush: Well…maybe…a little…kinda…No, they’re just friends…Look, never mind.
Horse assigned: Phoenix Rising
Extra: Although he’s willing to hang out with and occasionally date girls, he has an irrational fear of romance – the fastest way to send him running is to seriously discuss love with him. He doesn’t look anything like his sister, and some people who think they’re witty will make jokes about how he and Ez probably aren’t REALLY siblings…
Appearance: Roman

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Gaia name: minus infinity
Character name: Christopher Garrett Sinclair
Age: 18
Sex: M
Sexuality: Straight
Likes: CD players, occasionally cooking, snakes, the color beige, heavy rain
Dislikes: Perverts, gushy romance, anything sticky, any kind of animal abuse, the smell of eggs.
Reason for being here: Came here on his parent's request go watch over his free spirited younger sister.
Favorite song: The Weight of Us - Sanders Bohlke
Crush: Well, first Nanina. Now Esmeralda. Waffles, anyone?
Horse Assigned:Thunder
Extra: Chris is six foot one and doesn't like to drive around because during his training a drunk driver rear-ended him and scared the poor guy half to death. Like Summer, he has other brothers and sisters back at home.
Appearance: Chris

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Gaia name: minus infinity
Character name: Summer Evelyn Sinclair
Age: 17
Sex: F
Sexuality: Straight
Likes: Chocolate, reading, boys, singing, hot weather
Dislikes: Poetry, milk, feeling humiliated or degraded in any way, sweat, feeling crowded.
Reason for being here: Came here on the condition that her brother come as well to watch over her.
Favorite song: Inner Whore - Amanda Sommerville
Crush: Xavier
Horse Assigned:Shadow
Extra: Summer is about five foot seven, free spirited, and completely uninhibited about speaking her mind when she feels she needs to. Given that she and Chris are brother and sister, both of them have other siblings at home - they come from a large family.
Appearance: Summer

 

[minus infinity]

And with the preparations done, I hereby declare this roleplay OPEN !!

And p.s., for any of you who are curious, heres the link to the old roleplay:
http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=14241375







Kahlilia had left the barn after cleaning Benvolio's hooves and taking care of the rest of the morning chores. Once outside, she shielded her eyes slightly as blaring sunlight illuminated the ranch in bright yellow. What a strange storm it had been last night, she thought as the clouds lazily began to move away. It happened so fast.
She had been in the barn with Roman when the storm began, first blocking out the sunlight in malevolent shades of grey and then threatening to rip apart the land with thunder and lightning. After finding Shannon in her office, the three of them had herded up the cattle to keep them safe from the storm. And now it was over, as though Mother Nature had suddenly changed her mind. Still standing in the entrance of the barn, and unaware that she was leaning against the door, she shook her head and went to go visit the chickens. So far, she had never really seen the chickens and she figured the morning after the storm would give her a good excuse to go visit them.
Shannon had probably already made her runs, because the chickens were eating in their silly looking peck-peck way. Upon approaching them, most of them didn't move, but a few looked up at her and clucked. The girl smiled. Maybe they thought she had more treats for them? She only saw hens so far, she wondered where the rooster or roosters were. Did Shannon keep one or more? She wasn't sure, and she pondered this as a few chickens began to cluck at her again in some sort of greeting. If there was more than one rooster, they would probably fight and get aggressive ... the girl shook her head again and watched the feeding chickens with interest.

__________________________________




Xavier had fallen asleep in the hayloft last night after the storm, and was just waking up. What a storm it had been ...
Slowly, he began to collect his thoughts as the mother cat and her kittens who also shared residence of the hayloft cautiously came towards him and greeted him with meows, mews, and light bats on the arms. Xavier didn't pay much attention to them, his mind still felt so clouded. Holy hell, what happened last night?
He stirred slightly as bits and pieces began to come back. He had confronted two of the 'Three Musketeers', the brother and sister duo. He wasn't sure how to get to the third one yet, the pint sized girl. Whenever he saw her she was with or very close to one of the other two. Close enough to scream for help ...
Slowly, his anger began to boil again. The boy had completely denied any partaking in the horrible, disgusting vile prank they had played on him and his sister had nearly murdered him - and then dropped a huge bombshell to top it all off with a cherry. Jeez, what next? With his anger now back in full swing and feeling an animalistic sort of bloodlust, he swept away the curious kittens with one big hand which also earned him a low growl from the mother. Good to know I'm not the only one in a bad mood this morning. Quickly but somewhat cautiously, Xavier came back down from the hayloft and looked around briefly. He thought the brother and sister - he still knew no names other than Shannon's - would probably be here in the barn, but he'd heard loud clucking from the nearby chickens and figured one of them was by the chickens for reasons he wasn't aware of. Violent thoughts ran through his mind, boiling his blood ...
Where were they? Where the hell were they?

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Esmeralda was leaning against the fence, her feet braced on the lowest post as she gazed at Sahara. The pretty mare grazed casually, her ears flicking back and forth.

Briefly, Ez wished she could be so relaxed.

What had possessed her to tell Xavier about it? What had she been thinking? No, she hadn't been thinking! She'd been terrified and grieving and hysterical and she'd spoken before she'd thought.

Well, she couldn't take it back now. What was said could not be unsaid. Lesson learned - don't let anyone in the room when dealing with an emotional crisis.

Hopefully there wouldn't be any more emotional crises for her to apply this learning to.

Dismissing the thought, she stepped down from the fence to see if she could find Roman or Kahlilia.

Unaware of any danger she might be facing therein, she walked into the barn to hang up Sahara's halter. One finger ran surreptitiously over the chain that held her ring.

As long as she had that tangible reminder of him, everything would be all right. She believed that. She had to believe that.

~

Roman had stepped out of the barn to enjoy the warmth of the summer sun - a warmth that he was using to fill the cold area inside him.

He felt vaguely threatened, though he couldn't have said why. Well, yes, he could. That boy. He was dangerous. Roman had always been tall and strong for his age, had always been the one that other boys felt they had to fight if they wanted to prove something, and it had taught him to read who was really angry and who was just posturing.

That guy was dangerous. They were closely matched in height, and Roman couldn't say he'd taken a close look as to build, but he thought they were closely matched there as well. An actual, physical fight between them would be anything but an easy win, but whatever - Roman had lost before, he could handle it. But the other boy had threatened Ez and Kahlilia as well, and that Roman would not tolerate. Ez was in a delicate condition, physically, and did not need to be upset. Kahlilia...

He wouldn't let any harm come to Kahlilia. Or Ez, but of the two of them, Roman gauged that Ez would be the one who could handle herself against the guy. Until Angry Kid got over his problem with the three of them (whatever it was), Roman would try to keep them both where he could keep an eye on them.

Speaking of which, where were those girls? Concerned, he turned away from that summer sunlight and went to track down Kahlilia - Ez, he thought, was out by the paddocks.  

[minus infinity]

( OOC: to have the text sitting against the picture the code is like this:

[imgleft (or right)] link to picture [/imgleft]

It took me so long to remember that again, I had to keep going back to the old roleplay and copying and pasting. xD )







Kahlilia was still by the chickens, but now she was sitting down on her knees and cautiously holding a large black hen who seemed mildly indifferent towards the contact. The others continued to eat casually and occasionally cluck. The girl watched them and gingerly ran her fingers over the hen's soft and feathery back, and as she pondered where the rooster or roosters were she realized the hen just about took up all of her lap; she was petite and the hen was sort of big. She smiled a little at that and eventually let the hen go to let her return to eating whatever it was they were eating. She heard a few clucks as the large black hen returned to where she had been and seemed to establish an almost invisible sort of dominance over the others as she did so. Kahlilia stood up and dusted dirt and a loose feather or two off of her jeans, and smiled sheepishly as she saw Roman walking nearby. Remembering the huge embarrassment of him seeing her wet and half naked after a shower, she hoped there wouldn't be any lasting tension between them. So with that thought, she twirled her hair a little between her fingers and blushed.
Maybe it wasn't that big of a deal, I don't want to bring it up again if he decided to just shrug it off, she thought as suddenly a tan-ish brown hen pecked expectantly at one of her pink high-tops. She giggled then and gently shooed it away by bending down and giving it a little push with the palm of her hand. The hen obediently left, but not without a few more clucks. As sometimes she had wondered with the horses when they appeared to be conversing with each other, she wondered what the chickens said when they clucked - they certainly had been feeling talkative this morning.
Of course, she was completely unaware of the spat that had gone on last night, really all she knew right now was that Xavier was furious and that he seemed to be planning some sort of revenge. It lingered somewhere at the back of her mind in a drawer that only opened when she saw Xavier, but for now she appeared content watching what might have been tens of chickens.


_________________________________





Xavier's cold silver eyes scanned the barn with a sort of expectancy. He still didn't know where the others were, but he was definitely growing wary in addition to his bubbling anger ...
Wait.
The silver eyes narrowed as he heard a noise and quickly hid in the closest stall, which was actually Dancing Dolly's. The mare snorted at him, and Xavier began to sweat as he hoped whoever was in the barn with him would disregard the noise. Somewhere deep down, deep in the crevices of his mind, Xavier knew he shouldn't be sneaking around like this. But somehow, everything else was overriding that.
Violent thoughts ... violent thoughts ...
Dancing Dolly snorted at him again and pawed the ground with a back foot, probably trying to warn him of something. He disregarded the tension that even the horses were beginning to feel and slowly exited her stall. He still wasn't sure who was with him in the barn until ...
It was her. It's her ... the one who ...
His mind didn't finish the sentence because it kind of began to feel like a primal instinct was taking over, until he couldn't think, couldn't breathe unless it was a heavy and lusty sounding breath ...
Once he was close enough to Esmeralda, his mind almost exploded. He felt anything and everything at that very moment but was in a way blank, like how there was that blank last night to separate the verbal from the physical. And he was feeling it again now. And damnit, he kind of liked it.
Now about three feet from her and still breathing heavily like a hungry lion stalking its prey, he attempted to leap on her. So he hoped, some sort of submission would ensue. Like a lion, cutting off every ounce of life from it's prey until it was over ... and then the feast would begin.

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

((OOC: D8 I tried that, though, and the text just started at the bottom edge of the picture. I don't know why it's not working. Wait, actually now that I think about it, that's not true. XD I remember what I did now, and it was different. Thankyou! smile ))

Esmeralda didn't hear anything at all, thanks to her own preoccupation. She was busy putting away the halter and hanging it just so. Brushing away her dark hair, she frowned at it thoughtfully. Small chores like this were helping her keep her mind off things, and she was working to keep it that way.

Deciding that yes, it was aligned properly, she began to turn away from the halter hook in order to put away her grooming kit. It was then that she heard the breathing, a little too late.

Spinning around as gracefully as any dancer, she was just in time to see his face before he slammed her back into the wall. With an angry sound that was strangely close to a snarl, she lifted her hands to try and shove him back. "Move back," she warned, her voice low and threatening, "or I'll rip off your most important piece and make you eat it."





~





Roman looked up when he heard the chickens clucking. Why, he couldn't have said right away - it wasn't like he was unused to the sound. Then he saw Kahlilia, and for a second his brain turned off. He blinked at her a few times, and then came back into gear.

With only a mildly awkward smile, he made his way over to her. "Hey," he greeted uncertainly. "Um...how are you?"

There was a lot he wanted to say to her, but he wasn't quite sure how to segue into it. Mostly it had to do with Xavier and how she needed to find a way to protect herself. But somehow that didn't seem like the kind of conversation he wanted to have with her. Not right now, anyway.

Instead, he leaned against the fence, glancing at her before directing his attention to the chickens. "You on egg duty today?"  

[minus infinity]

Kahlilia looked up when she saw Roman and returned the slightly awkward smile. Hi, she said to him. I'm doing good ... I decided to check on the chickens because I've never seen them before ... and um, I wanted to see if they were okay ... and um, how about you?
Even in her own mind, her excuse sounded pretty stupid. She was a little uncomfortable, especially seeing Xavier and getting the scariest vibes from him ...
At a sudden noise, Kahlilia turned her head so fast her hair slapped her face. It came from the barn, and she could swear her stomach dropped. W-what was that?






Xavier rolled his eyes. Spare me the dramatics. Having successfully tackled her, he now had her pinned down by pretty much blocking any exit she had with his body. They were inches from each other, and he realized he was still breathing in a very loud and ... almost lusty way. At that realization, he made a hn noise and continued. So now that you've told me you're looking after two, - at this he scratched her abdomen a little - Is there anything else you'd like to share with me? Maybe a little prank you pulled? Maybe a one night stand? Tell me. I'm not going to leave until you tell me everything. Certainly he was being vague on 'everything', and was trying to pry at her when suggesting a one night stand - he knew women were more sensitive when they got pregnant, and that they didn't like to discuss the issue of paternity. And finally, when he hissed 'tell me', he pinned her a little harder against the wall.
Little Ariel, just waking up and realizing that something was wrong, let out a high pitched whinny of fear. Kelly was just beside her, trying to keep her foal calm even though she too felt the tension rising. Xavier ignored their sixth-sense sort of thing and gripped Esmeralda's shoulders as hard as he could. Somehow, even though he was angry enough to kill right now, there was something else too. Deep in the primal rage he felt, there was something he couldn't name and didn't care to right now. Becoming more frustrated as his body began to respond to how close they were to one another, and his boundless energy, he grumbled and kicked her shin.

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Esmeralda's laugh was quiet and dangerous. "If you want dramatics, I'll give you bloody dramatics." Her muscles tightened when his fingers brushed her abdomen, instinctively trying to keep his hand away from what was inside her. "Don't touch me," she snarled right back.

When he asked his questions, Esmeralda realized that there were more ways than anger to back him off. Smoothly skipping over anything about any pranks, her lashes lowered and she smirked coldly. "I don't think my relationships are any of your business. If it had been a one-night stand, it wouldn't be any of your business; if I'd had a one-night stand with every man I'd ever met, it still wouldn't be any more your business. What's the matter, honey? Jealous?"

She felt it when his body responded to her - Jesus, they were so close, how could she not? Her eyes rose to his with a secretive sort of female triumph in them. I have the advantage now, they said, and we both know it, don't we?

"You thought I was being dramatic?" she crooned. Her hand slipped down between their bodies. Gripped. Twisted.

"I wasn't. Back off."

~

Roman smiled a little. "Feeling a need to mother everything after the storm, hmm?" He looked thoughtful and faraway. Mother. She's going to be a mother. My sister. Christ, what a goddamn mess.

Pushing it away - he couldn't think about that, not right now - he said slowly, trying to find the right words, "Listen...about last night..." He breathed once. Twice. Slowly. "There's this guy, and I think --"

His head turned at the same time as hers. Towards the barn.

Ez.

He'd left her alone out behind the barn. And he was willing to bet she wasn't there anymore.

"Wait here," he said sharply, not bothering to answer her question. "I'll be right back."  

[minus infinity]

Kahlilia had smiled a little bit and sheepishly looked down at her feet when Roman mentioned how maternal she was becoming - first Ariel, now the chickens. When would it stop? However, unperturbed by what was probably just instinct, she had looked back up at him with a smile and rosy tinted cheeks that lit up her big blue-green eyes.
But that noise ... her hair slapping across her face wiped away her smile as soon as she had turned. Confused and afraid, she stayed where she was as Roman went into the barn. What was going on? The feeling of her stomach dropping was now a direct ache, either cramps or the stress she was feeling; even if it had been cramps certainly stress couldn't help. Slowly pushing her whip-lashed hair out of her face, she sighed and waited for whatever would come next ... but the question was, did she want to know what came next?

_________________________________



Xavier stayed right where he was and mostly ignored Esmeralda's retorts, learning from last night's insults that the best thing to do was to just ignore them. Both of them were slowly realizing rage in itself wasn't going to make someone back down. He figured ignoring her little lines - or maybe even laughing at her - would cause this girl to back down.
Cold silver eyes looked almost directly into the girl's lowered lashes, curtaining the dark eyes like lace. Xavier shook his head to rid himself of that thought and continued to tighten his grip, but did not speak because he knew she would just reply with some insult that did in fact stay with him but he wasn't ready to admit it. Jealous? What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Yes, Xavier was becoming more and more aware that as his body responded to her he was losing power over her, but damnit he wasn't going to go down without a fight --
F--k! Xavier groaned and held her tightly around the neck when he felt the sudden contact. If she ever did anything like that again, he swore that he would lose it ...
And then her brother came in. In a way, Xavier knew it was inevitable but was not aware of what the other boy's reaction would be. Certainly every inch of their bodies was on display now, shameless and cruel ... Xavier kept his eyes on Esmeralda and began to tighten his grip as he had before, but this time around her neck. Not trying to strangle her purposely, but trying to scare her. He still wasn't speaking because he didn't want to hear voices. He wanted to hear other things ... sensual things. Damnit, he was losing it. With a thrust of his entire body, Xavier completely pinned Esmeralda to the wall of the barn. He was in fact fully aware of her brother, and was also fully aroused ... although he needed to be in power right now he knew he was losing. However, he didn't let it show except for in his now close to lifeless silver eyes, looking directly into Esmeralda's. Damnit, if they wanted a fight they would get one!

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Esmeralda's smirk was more pronounced now, but what was on her face was not reflecting how she felt. In fact, under it she felt a bit...dirty. Touching him like that, a complete stranger like that...it didn't matter that she was doing it to make him back off from her. She felt worse than dirty. She felt smeared, somehow. Disgusting. Ashamed. Like nothing.

And she determined coldly that he would pay for making her feel like nothing.

She felt his hands close around her throat, and despite her hate-filled dark eyes she was afraid now, because she was pushing him and she knew it. Her breathing quickened a little and she made it slow down, but there was nothing she could do about the sped-up beat of her heart. When she felt his hands tighten to where she was having trouble getting air, the visceral panic reaction came. Her hands flew up, and with sharp nails she went for his eyes.



~



Roman came into the barn at what was not quite a run, but certainly close. He took one look at the scene - Angry Boy standing there with his hands around Esmeralda's neck - and his eyes went black with fury.

He crossed to them in three long strides and ripped Xavier's hands off his sister's throat, shoving him away from the girl and into the opposing wall. Standing between the two of them while Esmeralda sank against the wall trying to get her breath back, Roman seemed to vibrate with hate. He took one step forward, and then felt Esmeralda's hand touch his arm. "Don't," she whispered, and her raw voice infuriated him all over again. "Don't give him the satisfaction, Roman. Please. I want to go. I want to go now."

Roman turned to look at Xavier, and the sick rage in his eyes was something that almost any older brother should have been able to identify with. He stepped closer, and his voice was low and icy cold. "If you ever lay a hand on my sister again, I will gut you and leave you for the crows." The threat was sincere - you had only to look at him to know it.

Esmeralda had gained her feet now, and she put her hand on his arm again. "Come on, Roman. I want to go."

He allowed his sister to lead him out of the barn and back towards Kahlilia, but the cold rage in his face and the red marks on Esmeralda's skin would almost certainly be enough to let the other girl know something bad had happened in there.  

[minus infinity]

Kahlilia nearly shook with fear, slowly gaining knowledge of what was happening as her mind spun around in endless circles. That guy! She remembered telling Roman the lie that was that he had gone to school with her, but it was definitely the truth that he scared her half to death. Even the animals were starting to exhibit fear; the chickens had gone almost completely silent and that wasn't something they usually did. At the very back of her mind, she still wondered where the rooster or roosters were, but her calm seemed so far away now --
She went a little pale when Roman and Esmeralda left the barn and came back towards her. She wanted to ask what had happened, but right as she opened her mouth she got a closer look, saw Roman's rage and the red marks on Esmeralda's skin. So Kahlilia quickly closed her mouth, walked over cautiously from where she had been standing by the chickens, and hugged them both. She didn't know what else to do but hug them, it was all she could offer right now. She too was scared, but it looked like Xavier had tried to lay his hands on Esmeralda ... what had he done? What had he done?

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Roman accepted the hug, but he felt cool to the touch, and his response was stiff. His eyes locked on Kahlilia's, and they were cold. "From now on," he said, his words not quite a croon, "neither of you goes anywhere alone. Not even to the bathroom. You go together, or you call me. I don't care when. You aren't alone no matter where you go. Promise me that, Kahlilia. Ez."

Then he let out a shuddering breath when Esmeralda touched his shoulder. "Christ, Ez. Good Christ. He tried to strangle you. He put marks on you." He looked at his sister now. "I could kill him just for that."





~





Esmeralda ran her hand down his arm, trying to soothe. "I know, but you won't. Because I'm going to ask you not to. He wasn't going to kill me, Roman," she said quietly, her voice nearly normal again. "He just wanted to scare me, that was all."

She raised a hand to interrupt her brother's explosion. "I'm not making excuses for him. He's a b*****d, right enough, but I want you to know how it was. He wanted to hurt me, and to scare me, but he wasn't going to kill me." Her eyes were chilly. "He didn't succeed at either. And he's not going to scare me away."

Deliberately infusing cheer and lightness into her voice and face, she turned to smile at Kahlilia. "The drama never ends at Starr Ranch, although I think my brother is right about us sticking together until Crazy gets his self-control back together. So what were you two up to before Roman had to ride to my rescue?" She winked. "Or am I better off not knowing?" Seeing Roman go pale with embarrassment, she almost managed a real smile for the first time since she'd gotten that letter.  

[minus infinity]

Xavier had lost power. He had lost his power to them.
He had been right there. Finally, there was real fear in her eyes. Finally, there was something he could reach. Something that he could remember, the way they were so close together.
Xavier, unfortunately, had responded too late to the other boy's rage. His eyes didn't leave Esmeralda's until he realized he had been thrown into the opposite wall. There wasn't any pain until he heard their voices - and that threat. He didn't think much of it, because he was rubbing his head and had closed his eyes so that he didn't see the look of pure rage. And then when they had left, he was slowly able to collect himself again. Now he could indefinitely hear voices from outside the barn, about where he had heard the chickens clucking earlier when he had woke up in the hayloft that morning. Damnit, damnit, damnit! Hadn't they caused enough damnation already? He remembered saying that to the siblings that night, and now he was really feeling it. Screw the other boy's definite threat, he thought as he shakily got to his feet and slowly began to exit the barn.
Wait!
A sudden sight broke through him again. By turning to the left just outside of the barn where hopefully he could not be seen, he could see the Three Musketeers. Standing very close together, almost in a huddle. He could only imagine what they were saying, and cruel thoughts ran through his mind until he heard a coy-ish sounding 'Maybe'. Because the voice was dainty and slightly high-pitched, it was probably the runt of the group. He watched her closely. She was definitely still shaking a little, even though she herself had not been in the barn. He rolled his eyes at her, remembering how Esmeralda had barely even flinched until that one split second where he had seen that glint of fear in her eyes ...
He realized that he was still incredibly aroused, and so kept his lower body in the barn so that he was sort of leaning to watch them. Holding his breath to keep from making noise, or so he hoped, Xavier slowly came closer to them - one baby step at a time.


___________________________






Kahlilia didn't speak, but looked from one to the other in confusion and fear. She understood the need for the adoption of a buddy system, and her hand gingerly went to her throat and traced lightly when she heard the both of them conversing, Roman obviously still in a rage and Esmeralda trying to calm him down. He could kill him. What if Xavier tries again?
Absentmindedly tracing her throat still, Kahlilia's eyes lifted from their gaze on her hand back to the two in front of her as she finally found her voice. I promise, she said softly. It felt a little awkward, and it would definitely take some getting some used to. Certainly, though, if it meant their safety - and possibly their lives, Lily thought as her hand went to her throat again - she would be at least willing. As soon as her hand had gone to her throat for the second time, her gaze had fallen back on her hand, but when she heard the cheeriness in Esmeralda's voice she looked up again. It sure would be nice to be happy again, or at least safer than I feel right now.
At first, she only nodded in agreement to the new buddy system, but she wasn't expecting the sudden wink and little suggestion. She immediately blushed and began to twirl her hair with both hands, trying to conceal a smile. Then, finding her voice once more, she tried to match the newly cheery mood by slowly uttering a coy Maybe. For now, fear still wound itself around her like a fog, engulfing her. But she couldn't let herself be so vulnerable so close to Xavier anymore. Remembering the day he had slapped her behind and wrapped a big arm around her waist, her eyes went to her little waist as though looking for a mark even though she had a tee-shirt on that would cover it. She shook her head and looked back up for the third time now after averting her gaze, and she wondered what to do. What would they do now?

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Esmeralda's brows winged up. "Oh, really? I think we need to have some girl talk about this. Go away, big brother," she said, waving a hand at him teasingly. "Us girls need some alone time."

She glanced over at him, and could see that his anger hadn't faded, not yet, not all the way. She would still have to tread carefully until he was the brother she knew and loved once more.

Ez could still remember the last time Roman had lost control, could still remember her brother's grief and guilt once it had all been over. She would spare him that if she could. And, she determined, she could. If it meant taking care of Xavier herself...well, she could do that. It wasn't as though she was without resources.

"Come on, Roman," she said, still teasing but with a gentler edge. "Be a gentleman and walk the lady to her room. I'll be along."

~

Roman immediately shook his head. "No," he said, "you come too. If you girls need some alone time, you can have it, but I'm walking you there. Together."

Xavier was still in the barn. Damned if Roman was going to leave his little sister where she could possibly be in danger again.

Briefly, he thought of going to Shannon, of getting it dealt with that way...but even as he thought it he knew he couldn't do it. To do that would require being able to tell her what had happened, and that he couldn't do without opening up the box he kept his anger in so carefully.

Instead, he put a hand on Esmeralda's shoulder and choked back the fury when she flinched from pain. "Come on," he repeated. "I'll walk you back."

He waited for Kahlilia to join them, and then he started walking back towards the cabins, letting the two girls walk a little ahead of him.  

[minus infinity]

Lily smiled a little more, glad that the mood was gradually lightening and completely unaware that Xavier was spying on them. She was slowly accepting the reality that she and Esmeralda probably would not be able to go anywhere alone for the rest of the summer. So she nodded a little and caught up with the others as they began their walk towards the cabins. And as they walked, she was silently collecting little landmarks. This is where we parked the tractor when we pulled that prank. She was really starting to regret it ...
This is where Xavier suddenly put his arm around me. One hand went to her waist, not in a hand-on-hip way but more of a protective way. He truly scared her; and whatever he had done in the barn he was sure to do again, she thought.
And last but certainly not least, this is where Roman saw me half-naked. Her cheeks turned rosy again thinking of that, her body wrapped only in a teeny baby blue towel, exposing so much of her still soaking wet body ...
And now they were right by the cabins. Kahlilia tucked away the hair in her face behind her ear, exposing her tiny silver earrings and her ever present blush. She didn't know what to say, if anything. Was Esmeralda going to have another private talk with her, as she had when she wanted to know her feelings for her brother? Slightly unsure, she stayed where she was in front of the girl's cabin, looking from one to the other as she had done before. For some reason, she was contemplating going inside; as though afraid that as soon as they opened the door Xavier would jump out and attack ... Kahlilia couldn't hide the shudder that ran down her spine at that thought. She hadn't seen Xavier herself since last night, when he had given her that look. Where was he? If she knew, would she feel safer or would she be even more on edge? And if she knew that right at that current second Xavier was following them, taking a longer route to the girl's cabin, what would she have done? What would they have done? What was there to do?

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Esmeralda stopped outside the girl's cabin, taking her first easy breath. "Come on," she said lightly, opening the door without an apparent fear in the world, "let's go in. I want to change out of these clothes anyway." They were dirty, and she didn't want to look at them and think of what had happened while she was wearing them.

Tucking her hair back behind her ear, she opened her room's door. "You guys go ahead. I'll meet you in your room in a minute, Kahlilia."

Once in her room with the door shut, Ez quickly changed into another pair of jeans and a different shirt. She happened to glance at her reflection while changing, and all her nerves and worries crumbled under the weight of vanity. Who was that pale, dull-eyed girl with the dark bruising on her shoulders and marks on her neck?

She dug out her makeup kit to fix it. Damned if she'd look shaken when she came back out of her room.

As far as the new outfit went, well, it would do. It didn't fit very well - it was much too loose on her, and would probably tear easily. But she didn't care. It wasn't like she would be doing much until lunchtime anyway, aside from talking to Kahlilia and worrying about Roman.

And about...other things.

She touched her stomach surreptitiously, then pushed her hair back. Turning towards the door, she got ready to go to Kahlilia's room.

Roman walked Kahlilia to her room further down the hall in silence. Only once they were in front of her door did he speak. "Lily," he said quietly, looking down at her. There was no lightness in his eyes, and he spoke with a deadly seriousness. "I won't let him hurt you. I hope you trust me at least that far. I won't let him cause you any harm. Don't be afraid. Don't lose the summer because of him."

He turned away a little, looking down the hallway towards his sister's room. "All right?" When he looked back, he managed a brief smile. "Go ahead and go in. I'll --"

Esmeralda came out from her room just then and walked down the hall towards them. "Thank you, guard," she said lightly. "Now go away so we ladies can chat."

Roman sighed theatrically, and when he did, Esmeralda finally saw her brother come back. "Dismissed. I see how it is." He grinned at Kahlilia engagingly. "I'm going to go check on Phoenix. I'll see you girls later. Call me if you need anything - Ez knows the number."

And he walked out of the building, leaving the girls alone in front of Kahlilia's door.