:.: Abigail's Nine :.: {Accepting/Open}

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Cybil returned from her tiny kitchen, carrying a chipped but clean mug half-full of cold tap water. "Here," she said, pushing the cup into Miranda's hands. "Drink this. I don't know if you get headaches too, but if you do I keep Advil in the bathroom." She was clearly uncomfortable in the role of nurturer - it didn't come easily to her. Shoving her long blonde hair back behind her ear, she sat down on the bed again.

Idly, she picked up the gun and set it back in the nightstand drawer. If Miranda hadn't seen it, there was no need to freak her out, and Cybil didn't feel like explaining why she owned a gun - or why she kept it so close.

She settled back, looking relaxed and at ease, as if near-total strangers had episodes like this in her little apartment all the time. "So," she said casually, "what did you see? I assume that since I am, after all, sitting right here, it wasn't me. Was it the other guy, the one you told me about before?"  

[Lucky_Tiger]

The tiger that shouldn't be....is....

Miranda took the mug of water thankfully, draining half of it in a single go. Once she'd slacked the majority of her thirst, she merely sipped at the water. At the offer of Advil, she shook her head. Her headaches went away as soon as she readjusted to looking at the real world. "It'll go away in a few minutes. It always does." She murmured, being careful not to look at the water itself. She didn't want another vision thrust on her.

She took another sip of the water and was quiet for a minute before answering. "It wasn't you or the boy." She said softly. "I got the feeling that this was something in the past, long before we were born. Long before." She spoke as if she was seeing the vision again and merely narrating it. "There was another girl. She was scared of something. Something that hunted her. She was all alone but fighting. It wasn't enough though. The girl, Abigail," The name suddenly popped into her mind. "Was fighting and fighting something.....Something dark. She hurt it, but died."

Miranda fell quiet before looking up at Cybil. "Abigail had our powers. All of them. I think she knew about us. About what's coming. She knew I would have this vision." She said, awed by the power. "Her last words were 'The Dark Ones are coming. Fight them with hope. I hurt them but it wasn't enough. Now, I pass my powers to you all. The Dark Ones cannot be allowed to win.'" The girl shivered. "I can't imagine what she had to deal with."

The tiger that should be....isn't....

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Cybil listened slowly. As the story of Miranda's vision came out, she went paler and paler, until at last she was as white as the sheet she was sitting on. Her eyes looked too dark in her face - it was unquestionably the look of someone suffering through severe terror.

Stubbornly, she shook her head to rid herself of the look and nodded. "So she's dead, and she can't help us," the blonde muttered. "Figures. Don't suppose she gave you any hints? Any explanations about what these 'Dark' things are? The location of any handy step-by-step instructions for getting rid of them?" She pushed her hair back with one long-fingered hand. Her flippant tone masked honest fear. Cybil already knew what these Dark creatures were - or at least, what they looked like.

She had seen them in some visions of her own. They had spoken to her. Called her daughter.

While she stood in the centre of blood and fire and destruction.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and made herself settle. More seriously, she said quietly, "So we're supposed to do something. We're supposed to do what this...Amanda? No, you said Abigail, right?...what this Abigail girl couldn't and get rid of these things."

She sighed and sat back. Abruptly sardonic again, she remarked, "No pressure."  

[Lucky_Tiger]

The tiger that shouldn't be....is....

Miranda watched as the girl became paler by the moment. She wondered what the girl had seen to cause such a terrified look. She was about to ask when Cybil spoke. "No. No guide or anything." She answered, rolling her eyes. "What do you think this is - A video game with a handy walkthrough guide? No." A touch of sarcasm entered her voice without meaning to.

Taking a deep breath, she relaxed. "I have no idea what the 'Dark' things are. I get the feeling that they're more emotion than creature. Like they aren't quite real yet they hold sway with people. Like the boogieman!" She said suddenly, finding the right comparison. "Whatever they are, they're bad enough Abigail gave her life to just make them stop, even for a little while."

Miranda looked down at her hands. "Personally, I'd rather not die. But there's two of us. Maybe that'll make a difference." She said, wondering if Cybil would object to the idea of working together to destroy whatever those things were. The girl seemed extremely independent, loathe to rely on anyone for anything.

The tiger that should be....isn't....

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Cybil scowled briefly. "Well, you don't say," she said coolly. "I was under the impression that this was all a giant game, and we will most certainly not both be in grave danger due to the accident of our births." Her sarcasm was bitingly sharp - Cybil was getting really angry, and having a hard time taming it down again.

Firmly straightening her shoulders and staring out the window in an attempt to calm herself, she listened to Miranda's words. "You have no idea," she said icily, biting off each word. "How much sway they can hold."

The death and the blood and the fire and the screaming. God, oh God.

As Miranda had predicted, Cybil's body seemed to stiffen at the insinuation that they would be working together. She leveled eyes of blue-grey ice at Miranda. There was a second of silence that almost shrieked hostility, and then - slowly, too slowly - the worst of the anger seemed to leach out of her gaze.

"I guess I don't want to die any more than you do," she said flatly, before returning her stare to the window. "But I'm not too keen on playing fortune-teller, either."

More than not too keen on - she loathed, despised, actively abhorred the idea of playing fortune-teller. The only way it would happen was if there was absolutely no other choice.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

The tiger that shouldn't be....is....

Miranda watched, unsurprised that Cybil seemed upset at the idea of teaming up. 'Man, you could cut the tension with a knife....' She thought, though she kept it to herself. She sighed, hearing Cybil's version of agreement. "From what you said, we can't reply too much on your visions anyways." She said dismissively. "They're what could happen, not what will happen right? Cause the future's always changing."

She paused, mulling this over, when another thought occurred to her. Her eyes widened as she realized it. "Holding sway! That's it! That's the key!" She said excitedly, almost bouncing in her seat. "That's where all the pieces connect. It's the sway they hold. That's where all the problems and the fighting stem from!" She sounded like she'd just won the jackpot, the pieces having clicked into place, letting her see the big picture - Or at least, the bigger picture though not the entire thing.

The tiger that should be....isn't....

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Cybil sighed. "No," she said quietly, still gazing out the window. "We can't rely on them. But when I see the same thing time and time again, the chances of it being what does happen increases exponentially." It was easy for the other girl to dismiss the horrific things coming to Cybil - and possibly, she added reluctantly, to Miranda as well. She hadn't seen them. That was Cyb's territory.

And one she guarded jealously, despite her hatred of playing fortune-teller.

When Miranda got excited, it was Cybil's turn to roll her eyes. "Give the little lady a Kewpie doll," she said dismissively. "Finally it comes together." She leaned back against the wall behind her bed. "So now that we know that not-at-all-obvious bit of information," although she might be a little biased, seeing as how she'd already seen the damage these noncorporeal creatures wrought given enough time and power, "what are either of us supposed to do with it?"  

[Lucky_Tiger]

The tiger that shouldn't be....is....

Miranda refused to be put off by the blonde's sarcasm. "I happen to like Kewpie dolls, for your information." She added absently before continuing on. "But the answer lies in the hold they have over people! We have to break that hold." She paused, frowning thoughtfully. "Where are they getting their power, to have such sway with people? I'm betting that's our anchor point to start from. If we can disrupt the anchors, we disrupt everything." The girl was rambling now, thinking aloud. "How do they keep people under their control? How do they get control in the first place? The anchors, the anchors....." She trailed off, trying to think.

The tiger that should be....isn't....

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Cybil frowned, was about to answer, when she was interrupted by frantic pounding on her door. Her brows drew together a bit, and she rose. "Hang on, I better go check and see who that is." She rose fluidly from the bed and prowled towards the door. Peeping through the viewhole - one got the impression that double-checking visitors was a natural part of Cybil's life now that she lived here - she sighed.

Then she turned to Miranda. "I hate to cut the business part of our little visit short, but I've got a friend outside. Before I let him in, I have to ask - how do you feel about druggies?"

The way she phrased it made it clear that this 'friend' was the druggie in question. And despite her own better sense, she was worried about him.

She was always worried about that kid, these days. Sometimes she felt like his bloody mother.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

The tiger that shouldn't be....is....

Miranda looked up at the sound of a knock on the door. She cocked her head to the side curiously. At the question though, she made a face, then sighed. She obviously wasn't pleased with the idea of a druggie. "I'll deal I guess." She answered. She might not have liked it, but she got the feeling Cybil was worried about the man.

The tiger that should be....isn't....

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Cybil sighed. "If you've got an issue with it, you can go lock yourself in the bathroom or something," she said coolly. "I promise he won't beat down the door."

The hammering on her front door seemed to give the lie to this statement, but Cybil calmly withdrew the chain and unlocked the door, opening it. A haggard young dark-haired boy - certainly no older than either Cybil or Miranda - came stumbling in, his eyes wide and pupils dilated. "Cyb," he panted, "they're after me. They're after me!"

The blonde cursed softly and took the boy's shaking hands. "Come on, Mark. Sit down. You're okay. You know no one can get you here." She closed the door and locked it behind him. Guiding him to the bed, she sat him down, and when his eyes locked on Miranda, he started to shriek.

"She's one of them! Her! I've seen her!"

"s**t," muttered Cybil. "Mark, just close your eyes. Lie down. I'll take her out of here."

She gestured to Miranda, rose, and pointed to the bathroom. The message was clear. We'll go in there to talk.

Then she crossed to the kitchen, picked up her knife block, and relocated it to a cabinet that she then locked. She trusted Mark, but not when he was like this.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

The tiger that shouldn't be....is....

Miranda raised an eyebrow, glancing at the door. It certainly seemed like he was going to beat it down.....But no, Cybil opened it before he could do that. She watched the boy, Mark, with a vague expression of distaste, though she tried to hide it.

Her distaste turned into confusion when he started yelling about having seen her. O...kay.....She began moving back in her seat, thoroughly creeped out by his shrieking. She gladly stood up and walked away from the boy, towards the bathroom. She cast one last glance at Mark before entering the small room. Just what in the world was he babbling about? What did he think she was? Or better yet, who?

The tiger that should be....isn't....

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Cybil took her time joining Miranda - her muffled voice through the bathroom door was soft, even comforting while she spoke to Mark. When she at last entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her, she took a casual position against the sink.

"Look," she said wearily, "I don't need the lecture. Why do you let druggies in, etcetera etcetera. Mark's...He's a good kid when he's not like this," she finished, waving a hand towards the door, at where the boy still muttered unintelligibly to himself. "He's had a rough time of it."

Apparently done explaining herself, she leaned a little more firmly against the sink, which groaned a little under her weight. "Okay. So, you were saying. Something about anchors, as I recall."

Cybil couldn't hide her mild irritation with Miranda, though she did try. Who was this girl to come into her life out of nowhere and start judging the people Cybil let in? Who was she to decide that they had to be a team?

She wondered what Miranda would say when Cybil let her in on a few secrets of her own.

Among which Mark was a principal one.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

The tiger that shouldn't be....is....

"I wasn't going to lecture you." Miranda said, simply to get that fact out of the way. "Your life. Life it how you want, which you obviously do." It may not have been something she would particularly care for - having a druggie as a friend - but she wasn't the one who had to deal with it all. She shrugged, then returned back to their previous conversation.

"Anchors. That's where all the powers lies, isn't it? If you can't destroy a ship, simply take out the anchor and it'll be in trouble. Same idea here. We need to figure out where and what anchors the Dark Ones to the people they hold sway over." She paused, frowning. "I get the feeling that the Dark Ones aren't exactly....corporeal. Which means their hold isn't likely something corporeal either. They likely have a mental or emotional hold somehow." Miranda wasn't entirely sure what she was saying. Mostly, she was just thinking aloud.

The tiger that should be....isn't....

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Cybil sighed. "So what you're saying, essentially, is that we need a psychiatrist. Someone who's supposed to be able to look into people's heads and make it all better." This was said with a sort of wry amusement, more than any trace of bitterness. "If it's emotional or mental, the only way to fix it is psychoanalysis or a lobotomy, I suppose."

She looked back at the door. Her desire to be back outside and keeping an eye on her friend was pretty clear, but after a moment or two she forced her attention back to Miranda. "And I don't know how a lobotomy is done, any more than I'm qualified as a mind doctor. You?"

Her voice was light, and she seemed to be treating the whole thing as a joke, but in reality she was scared. It was Cybil's way to treat things she couldn't easily fix as a joke - it made it a little easier to handle.