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**McKnighter** · 09-02-2011, 09:24 PM

I almost did.

Redis is no more!

**Ural** · 09-02-2011, 10:05 PM

I enjoyed reading that, even without really knowing either character. Excellent work.

**hiddengecko** · 09-02-2011, 11:02 PM

As I already told you ingame, this was a very good read.

Even if I didn't cry.

It's just allergies.

**ThePharaoh** · 09-03-2011, 12:06 AM

That was awesome.

I really like Annabelle's character. Very believable to me. Glad to see you back,

I'd like to see you write more too!

**c0rzilla** · (This post was last modified: 02-15-2012, 01:18 PM by c0rzilla.)

Warning: This is long. Transcribed from SkypeRP. Flow probably is weird. This takes place a year or two after the OP.

A couple days after the Love is in the Air festival, Hearthglen bustled in the warming steadily Spring afternoon. It had quieted somewhat with people taking something of a vacation at the festivities, but everyone had returned safe and mostly sound.

The house that the Dolances rented was rather quiet. Upon the departure of Calia and Baidin from the festival, the two hadn't been seen much elsewhere, Baidin recovering from something of a broken heart. His cousin Calia tended to him as both focused on their duties. The single-floored structure seemed serene, the fire-place still aflame to keep the interior warm.

An odd observer watched the town from the window. Simple thread sewed its blue rag limbs together, cotton keeping it fluffed and stuffed. Black beaded eyes stoically watching the world pass.

It watched. It waited. Its torn frown seemed to almost ooze the fluff inside its stuffed head.

Annabelle, as she usually was around Hearthglen, padded along in her scruffy overalls and rough white shirt, brown gloves, and boots. Happening to walk past the Dolance residence, on a small break in her engineering work, she peered up at it a moment. Her walking slowed to a stop, and she inhaled the Spring. She looked down. She closed her eyes and hooked her thumbs in the tool loops in her overalls, then looked back up. The expression on her face seemed to belie the fact she was still beating herself up over Baidin's heartbreak at the festival. And pondering whether to check on him and his cousin.

Spoiler:

Then she noticed the doll in the window.

A hand was loosened from the loop, rubbing at her goggles, as if to remove what she thought a blue smudge. She peered again. She tugged them up. A slight shudder passed up her spine, but she shook her head to clear whatever emerging ghosts passed through her memory. "Must be the one that odd fellow at the festival dropped on her and Castor's table..." She smiled a bit at the thought of the happy couple.

Spoiler:

The odd priestess tilted her head to the side, the details of the doll becoming clearer. "...Did it have that...?" She mutters the half-question to herself, her instincts alighting. A shudder again, then she looked to the door as a barley-heard groan from inside escaped the crack in the door. She tightened her lips, paused, then stepped forth. Another pause and she knocked with the back of her hand. "Baidin? Calia...? Y'home...?"

The door had been left barely closed, therefore the knocking easily pushed it ajar. Inside was a dreadful scene to behold. Dolls, blue rag dolls, of all sizes mobbed the room. They were placed upon dressers and bookcases, nearly two dozen of them. All of which had the same disfigured frown slashed into their mouths, all looking at the young man in the center of the room. Baidin has been laid in an awkward position, limbs spread wide. A gash marred side of his head, blood staining his brown hair and by now the resulting red flow formed a small pool beneath his skull.

He began to move upon the young woman's entrance, the groaning apparently belonging to him. He was dressed in typical sleep wear for him, a sleeveless shirt and pants. As for the rest of the house, there appeared to have been some struggle, as a few common household items were scattered about on the floor, some knocked over and such.

Annabelle paused again as the door moved, starting to frown. Positioning herself so that her left arm is before her, she slowly pushed the door further open.

"Light..."

She exhaled, eyes widening as the veritable army of dolls is revealed. That flash of a ghost of a memory, though it was becoming more solid as she progressed. A sharp inhale as it does, then she spotted Baidin.

Spoiler:

"Baidin!" She nearly fell over herself running to him, falling on her hands and knees beside him. She cradled his head, eyes the size of saucers in her panic. "Baidin, come on...I'm here." She quickly looked around at the dolls, as if they were to suddenly live. Then back to Baidin.

The squire groaned, cracking open his eyes as he tried to focus on the woman that rushed towards him. "...We get 'em...Cal?",he mumbled, his eyes falling shut as he raised a hand to hold his wounded head. The dolls remained as they are, just staring. It looked as if someone took a hammer to the squire's head.

"It's me. It's Anna." Annabelle rolled him over to lay in her lap as she started to heal the wound, Light flickering in her confused worry. "Calia?" She cried out, looking around, then down to Baidin.

There was no other answer besides Baidin's, which was a grumble at best. He didn't seem too pleased at having her come to his aid after what happened at the festival, but was not in the best of shape to elaborate. "... Light... That girl can swing.", he grunted, still trying to get some sense of himself as he opened his eyes.

Annabelle slipped Baidin out of her lap, sitting him up against a wall, hands on his shoulders. "Baidin, come on. What happened?" Her eyes flit to a doll, then back to the squire.

Baidin blinked several times, rubbing his eyes with both hands as he shook his head. "... Ugh, it's foggy. It's was in the middle of the night, or.. The morning. Dark out. Someone knocked at the door, Calia went to go get it... Two people stormed in, some man just grabbed Calia... And, she couldn't do anything. The big woman came after me with a mace.. And.. Uh." He pointed towards the wound.

"Grabbed...they took Calia?" Again she looked around, as if by some miracle the priestess would have popped out from a doll.

Baidin blinked yet again, also looking about the room. He seemed utterly confused. ".. Wha.. They.. Took her?" His eyes widened, a soft gasp passing through his lips. "No!.. Letme up." He tried to push Annabelle off with a weak shove, attempting to pull himself up.

Annabelle backed off and stood. The squire rising, her not wanting to smother him, she jogged over to a random side, looking through the mess of dolls for any sign as to who took Calia. The more she looked through and at the dolls the stronger the memory becomes.

"Coincidence...fucking...coincidence...this type of doll is...common..." She assures herself, barely audible to even her.

Spoiler:

Baidin has to hold himself against the wall to support his own being, still shaken from the head blow. "... She isn't here... Light." The squire stumbled about, trying to find his hammer.

Annabelle eventually arrives at the bed and finds the clue she sought. A letter, its signature ending in a stylized R. She snatched it. As large and fancy as the R is, her eyes are drawn to it. She utterly refused to let her mind put the E, D, I and S next to it, not yet ready to accept the ghosts in her memory. She read, her free hand clenched in a fist at her side.

The letter was written in the same stylish font, readable however.

"To whom this may concern, I have what you hold dear to your heart. A Scarlet Priestess who sought redemption. A cousin, a friend, a lover. Surely, someone would want her back so that she may return to living a normal life. A sum of gold will do nicely in regards of an exchange. Proceed to the Catacombs in order to conduct business. Otherwise, I might quell some of the rather lonely desires I have around this time of year."

~ Red

The letter ended in a simple smiley face.

Annabelle read it swiftly, eventually reaching 'Red'. Her lungs inhaled a shuddering breath without her mind's input on the issue of breathing, and she closed her eyes. She exhaled an "...is." She stood there, still. Breathe in. Breathe out. More and more memories flicker forth in a rush, a shudder erupting, that clenched fist shaking softly.

Spoiler:

Baidin at first couldn't find his hammer, in the midst of the dolls, though he began to tear through some of them, flailing them away. "Who does this!?" , he shouted, finally finding the signature weapon of a paladin in one of the dolls. He peered at it, using whatever meager Light blessed senses he had developed to test for any taint. A rare aura started to form about him; anger.

The steadily more desperate squire's voice brought Annabelle back from the memories. Violet eyes blink open, dissipating encroaching tears before they had the chance to fully form. Eyes narrowed and she half-turned to him. "Baidin. Go find an officer, tell them there's been a break-in and kidnapping. Tell Castor, he'll find out eventually anyway. And you both stay in Hearthglen. I'm handling this."

The squire just stared at Annabelle with his jaw slacked open. He shook his head, though that caused some pain to blossom again. He groaned, holding up the hammer towards her. "There's no way I'm just letting you handle this. That's my cousin, and Castor is going to want to do the same.", he argued, frowning towards the woman.

The 'priestess' turned to face him, shaking her head. "No. Whoever did this wants to discuss business in the Catacombs. You aren't going back there, and Castor isn't setting his first foot near there." She peered at at the letter one more time, then stepped over to hand it to him.

Baidin furrowed his brows, his tough and righteous act was beginning to falter at the mention of the place. He blinked, reading through the letter swiftly. "... Oh, Light. This is horrid..." He glanced up towards the woman, then looked about. "I have at least two gold saved up... Somewhere." He set the paper onto a table, and began to comb through all the dolls, grumbling as he searches for the coin purse.

"Keep it, I have more than enough. At least ten from my Bisen inheritance, and more saved up from my engineering sales. -And- from festival prizes, and my Argent income." Off her mind went into protective savior mode. Her eyes ended up stuck on a doll staring at it. Her olive skin pales slightly.

Baidin just blinked, halting in his movement to gather the funds. He frowned, sighing as he turns to face her. "... Bring her back, alright? You be safe, too. This sounds like a trap, going back down there with all that money." He gave her a helpless look, sitting down onto the bed as he rubbed his temples. "Light be with her..." he muttered, the prayer aimed for Calia.

Spoiler:

Annabelle watched him, frowning softly. She stepped over to wrap him in a hug. "...I couldn't stand losing either of you. Even worse, both. Alright? Do what I said, Light knows officers need to know about this." She planted a sisterly kiss on the top of his head, then rushed off, out the open door.

-----

The Catacombs. It had taken a Scroll of Recall to Stormwind, a gryphon ride to Duskwood, then a trek on a rented horse. Annabelle had changed into something more appropriate and vaguely concealing. While she did not have the enemies she once did, walking around down here in her usual white coat was utter foolishness. Slipping off her horse, she stepped down into the dark and past the secret door. The letter was folded in her vest, the wide-brimmed hat shadowing her face just enough. Her black hair had been untied and fell to her shoulders. She peered into the first bar area, stoic. On the outside, anyway.

Please. Please, Light. Don't let it be him. Let him be gone. Happy. No more suffering.

I don't want to fail.

Among the normal rabble that wandered the cold, crypt's halls one woman stuck out to her. Decked in complete green chain mail, the woman easily towered over Annabelle at above six feet, and weighted at least two hundred and fifty pounds, her mass mostly muscle. The bear of a woman did not care for looks, her brown hair brought into a pony tail. She glanced down at a small letter in her own hands (though anything but a claymore might be considered small), then marched along towards Annabelle. A rather crude wooden mace was rammed into her belt, an axe in the other. "Here for the girl?", she grunted, eyeing over the engineer's body for signs of the required coin.

Annabelle tilted her head slightly to peer up--and up--at the woman. "I am here for a girl. I hope you're the right contact." She flicked her own letter out of her vest, showing it to the bear woman for a match in text. Her voice was forced to be neutral, emotions controlled for the world to see. The shadow of her hat hiding the violet thunderclouds that are now her eyes. As for the gold, she moved her purple-black cloak aside with an arm, it being wrapped about her shoulders. At her left hip was a pouch, weighted with coin.

The bear woman suddenly took the letter with thick fingers, squinting down towards it. ".. Hmph. Yeah. Come with me." She turned about, balling both letters much to Annabelle's annoyance. She marched along, expecting the young woman to follow. The young woman did, stride purposeful with practiced and strong grace. Despite her steps, she felt like she moved through gelatin. Inside her heart pounded, stomach almost escaping her throat. The hired mace's gruff face screwed up in slight confusion, as she started to lose her way in these dark tunnels. Soon enough (if only it was an eternity away), she found her way, leading up to one of the stone rooms. She merely stepped back away from it as she waved.

"In you go."

Please let me be wrong. Light protect me. Light protect his soul. Light, protect Calia. Please...I can't take this...

I tried so hard.

They reached the room. She stared at it a moment, stuck. Had she been alone, she might allow herself to collapse against the wall in her fear and heave. But, alas she was very much watched. Catching the woman's gaze on her, she strode in.

The room at a quick glance was just a holding cell, it seemed. Inside was a small office area to the side, where a young man sat, lounging in the chair. He lacked his hat, but he was dressed in the same black suit. He bore a wicked grin towards the woman, gesturing a hand towards a blonde woman in a cell. The priestess was locked away in a cage barred off in a corner of the room. She quietly sobbed, hands shackled behind her back as a half dozen undead rodents shared the cell with her. They went along their own business, innocently enough, a few times crawling over her prone figure.

"So good to finally see you, it's been far too long.", the man called out, the sick grin on his face as he linked his fingers behind his head, leaning back in the chair. "I do hope you have the money." A pile of corpses littered either side of Annabelle, filling the other two corners of the room. Some recent, others appear to have been there for quite some time. "... I would hate to escort you out."

No.

Annabelle halted her breathing at the onslaught of the smell for a moment. Shallow inhales got her nose used to it, while she subdued her gag reflex. She stood there at the door, just inside as it closed behind her. Almost stunned by the existence of what she wished so fervently against. Quite still, she flitted her gaze over to Calia.

The rats. Just like his pet...why...?

She shut her eyes tightly, then pulled her gaze over to Redis. "I have money. I do not know if I have the money, since you failed to specify." She stated, as yet unable to say his name. Her head remained tilted slightly down, the brim of her hat shielding her gaze from him. Perhaps a base part of her believed if she didn't look at the bogey man, he wouldn't exist.

Redis just held his smirk, nodding his head once. "The amount I need is in my head. Let's just hope you brought enough...Let's see it." He pushed out of the chair, nearly knocking it back, but a quick hand saved its fall. He strolled on over towards Annabelle, offering a brief glance to Calia. "Rise and shine, dear. Miss Savior is coming to bring you home." The priestess merely glanced upward, her dirty blonde hair covering her puffy eyes. Redis stops a few feet short of Annabelle, flicking a finger at her hat. "What, miss me? I did too, don't you worry. How could I ever forget such a face..." Madness seeped from his eyes, insanity formed every inch of his grin.

Annabelle stood where she was, rightly unable to step further in. She turned her head slowly to follow his voice. She stiffened further at the word savior.

...Some savior...

Spoiler:

At his flick, she jerked her chin up slightly, eyes finally settling on his face. The angry storm clouds faded as her eyes widened. Unable to pull her gaze away, she stared at him, a myriad of emotions roiling in those violets. She inhaled a breath as if she were just punched in the stomach.

But she remained standing.

"Surely I'm not that ugly enough to cause such dismay from you. Come on, dear. Let's see those coins before you faint." He holds out his hand towards the woman, palm facing up. "Mm? Or would you rather leave the girl here... She enjoys playing with my little pets. After the screams and crying stopped."

Annabelle's eyelids flickered a moment, thoughts cleared as he speaks and brings the present issue back to the forefront of her rushing mind. She closed her eyes tightly as she jerked the pouch from her waist and set it in his hand. Fifteen gold sat within. Money gone, her hands fell to her sides and clenched. The left creaked metallic, the metal strained.

Redis heaved the bag up and down, then he offered a shrug as he spun about, marching over to the cage. He fished out a key from his pocket, slipping it into the lock, turning it hard left. The rats flutter and scatter as the cell door swung open. Afterward, he wandered over back to his desk, setting the bag onto the surface. "Go on and carry her out. I've seemed to misplace my key for those shackles..."

Annabelle watches him, lifted her chin, then turned with a flutter of her cloak to stride over to the cell. She crouched and offered her arms to Calia, not daring yet to use Light down here to deal with the shackles. She does not meet the girl's eyes, betraying as little of her chaotic emotions as she can.

Calia seemed far too shocked to offer much emotion, either, leaning forward into Annabelle's arms as she began to spill rapid whispers of 'Thank you's'. Redis dumped out the coin purse, quickly searching through to count. The task was completed in a short amount of time, giving him the chance to stare towards Annabelle. "... So, how have you been?", he asked causally, not even considering the situation.

Annabelle wrapped her arms around Calia and hefted her up. She barely turned her head to Redis as he spoke. "Fair enough." She states neutrally, but if the priestess in her arms perchance looked up, she may have noticed her eyes getting wetter. The elder priestess was thankful she did not.

This is too easy...

HavetogohavetorunImsosorry.

She started to half-carry Calia to the door again. Her body oddly tense, as if expecting something. What she was not expecting at all was herself leaving here easily.

An undead limb from the pile reached on over to lightly grasp Annabelle's ankle, as Redis clicks his tongue softly. "... Oh, how rude. Leaving so soon?" He smirked, sliding one leg over the other as he pressed his fingertips together. "I've been watching you. Crushed that poor boy's heart, allowing that elf to die. You're losing your touch, dear. How many are slipping through your fingers, now...? Perhaps you shouldn't bother. Seems to cause you more trouble than good, hm?"

Spoiler:

Annabelle halted, nearly breaking the limb. She inhaled, not looking down at it, able to feel its bony fingers through her boots. She was silent a moment, then again turned her head barely to him to speak. "You wish to chat...? Allow me to get Calia out of here, then we shall. I don't think she's interested." She still kept her voice neutral, though finally a tear or two slid down her cheeks. She prayed they are unnoticed.

Redis tilted his head, a smirk crossing his face. "Chat, oh... quite. However, getting that silly girl out will take far too much time. I am sure we'll come across each other again. In fact, count on it." He kept his sick grin, clicking his tongue. "I hope you liked the dolls. They were for you...but, Jany got a bit carried away."

Annabelle shoved the door back open at the slightest hint of her being allowed to leave in Redis' taunting words, leading Calia out without another word of her own. She briskly walked past what she assumed to be 'Jany', eventually finding her way out of the underground 'town' unhindered. Tears continue to silently run down her cheeks as she walks. Her face remained frozen in controlled stoicism.

Back in the room, Redis just grinned at the back of her head, as Jany allowed them to pass. The bear woman follows the pair to the exit of the Catacombs, ensuring that they remained safe.

Hearthglen.

Calia is handed over to Baidin and healers, young knight Castor as frantic as the blonde priestess' cousin, but far better at putting on a manly air. When she could, Annabelle slipped away from the reunion.

She wandered.

She walked.

She avoided all eye contact.

She found the underground cathedral.

She stared down its aisles, then staggered to an alcove and collapsed onto a stone bench.

The stone floor bore her blank gaze for a while.

Then she curled up in the bench's corner with the wall.

She cried into her knees, a hand tangling in her hair atop her scalp.

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