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Post by Brian Ackerman on Jul 15, 2009 11:12:34 GMT -5
It was dark in the room, nothing really seemed out of place. Well you could turn on the light and be shocked over how much Riley had been "grieving". To an unknown person at least, that would be the natural assumption, after all there were beer cans strung all over the place, and a few empty bottles of harder liquor stranded on the table, but nothing could account for the passed out male in Riley's bed.
Then again...Riley didn't know anything about him. At least, nothing about him being there.
But that was just a bridge to cross when they got to it, and Brian for his part, wasn't too worried at all.
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 17, 2009 0:05:14 GMT -5
It wasn't until a couple days later that they released Riley from St. Mungo's. Really, she spent too much time at that place, and she'd just as soon never go back. Except when the baby was born, of course, but that was months out.
When they released her, Roland was there, of course, and he brought her back to the apartments. She promised she would Phoenix, and she had the dog by her side after getting him from Roland's. Naturally, she made Roland carry the food. As she slid her key into the lock, she frowned.
It was unlocked. That was... strange. And it should have sent a thousand alarm bells off in her mind, but she said nothing to Roland and pushed the door open anyway, turning on the light as she stepped inside.
Her heart rate tripled. Her place was a disaster, and it wasn't her mess. She didn't even drink, and she was nowhere near this messy. Did someone break in? "Roland..."
Phoenix left her side, and she barely paid attention, unsure if she should look for an intruder or just leave and call the MLE. No, she was an Auror, she could handle this.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 17, 2009 0:20:25 GMT -5
Roland's first clue that anything was amiss was the bottle of tequila that he kicked with his foot on the way into the apartment. He couldn't see much behind the large bag of dog food that he was carrying, so he didn't see the mess, he felt it.
When Riley said his name, Roland frowned and set the bag down on the floor. "Riley.... I know you're not quite the neat freak that I am, but you didn't leave it like this, did you?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 17, 2009 0:25:00 GMT -5
Riley sighed. She needed to catch a break one of these days.
"Phoenix?" She called, but it was barely more than a loud whisper, just in case there was some serial killer hiding behind the door or something.
"No," she told Roland. "I would never leave my place looking like this. I haven't been here in while... do you think it was Blake, trying to scare me?" At least that would mean that whoever did it was gone. And.... probably still very drunk.
"Phoenix!" Another loud whisper. The dog padded back into the room, his ears low, and he looked at Riley before turning around and going back down the hall.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 17, 2009 0:32:57 GMT -5
Roland frowned. It would have made sense, except that the apartment didn't look ransacked... it looked lived in. "Do you think my dad was staying here instead of my apartment?"
He knew his father had been doing quite a lot of drinking while staying in his apartment. There had been a fair amount of evidence left behind. But even in his drunken, depressed state, his father had actually kept the empty bottles stacked neatly in the corner. He wouldn't have left any place in this sort of state.
"Hey, Phoenix. Did you find something?" he asked, bending low to the dog.
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 17, 2009 0:40:03 GMT -5
"No," Riley said. "Your dad didn't do this." But who did, and why was she targeted?
Phoenixe growled and moved away from Roland, moving in a circle and coming back to him. Riley recognized the dog speak, as it were. "He wants you to follow him," she said, rather obviously because Roland could have figured that out as well.
When she stepped forward, the dog was gone, down the hall and by her bedroom. She followed and stopped in the doorway. There was someone in her bed. His back was to her, so she didn't know who it was. Even if she had, it had been years since she'd seen him, and she would have never guessed that he'd been able to find her.
She cursed and backed away from the door, looking over her shoulder for Roland. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and for a moment, she didn't know what to do. Attack, wake the guy up, run, what?
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 17, 2009 0:49:40 GMT -5
Roland was just behind her. Actually, if given his choice, he would have told her to stay where she was, but stopping Riley from doing anything was always a bit difficult. "What the--" he said, as she collided with him. She was terrified, he recognized that immediately, and he held her for a moment. He peered over her shoulder into the room and saw the figure lying on the bed, and he released her.
"Riley, stay back," he said. "Phoenix, you stay with her."
Making sure that the dog was standing in front of her, ready to defend her, Roland strode purposefully into the room. "Hey!" he yelled, nudging the sleeping form with his knee. "Get the hell up."
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Post by Brian Ackerman on Jul 17, 2009 0:59:02 GMT -5
Brian was sleeping a near sleep of the dead. He was just barely conscious, a few hours earlier and he would have been completely passed out due to the alcohol he had consumed.
When Roland nudged him he groaned, but it was more from hearing the man yell than anything else. He had a pounding headache again caused by the alcohol and wasn't able to think clearly. "Lower your voice." he croaked in pain.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 17, 2009 1:17:29 GMT -5
Roland's lip twisted in a grimace. Who the hell was this git, anyway? He bent down low, until his mouth was just inches from the man's ear. "Oh, I'm sorry!" he said very loudly. "Am I disturbing your slumber?"
Grabbing the man by the shoulder, he turned him around so that he was on his back. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 17, 2009 1:19:47 GMT -5
Riley, meanwhile, had actually listened to Roland and backed up a few paces down the hall. She still had no idea who exactly had made themselves so comfortable in her place. She just prayed that whoever it was wouldn't hurt Roland.
Phoenix was in the doorway, torn between staying with Riley to protect her, and staying with Roland to help defend their territory, and he barked, almost backing up Roland's anger.
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Post by Brian Ackerman on Jul 17, 2009 1:25:49 GMT -5
He was trying to get a grip on things, and was failing miserably, unlike Roland, whose grip on his shoulder was quite effective, he couldn't manage coherency.
"Just...wait...one minute..." he said trying to catch his breath, "Who...who are you?" he asked.
He knew this was Riley's place, there was a few photographs in which she was smiling or doing something, so he knew he had found the right place, but the man towering above him was not his little sister.
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 17, 2009 1:30:53 GMT -5
Roland glanced over his shoulder at Riley, making sure she was OK. So far it had not occurred to him that she might know this.... person.
"Who am I? That's none of your business. Seeing as you're the intruder, I think you're the one who needs to explain himself. Who are you and what are you doing here?" He spoke this last part very slowly, as though he were talking to an idiot. After all, that's exactly what he thought this guy was.
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Post by Brian Ackerman on Jul 17, 2009 1:35:34 GMT -5
"Where...where's Riley?" he asked blinking a few times. He was a few moments away from begging Roland to just cut his head off, but his own selfish preservation kept his voice firm, instead of the tremulous whine it wanted to be, "Where's my sister?" he grumbled.
When he had decided to seek her out, he also intended to have a bit more pride than he did at the moment. He was going to genuinely ask kindly if he could crash for a few days, but then he had arrived, and Riley wouldn't answer the door. Convinced that she knew it was him but just wasn't going to let him in, he grew frustrated and broke in. Then he realized that nobody was staying there.
At first he thought he had made a great mistake in coming, but then he saw the photos and he knew that it was Riley's place, and that...she'd welcome him with open arms of course.
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 17, 2009 1:41:02 GMT -5
Riley had been listening, and she was surprised to hear her name. So she'd been a very specific target in whatever this was.
But the shock only grew when she heard the second half of his question. What the hell? "Brian?" She asked, still in the hallway, and she came forward, coming into the doorway. Phoenix tried to block her, but she paid him little mind.
Her jaw dropped. The asshat had found her... but how? He didn't look any different to her, though she imagined she looked quite a bit different to him. Older, at the very least.
"How the hell did you get here?"
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Post by Brian Ackerman on Jul 17, 2009 1:48:09 GMT -5
"I drove...you know...in a car" he said alluding lightly to the fact that he was a normal man, one who didn't have powers, one who wasn't a freak. But he still wouldn't give away her "secret" to the man with her. His immediate judgement was that Riley was some sort of alien creature, and he was convinced that were the government ever to get their hands on her she'd be poked and prodded and experimented on. Therefore in his own twisted way he saw himself as a great noble man in her eyes for keeping her "secret."
He continued putting an arm over his eyes, " And then...the door wasn't locked." he lied, lock picking was something his uncle had taught him to do when he was younger, but he didn't need to reveal that skill. Finally he was able to peek at her without his head completely rebelling the thought, the light was abominable to him.
"Hey..." he said with a drunken slur that might have been a smile, "There she is...surprised?"
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 17, 2009 1:52:04 GMT -5
"Your sister...?" Roland repeated.
He glared furiously down at the face of the man on the bed. He was not quite what Roland had expected. He thought he'd be... larger somehow. He had honestly never imagined that he would meet the man. He and Riley weren't close, they didn't get along... he wasn't supposed to be here.
"Riley stay back," Roland said, putting a hand on her arm. "I'll handle this."
Crossing his arms over his chest and looking very menacing, he said, "You asked who I was. I'm Riley's boyfriend. And I want you out of here."
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Post by Brian Ackerman on Jul 17, 2009 1:58:43 GMT -5
Brian frowned, " Boyfriend...?" who would want his scampy little sister...well she had filled out rather nicely now that he noticed, though he was careful to keep that to himself. Still there was that "other" part about her...she wasn't "normal" surely this guy would figure that out eventually.
"I...I just got here...you wouldn't kick me out..." he said searching for Riley's face again, "Would you Ri?" he painted a pitiful picture, "...I don't have anywhere else to go."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jul 17, 2009 2:04:53 GMT -5
Riley ignored Roland. At this point, she didn't feel as threatened as she had if it were some stranger in her house. She felt threatened, sure, but she wasn't going to let Brian see this.
"Oh, now you ask if you can stay? You didn't need my permission to come in, apparently. How long have you been here?" She put a hand on her hip. "And how the hell did you find me?"
She hadn't been home since her 6th year... nearly five or six years ago. And he shows up now? To what purpose? Merlin, she'd just been released from the hospital. She couldn't deal with this. "What, you read about me in the papers and decide my life wasn't complicated enough?"
Though Brian would have never read any wizard papers, but that thought hadn't occured to her yet.
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Post by Brian Ackerman on Jul 17, 2009 2:09:43 GMT -5
So many questions made his brain hurt but he kept up with her, he was feeling better even if he let his posture remain weak. He was deceptive that way...it had served him a time or two.
Still he latched on to only a few things, "Just a day or two..." he lied again, "And you weren't here. I didn't think you'd mind letting your only brother crash for a few days after being fired and having the lease revoked on his house. They took everything Riley...I don't have anything. Do you think I'd be *here* if I did?" he shook his head...bad idea, "What papers, what are you talking about?"
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Post by Roland Ferrera on Jul 17, 2009 2:18:08 GMT -5
Roland remained tense and ready for a fight. Riley had not told her much about her brother, but he knew enough to know that he didn't like him or trust him.
"Look, I don't care what your reasons are," Roland said harshly. "You can't stay here. You're going to have to find some other place to go." Like hell, he silently added.
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