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Post by Siobhan O'Hurley on Nov 21, 2011 1:23:16 GMT -5
She was still sitting on the bench, looking around wildly as her mind turned over transportation options, when he returned. "I'm fine," she said, nodding and turning to look at him.
"Oh, it smells like heaven... Godric, I haven't had pizza in ages. Listen, I was thinking... we should take a bus. I think this bench is a bus stop. Only thing is, I don't know where the bus is going. But I have some money to pay for bus fare... and maybe to start with, we just need to get a little distance between us and the hospital. What do you think?"
As she talked, she slipped the box open and took out a slice, then resumed looking nervously around them. The streets were oddly quiet for London, and it gave her an uneasy feeling.
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Post by Nikola Vlcek on Nov 28, 2011 23:35:39 GMT -5
Kola looked at the pizza, then at the girl smelling it. He honestly couldn't say if he'd ever eaten pizza in his life. He was sure he had, he just didn't remember. Normally, he was used this, but it was the little moments like this that frustrated him. It was hard to explain.
He couldn;t bring himself to grab a piece. His appetite was gone, at least for now.
He looked around. She was right that they needed to get out of here, at least get some distance away from the hospital, but he worried that there would be too many people on the bus. Too many people to see them, to question them, to catch them. And he couldn't quite go unnoticed with her innocent face and vibrant hair.
"Let's walk to the next bus stop," he suggested, giving her none of the reasoning for this decision.
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Post by Siobhan O'Hurley on Nov 29, 2011 0:01:16 GMT -5
As skinny as Siobhan was, she had a healthy appetite. And it had been so long since she'd had any real food. Hospital food didn't count as real food... it somehow all tasted the same, whether it was steak or chicken or broccoli or chocolate cake. So the taste of pizza now was rather like a sip of water to a man lost in the desert. She took her first bite slowly, savoring it... and then tore into the rest of the slice quicker than anyone would have believed possible. By the time Nikola had suggested moving on to another bus stop, she was going for her second slice.
"OK," she said easily as she took a bite of her second slice. She didn't question his decision. She was feeling very exposed here in this spot as it was, and she was eager to move on. "Let's turn at the next street and walk down a few blocks."
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Post by Simone Manette on Nov 30, 2011 19:37:42 GMT -5
As it happened, they were being tracked, but not by anyone they would have expected.
It started at the pizza place. Nikola's theft had not gone entirely unnoticed. The blonde girl in the far corner, sitting alone and flipping through a magazine, had actually been casing the joint.
It wasn't Simone's usual type of target, but she'd had to lower her standards a little since going on the run. This was a particularly popular pizza place, and she had it on good authority that there were some priceless items hidden in a safe in the back. So she had been sitting here for the last couple of hours, pretending to be a girl who'd been stood up for a date. The kind Italian waiters kept coming up to her asking if she was alright and expressing their sympathy for her, but they didn't ask her to leave when she insisted that "she was sure he'd just be another five minutes."
It was almost too easy. But when she witnessed the man slip in and steal a pizza out from under everyone's noses, Simone was intrigued. It sometimes helped to have skilled partners, especially ones that were disposable.
Simone left the restaurant shortly after Nikola did, and tracked him out to the street. She watched him with the redhead (an unfortunate complication) and was now stationed about half a block away, pretending to look in a store window at a gorgeous pair of black leather boots. Hm.. Maybe she'd have to treat herself later.
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Post by Nikola Vlcek on Dec 9, 2011 0:39:42 GMT -5
Actually, Kola would have been more comfortable walking past the next few bus stops, but he supposed it was safer to get on one of the things. Most people didn't walk to the next city limit- he understood that. He just wasn't sure he was ready for the closed in feeling of a bus. If he blacked out again.... Kola didn't remember much, but he knew it would be bad. That ever present feeling of paranoia didn't help, either.
He sighed, watching his new friend from the corner of his eye as she practically inhaled the pizza. He should eat... just not now. He was too tightly wound.
He nodded his head in a way that seemed to say "lead the way," and glanced over his shoulder.
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Post by Siobhan O'Hurley on Dec 9, 2011 1:05:29 GMT -5
Siobhan got to her feet, still holding her slice of pizza, but then she stopped for a second and looked around. There was a prickly feeling on the back of her neck, like someone was watching them. She had often felt that feeling back at the hospital. Sometimes she would stare at that painting of the two Victorian women and swear they were watching her. She had that same feeling right now, but she couldn't figure out where it was coming from. No one seemed to be doing anything out of the ordinary. In fact, there were only a few other people around at all. A homeless man was sleeping in a doorway, a couple was walking hand in hand, a woman was window shopping. It all seemed normal.
Shaking her head, she turned away and hurriedly led Nikola around the corner. She felt safer here... the eyes couldn't see her. She hoped, anyway.
"I'm going to eat all the pizza before you get any," she said with a nervous laugh. "Won't you have a slice?"
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Post by Simone Manette on Dec 12, 2011 0:19:08 GMT -5
Simone saw their movement out of the corner of her eyes, and turned ever so slightly to watch as they got up and hurried down the street a little further. She frowned when she saw them turn down the next street. She would have to proceed with caution here. Anyone who could steal something as easily as the man had done would surely know to be on the look out for anyone who might be after them. And the redhead, though she seemed rather jittery and nervous, also seemed to be constantly looking over her shoulder.
Simone was good at reading people, and even from this distance, it was obvious to her that they were on the run from someone or something. Simone could relate to that... and it made her all the more interested in the two of them. But she also knew that she would have to be careful how she approached them.
She walked at a brisk but casual pace along the rest of the street, then crossed the street and turned onto the side street, so that she was walking on the same street they were, but on the opposite side. She spotted them quickly, and walked just fast enough to keep them in easy viewing distance.
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Post by Nikola Vlcek on Jan 23, 2012 1:53:45 GMT -5
"Not hungry," Kola murmured, though his tone was still final and sure. He wasn't sure he could stomach anything right now, he was so intently focused on everything around them.
He wished he could remember how he came into the hospital, so that he could retrace his steps back. Maybe that would get them out of London. All he knew, was that the moment his eyes met that of Siobhan's psychiatrist, he desperately wished he'd stayed anonymous. Stayed vanished, though he had no way of knowing he had vanished.
Except that would have meant that the girl beside him would still be in that hospital, and there's was nothing in this world or the next that he wanted less than that.
He stood up a little taller, if it was possible, and checked over his shoulder. This street was a little busier, bot no one seemed to be paying any mind to them. Still, something bothered him. "I'd feel better if we just.... hid. For a while." He didn't like being out in the open like this.
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Post by Siobhan O'Hurley on Jan 24, 2012 23:07:12 GMT -5
Siobhan was getting increasingly nervous with every step. Oh, it helped that Nikola was by her side, because she felt instinctively that he would not let anything happen to her, but still something was bothering her. She was trying to eat and walk, and that prickly feeling on the back of her neck had returned. She kept looking behind them, and she just didn't see anyone at all. Still... she felt like they were being watched.
So when Nikola suggested that they hide somewhere, she was all in favor. "Yeah... good idea," she said, biting her lip and looking around again. "Maybe an alleyway... or an abandoned building. It might be easier to get a bus in the morning. We'll be able to blend in with the other muggles."
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Post by Simone Manette on Jan 24, 2012 23:43:42 GMT -5
They were slowing down a little, looking over their shoulders. Clearly they had good instincts and were wary of strangers. And well they should be. But this wasn't going to make her change her mind about approaching them. They interested her and she thought they might just be useful. She'd seen how slick the man could be at stealing, and the redhead had an innocence about her that would make a good decoy. Yes, very useful.
Simone also slowed in her movements and paused to look in another shop window. She hoped they wouldn't spot her, because the window she chose to stop at was a menswear shop. But it had a good reflective quality and she could see the pair very clearly from it.
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Post by Nikola Vlcek on Feb 21, 2012 14:37:20 GMT -5
Nikola, by now was sure that they were being followed. He knew the feeling well enough, and the second he realized it for sure, he stopped looking over his shoulder. He didn't want to alert whoever was following to the fact that he knew they were there, though it may have been too late. "Siobhan, eyes ahead. No matter what."
He definitely didn't want to take a bus at all. He wasn't a fan of places where he could be easily cornered. He'd rather get to wherever they were going to end up on foot. It meant less people to see them and remember their faces if they were asked.
He put a hand on Siobhan's back, and used nonverbal cues to guide her, directing her down an alley where he picked up his pace, onto the next main street, down the next alley, and he ducked with her into a dark building, which looked rather like a bookstore, or a library, perhaps. They would have to leave again when dawn came, but he was hoping they shook their follower. Even still, he moved them towards the back of the building, between shelves. He was looking for another exit.
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Post by Siobhan O'Hurley on Mar 1, 2012 1:33:59 GMT -5
Siobhan had been trying not to panic, but when he said that to her, she definitely tensed up. So he felt it too. He could sense that they were being followed.
She did as he said and kept her eyes forward and stayed close to him. But she also recognized that, if they were indeed being followed, they couldn't let on that they knew it. So she would have to act just as she would have acted if all was normal.
So she kept talking... but she talked about innocent things. "You know what else we should try, when we get time? Chinese food. I haven't had Chinese food in ages. Oh! And tacos. Have you had tacos before? I think you'd like them. Maybe when we get home I could make some."
She hoped Nikola would understand what she was trying to do, and that maybe he would play along.
But as he slipped into the alleyway, she fell silent. Here they could not call attention to themselves. Instead she just followed him until they entered a building that happened to be open.
"We can't just hide here," she whispered.
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Post by Simone Manette on Mar 1, 2012 1:35:48 GMT -5
Simone realized the minute the situation had changed. She recognized evasive techniques when she saw them. They knew she was following them. So she fell back and watched from a distance until the pair disappeared down a dark alleyway.
She hesitated for a moment. She was not quite willing to give up on this. It seemed to her like they would be useful allies. But if she followed them now, she would surely be caught. And she needed to be the one to make the first approach.
Guessing his tactic, Simone hurried down the street, passing the alleyway and going up to the next cross street. She turned down that street and headed in the same direction as the alley, then doubled back when she reached the next block. She turned the corner just in time to see them emerge from the alleyway. She stopped again, watching as they crossed the street and ducked down another alleyway.
She waited a few minutes, then ducked down the alleyway herself. This one did not cut through, which meant that they had found some place to hide.
Sliding through the shadows, Simone tested the doors until she found one that opened, and she walked into a shop lined with bookshelves.
The couple was already there, looking for a way out.
"Maybe next time you want to avoid being followed, you'll pinch something smaller. Like hamburgers."
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Post by Nikola Vlcek on May 19, 2012 21:10:26 GMT -5
Nikola knew what she was doing, but if he was silent in the best of times, she certainly wasn't going to get an answer out of him now.
The book shop was a dead end. He's been sure there would have been a back exit, somewhere in the back of the storage room. There had to be a shipping area for all these books to come in, right? He wasn't finding it, and he was feeling more and more like they were going to be cornered in a moment.
And then he heard her voice, just on top of Siobhan's telling him they couldn't just stay here. Practically in the blink of eye, he'd spun on his heel and put himself between Siobhan and their tracker. His body was tense, every muscle tight and ready to strike. Otherwise, he didn't move.
Her comment, at first, made him think she worked for the restaurant, but he quickly dismissed that. She was not behind the counter when he was there... which meant she was a customer, and he was instantly intrigued. "Name?"
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Post by Siobhan O'Hurley on May 26, 2012 0:16:20 GMT -5
Siobhan let out a scream when she heard the unfamilar voice behind them. Immediately she reached around her for a weapon, and her hands closed around a fireplace poker. She wielded it in front of her, narrowing her eyes at the stranger.
"I'm not going back, do you hear me? I can't go back!"
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Post by Simone Manette on May 26, 2012 0:18:12 GMT -5
Simone backed off just slightly, holding her hands up in front of her in surrender. "Hey, relax, Red. I'm not here to bring you in or anything. Whoever you're running from, it's not me, I promise. In fact, I'm on the run, too."
She looked back at Nikola, who seemed the more stable of the two, if more silent.
"I'm Simone. I saw you in the pizza place while I was casing the joint myself. I followed you, because I thought we might be able to help each other out."
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Post by Nikola Vlcek on Jul 29, 2012 20:24:25 GMT -5
Nikola put an arm out to keep Siobhan behind him. He wasn't going to underestimate this girl- not for the second time in one night. His eyes narrowed at Simone though... he'd never been caught before, with the exception of some of the training days when he was a child- which, of course, he didn't remember. He really only remembered the last couple weeks, so it was possible that he wasn't as smooth as he thought he was.
As a general rule, he didn't trust other people who were also on the run. Nothing good ever came from that. He shook his head once. "Not interested."
It really was as simple as that. He was not about to go into cohorts with this woman. Not when he promised to protect Siobhan. Besides, what if she was from the hospital, despite what she said?
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Post by Siobhan O'Hurley on Jul 31, 2012 23:12:53 GMT -5
Siobhan's instincts were working over time. What even Walter hadn't quite realized about Siobhan was her ability to recognize the other "children" like herself. She didn't know where she knew them from, but she recognized them, just as she had felt like she knew Nikola long before he ever spoke to her.
She still stood next to Nikola, brandishing the poker in front of her like a sword, but her eyes were narrowed as she stared intently at the blonde. Simone. Even her name sounded familiar, even though she couldn't remember when she would have met someone named Simone. "I know you," she said. "Don't I? How do I know you?"
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Post by Simone Manette on Jul 31, 2012 23:19:50 GMT -5
Simone was prepared to argue with Nikola. She was not about to give this up, not after she went to all the trouble to stalk these two through the city and abandon her intended prey. She didn't blame the man for turning her down, especially since she'd given him no reason to trust her. She was about to explain a little more about herself when the redhead's comment through her off balance.
"What?" she said, turning to her. "No, I don't know you. We've never met. I'm not even from around here."
Maybe that was their plan... their act. The man acted strong and in control, while the woman acted jittery and unstable. Then, once she'd written off the redhead, she'd come in with something that was both crazy and yet strangely lucid, just to confuse her while the man moved in for the attack. If that was the plan, it was fairly brilliant.
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Post by Nikola Vlcek on Feb 18, 2013 19:25:58 GMT -5
Nikola, however, hesitated when Siobhan said she recognized this blonde. She'd been certain that she knew Nikola, too, and that meant one of two things- she was crazy, thought everyone she came across was some long lost friend or something.
Or she did recognize the two of them, which meant he, somehow, should recognize the blonde, too. He didn't at all. All of the children had different levels of memory from their childhood, though he had no way of knowing that. Josephine, for instance, knew her trigger and could sometimes fight it. Colleen seemed to remember people like Siobhan did. Once Nikola's trigger was activated, he didn't remember a single thing until he woke up. It was like he was starting life over every time. He lost literally everything when it happened.
Nikola stepped towards Simone, perhaps confirming her belief that the two of them had a plan. Innately, he trusted Siobhan. "Who are you?"
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