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Realms: Guardians Logs

Background RP - Nikki - Part 2



Life and Death:Nikki's Story

Part 2: Awakening

Darkness.

A voice. "They were here, 'Thena. I can smell them. Their taint, if normal humans can be said to have a taint."

The darkness become a hazy grey. Another voice, this one female. "I'm not completely certain they were all normal humans, Cerb. In any case, I'd just as glad to not be able to 'smell' them." she says in clipped tones.

Blurred shapes start to appear. Two...maybe three of them. A third distinct voice, this one also male, and as calm and quiet as the first was gutteral. "They took something, Athena. Looks like...hunh...a bunch of computer equipment, maybe. They left the UPS... and a couple surge protectors..."

There is a pronounced sound of sniffing as the shapes slowly become more distinct. One is a tall, lanky man, dressed in a drab tan overcoat with discheveled hair and smoking a cigarette. The second is a athletic woman, outfitted in a black leather coat, tan slacks, a white blouse, and mirrorshades. The third is shorter, wearing a black turtleneck, jeans and a matching denim vest. His thick, wild black hair curves around his tanned, grizzled face ...his features more than a little bestial. As the images sharpen, it appears he's the one sniffing. "I smell something else." he reports. The mirrorshades woman looks up. "What's that?" she says.

The feral man gives another sniff. "Death."

Nikki blinks slowly and pushes up off the floor, shaking her head to clear it of a persistent muzzy feeling. She stares at the three people a moment and then glances quickly around for her brother, noticing the missing computer equipment. She looks back to them. "Who- who are you?"

None of the figures seem to react, but then, none of them are looking straight at Nikki either. As she studies the figures, she abruptly notes a disorienting effect when she looks at the blond with the overcoat. There is something about him...an energy she can't quite describe. One moment he seems perfectly normal, and the next, it's as if his image is being overlaid by a humanoid form composed of flame.

The mirrorshades woman is kneeling down by the rug...she takes something from a pouch and pours it on the rug...and ends up getting a bubbling foam on it. "You're right. There's some blood residue on the carpet they couldn't quite get off." she confirms. "Remind me not to knock your nose again, Cerberus."

Nikki isn't sure she spoke loud enough, since none of them answered, but just stares at the blond guy for a minute, a little nervous. "Uhm...hey...are you guys X-files or something like that? What's with the weird glowing guy?"

The trio seem to persist in not being able to hear her. As the blond guy turns, still looking around the room, his eyes swivel in Nikki's direction...and he stops. He puts his cigarette in his mouth and rubs his eyes. He's not quite staring at her, but rather like he's staring at something in her direction. "Athena? Something weird over here." 'Athena' looks up. "What is it, Pro?"

Nikki blinks and looks around her, behind her. She moves around the room opposite the empty desks. "I don't see anything weird." She speaks a little louder. "Hey! Doofs! Pay attention!"

The blond, the one called 'Pro', walks across the room, past Athena...and then suddenly, disorientingly, through Nikki. He doesn't seem to take note of it, though, and he's bending over to pick up something. "It's a watch. But...there's something not right about it..."

Nikki gasps and her eyes boggle. She feels over herself quickly and turns around to stare at Pro. "God...what is he?!"

'Pro' is standing now, fingering the watch. "Not right? Not right how?" asks Athena, who comes over to look at the watch as well...also walking through Nikki.

"Not right as in there's some thing attached to it, I think...as a link. Maybe a magical link. Or maybe something like my firey friend." 'Pro' replies.

Nikki takes a couple stumbling steps backwards as the truth of her condition finally becomes apparent to her. "No...no...it can't be...not like this. I'm supposed to be with Alex..." She leans back against the wall behind her, and stumbles backwards through it. "Hey!"

'Pro' abruptly perks. Athena notices. "What is it, Prometheus?" she asks curiously. He doesn't answer at first. "I heard...something.." He stares at the watch, and then around the room, as if searching. The one called Cerberus looks as well, but he doesn't seem to see - or smell - anything either.

Nikki walks back through the wall, dusting herself off needlessly and blinking. "It's true...I'm really dead...and they don't even know I'm here..."

Prometheus frowns. "There's something there...very faint, but something there..." His eyes seem to change, then and it's like there are living flames within them. "Can you hear me?" he says, looking directly at Nikki just then.

Nikki jerks and looks at Prometheus. "You...you can see me?"

Prometheus squints. "I can...barely hear you...but if you are what I think you are, do this...close your...uhm..eyes, and try to picture yourself in your mind...what you look like..and ah...try and remember clothes."

Nikki's brow furrows and looks at herself. "But...I'm perfectly...here...and even dressed. Geez...what a perv."

Prometheus blinks, and then has the temerity to look embarassed. Athena looks rather calm, all things told, and Cerberus is actually sniffing in Nikki's direction, but apparently still unable to detect the young ghost. "To you, you look fine. To me, you look like a faint indistinct blob." says the blonde. "Just...do as I say, please."

Nikki gives Cerberus a stange look and takes a step to the side. She closes her eyes. "Just think about how I look? Like in the mirror?" She imagines herself as she looked earlier 'that day'. Wearing jeans and a green t-shirt. "This is silly."

Prometheus chuckles. "Anything that's silly but works isn't silly, miss. Okay, you can stop now. You look human now...well...human, but transparent."

Nikki opens her eyes, one at a time and looks around. She looks at herself and blinks. "Hey...my clothes have changed...Cool."

Prometheus looks uncertainly at Athena, but she nods approvingly, as if to say 'keep going'. Prometheus clears his throat and then asks, "Uhm...miss...do you live here?"

Nikki chews her lip. "Uhm...lived, I think. I get the distinct impression I'm not alive. I'm not. Am I?"

Prometheus look apologetic. "I'm afraid not, miss. You're what we refer to as an 'anchored spirit'...or to be more specfic, a ghost. I take it this is the first you've been aware that you're, ah...dead?"

Nikki swallows. "I just ...woke up?" She looks at Cerberus and Athena and back to Prometheus. "Are you the only one that can see me?"

Prometheus nods thoughfully, and then in response to your question, he says. "'Thena and Cerb can't see ghosts, no. Nor hear you. Although..hmm. We might be able to fix that. Let me ask you this first: do you remember how you died?"

Nikki nods. "I was murdered....right after my brother." After a moment, she adds, "It's my fault, though, kinda. I stabbed the guy that shot him with a screwdriver. I missed his neck, though. He probably lived."

Prometheus purses his lips, not looking particularly shocked, although he does look a little worried. "Ah...was it a man with red hair and freckles that killed you?" Athena and Cerberus seem to straighten a little at the mention of the redhaired man. Cerberus scowls, and Athena's features get cooler.

Nikki's features darken, the memories coalescing in her brain. "Mr...Mr France?...no...but he was obviously in charge. No...he ordered Mr...." Her face scrunches up, trying to remember. "Kint? Kent?...he ordered Mr. Kint to kill my brother. And then he killed me" Her fists ball up a little. "How...how do you know about him?"

Prometheus's brow creases, and looks to Athena, mouthing the word 'kint'? as a question. Athena shook her head, shrugging. Prometheus hesitates a moment, and then replies. "We've been hired by a...ah...Client, as a result of some other...bad things he's done."

Nikki nods. "Well...I'd really like to see him dead for killing my brother. Alex was the sweetest guy in the world. I don't know if I can help, though." She passes her hand through the table. "I'm pretty sure I can't, actually." She sighs.

Prometheus arches an eyebrow. "You say that so calmly." he notes. He clears his throat again. "Ah...listen, this would be easier if we could all see and hear you...I want you to try something else. Close your eyes again...picture yourself as transparent...and then slowly, slowly, becoming visible..color returning to your body. Can you do that?"

Nikki nods. "I've seen enough movies, I think I could imagine that." She closes her eyes and furrows her brow, imagining herself invisible and standing in the place where she is. She slowly brings herself visible, faltering a little and then appearing more and more to be able to reflect the light from her skin and clothes. "Uhm...is this even working?"

Athena pipes up then. "I..think I can see her...yes, I definitely can.." Prometheus smiles. "Keep it up. it's not that hard...the hart part is for a ghost to become solid..but never mind that for now. You're close."

Nikki almost loses it completely when he mentions that she might be able to become solid. She fades out quite a bit and then takes a breath and concentrates again, finally opening her eyes and looking at the three, saying, "I can become solid?"

Cerberus is abruptly sniffing at Nikki's shoulder. "Ghosts don't have a scent." he reports. Prometheus chuckles and then looks squarely at Nikki. "Ah...well, we'd have to speak with one of our other..companions on that score. Hecate would know for certain...some ghosts can't even do what you did...I'm sorry, I should have introduced us. I'm Prometheus, or 'Pro' if you perfer. The lady to my right is Athena, our ah...leader, I suppose you could say. And the hairy man at your left is Cerberus, our tracker.

Nikki looks a little uncertain about Cerberus, half-expecting him to start drooling and panting or something. She looks at Prometheus and Athena. "I'm Nikki."

Prometheus whispers something momentarily to Athena. She nods thoughtfully and then steps forward. "Nikki...as I understand it, you were murdered by Mr...Frants? Mr. Frants's associates, that is. Could you perhaps shed some light as to why they would have killed you and your friend, Alex?"

Athena is not quite cold, but is direct and poker-faced. You notice something on her hip then...something gold, that seems to look like a police badge.

Nikki frowns. "My brother. We uhm...d--" She notices the badge and stops suddenly. "You...you can't put ghosts in prison can you?"

Athena seems to blink behind her mirrorshades. Then she glances down at her badge and seems to understand. "The police are perhaps, not eqipped to do such things, no." she says with a small smile. "However, I assure you that I'm not about to arrest you...not that I couldn't if necessary."

Nikki swallows. "Uhm...we were hackers...you know? He was teaching me all he knew. I've gotten pretty good...but I guess someone was better. I kept telling him we needed to get a better tracewatcher but he kept insisting it would last until we were able to land a real job and then we pulled off a couple of larger companies and stuff in the last couple of days and I guess one of them found out." She takes a breath. "Uhm...what day is it?"

Athena seems to absorb all this. "Wednesday." she says calmly."

Nikki says, "So...I guess it was last night."

Cerberus grunts. "That would be consistent. The scents are still fresh."

Nikki closes her eyes and returns to that moment, struggling to reach her brother as they suffocated him with plastic. Pleading with them for his life...when they tricked him and shot him. Her fists ball up and tears run down her cheeks. "Why? Why did they? They didn't need to kill him....he would've given them everything...."

Prometheus grimaces sympathetically as he sees Nikki's expression. "Ah...look, maybe we should continue this conversation elsewhere..we're not really secure here." he says nervously after she stops speaking.

Athena nods, apparently unmoved. "We should probably take her back to the lodge...we can always come back if there's any possible evidence to find."

Nikki wipes her eyes and looks at the others. "Go...with you?"

Prometheus holds up the watch. "Ghosts typically tie themselves to a place or an item of importance. In your case, it's this watch. If we take it with us, you have to follow. But there's no need to fear. I know we seem...strange...but we would be your friends. And possibly the only ones that can explain what happened to you."

Nikki listens quietly and reaches for the watch, her fingers passing through it and Pro's hand. "Keep that safe...it was a gift to my brother." She smiles sadly.

Prometheus smiles grimly. "We'd better keep it safe. If it's destroyed, you won't be able to stay on this plane...er, if you take my meaning."

Nikki ohhs and glances at Cerberus and Athena. For his part, Cerberus is apparently not concentrating on Nikki anymore, and is sniffing about the apartment. "Don't worry about Cerb." Pro says in an undertone. "Just remember that he's a more of a wolf than a puppy, and don't try scratching him behind the ears."

Athena speaks up then. "Pro, why don't you take Nikki to see the others right now. Cerberus and I will finish up here."

Nikki gives Prometheus an odd look and then looks at Athena. "Where's this Lodge?"

Athena hesitates. "It's an...office building that we're working out of. Saves fees on hotels. The Lodge is just kind of a...nickname for it."

Prometheus offers a hand. "It's not far, miss. If you'll...come with me?"

Nikki tires to take the offered hand by reflex, but her fingers pass through it. She smirks. "Psyche?"

Prometheus blushes again. "I'm sorry...I forgot...uhm, why don't you go back to being transparent again, anyway...we probably don't want anyone seeing you."

Nikki nods and closes her eyes, concentrating on not being visible. "You'll still see me?"

Prometheus nods. "Now that you know how to project yourself, I can, yes. Don't worry, 'Thena and Cerb won't trash the place..and you should meet the rest of our group. Okay?" He does seem to be concerned that it is, in fact, okay.

Nikki nods after a moment. "Alright." She looks around the apartment, feeling like she should pack or something...but that's a pretty silly idea now.

Prometheus looks sad, but he glances at Athena and decides to keep that to himself for now. "Come on, Nikki." he says, motioning her towards the front door."

Nikki almost reaches for the handle, but blushes and instead walks through the door into the hall.

End of Part 2

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Last modified: 2001-Oct-30 19:35:28

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