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Wandering, Lost.
Topic Started: Sep 20 2006, 04:14 PM (434 Views)
Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
A bell jingled as Will pulled the door open and stepped in. The door hissed shut behind him, sealing the air inside again. Despite the warm colors and furniture, Will still felt unwelcome in the place. He'd been feeling more and more uneasy as he had explored the city. He felt, well, he really couldn't call it a feeling, since he doubted it was real, but most of the people on the street gave him goosebumps. Like there was something wrong with them. He shrugged his new overcoat over his neck and walked up to the counter.

The overcoat in question he had found in a dumpster behind one of the many clubs. It had been wrapped around a suit jacket with a dark stain on it. Will hadn't really cared about the small slit in the back of the coat, or that the jacket had had another slit in the same spot. What he had cared about was that the overcoat wasn't stained, and that it was warm. He shoved his hands into the pockets.

"Excuse me, how much does water cost?" He asked the proprietor in his normal, quiet voice.
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shaylamorris
Vargamour
Shayla had heard the bell of her door jingle and turn to see a young man step inside. He looked uneasy and if she didn’t know better scared. Picking up a cleaning rag Shayla made as if she was doing a small job while waiting to see if the young man would take a chair or order something. Shayla never rushed anyone as she wanted the place to seem as if you were coming to their best friends home. At last the man came forward and she stopped what she was doing. His voice was quiet when he asked his question. Shayla understood what he was asking she had asked the question many times as she ran from New York. She also remember the answers, the rude commentaries, the looks, and accusations. The sad thing was she could count on one hand how many people were nice. The smile never left her face when she answered.

“Well sir I can upgrade it to a coffee or tea with two meat pie, two fruit tarts, and your choice of soup if you tell me what your first name is.”
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Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
Will couldn't believe it. What reason did this woman have to give him food for free. There had to be a catch, there always was. He kept his expression guarded, just in case she was looking for something. "No thanks, I'll just take the water." Well, it couldn't hurt to give her his first name. "I'm Will. I don't really like to drink tea or coffee. Just water, please."

The feeling was worse, like eyes staring at his back all the time. What was going on? He shuddered as goosebumps popped up all over his body. If it was possible, the overcoat hugged closer around his body.
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shaylamorris
Vargamour
Shayla nodded. “Alright one water it is.” She said gently as she took one of the tall ice tea glasses and put some ice in it then pull out a bottle of water. She put them on the counter when she saw Will close his coat around himself more. Shayla came from around the counter but slowly came up to him. “Please have a seat and warm yourself Will. I promise I’m not going to hurt you or throw you out. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you wish I swear this on my father’s grave.” She had kept her voice calm and gentle. Her heart hurt as she saw Will’s body shake trying to warm the body.
My God what has he been through Shayla thought.
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Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
Will gripped the glass and brought it up to his mouth. It was hard to hold on to, so he brought his other hand out of his pocket to get a better grip. The water was cold as he drank it down. The glass was soon empty. Will tilted his head back to catch the last few drops of liquid. A piece of ice slid into his mouth, and he began to chew it.

The woman behind the counter made him nervous. As she neared him, he took a step back. "Are you one of them?" He asked. He had seen them, he knew that monsters existed in the city, but no one had believed him when he tried to warn them. The police had laughed in his face and thrown him out on his face.

If he still had his car, he would have left the city as soon as possible, but that had been stolen long ago. To make matters worse, winter was coming, and he wasn't used to the cold weather. Every night he slept on street corners, watching people go by, watching them get into their cars and drive away. Once everyone was off the streets, the other creatures came out to play.

Will backed up towards the door, watching her carefully.
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shaylamorris
Vargamour
Shayla watched as the man greedily drank down the water then ate the ice shaking while he did so. She stopped coming toward him when asked if she was one of them? In that moment it made sense and her heart hurt for him.

“No, no Will I’m not one of them. I’m Shayla Morris and this is my place for people to find a quiet, peaceful, safe place. No one will hurt you or do anything that you don’t want to happen to you.” Shayla kept her voice gentle hoping it was soothing. She moved away from him to give him more space.

“I’m sorry that I invaded your space it was very rude of me so I will remain right here until you say that it is alright for me to come closer to you.”
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Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
"Um, okay..." He edged over to the side, or tried to. His leg hit a large, rather comfy looking chair. Or was it a sofa? He couldn't decide. Realizing he had allowed himself to be distracted, his eyes shot up to check on the woman. She was still there. He glanced around again before sitting down.

'They're real, you know. I've seen them. I've seen them." He muttered softly. "People say that they aren't. They think I'm crazy. But I'm not. I'm not." He crunched some more ice. "You know them, don't you? You talk to them, don't you?" He looked around again. "They're watching me. Watching, watching, always watching." Will continued to mumble softly. It was amazing what a few weeks of sleep deprivation could do to a body.

He didn't realize his cheek was on the cushions until after he had laid down. "Soft." He said, half asleep. He was so very, very tired.

"Nobody cares about us, you know." He said. Suddenly he shot up again. 'No, don't fall asleep. They can get you when you sleep. They can find you, they can hurt you, they can break you, they can take you, don't fall asleep." He told himself. Will had seen it. He had watched them get other street dwellers.
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shaylamorris
Vargamour
Shayla watched from where she stood as Will stumbled in to a overstuffed chair. He had almost fallen and Shayla had to force herself not to rush to help him. As he rambled it came to her that he had did everything anyone would do. He must of not slept much when Will had said you couldn’t sleep.

“Will may I bring you another water and lock the door? I’ll put the key beside you so you can rest and I’ll make sure nothing will hurt us. I’ll stay awake baking and keeping watch I promice. I know what you're saying is true.”
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Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
Will muttered something, but he was already too tired to make any sense. "Gotta get a shield, gotta get a sword." He heard the woman saying something, something that might be important, but he just wanted to sleep, it had been so long...

He tried to tell her to hide from the monsters, but he was already snoring.
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shaylamorris
Vargamour
Will’s snoring filled the shop showing he was deep in sleep. Shayla softly stepped over to her door and locked it turning over her sign saying she was closed. Keeping her word Shayla moved her baking to the front and made small batches of her scones, tarts, and meat pies. Every once in awhile Will would say something in his sleep but he remain asleep. Temptation was jumping up and down on her head to read Will’s mind but she didn’t Hopefully he would wake up and they could talk.

Shayla had went about her day and actually finished everything with in the boundaries she had set up with Will. He had slept for over five hours and very soundly. Shayla ended up filling her three office orders through the back door tell people that she was having a problem with her front door
and would be ready tomorrow. She looked over at Will trying to think what to do. He seemed to be homeless but she didn’t know. Thinking real hard of how to wake him up without braking her word then it came to her. Shayla picked up a pencil and floated it over to Will shoulder and gently tapped her shoulder. Shayla smiled it was a long time since she did this.
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Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
Will slept.

A homeless man panhandling on the corner of a street saw people lurking the in shadows, and smiled at them, hoping for a quick buck. They drew nearer, and as they got closer, the man saw what appeared to be fangs sticking from between their lips. They fell upon him, leaving him drained on the sidewalk. The police would find the body later, and they would give up after a farce of an investigation. Who cared about a bum, anyway?

And Will slept.

An old war veteren limped along the sidewalk, heading towards one of the many shelters that had opened up recently. Behind him, a gang of people slowly assembled, following him easily. He saw them and began to limp faster. They began to hoot and shout, and the old man limped even faster.
The shouts began to turn into howls. Suprised, the man tripped and fell, his walking stick clattering to the ground in front of him. The police would find his remains later on and decide that he had been killed by a pack of wild dogs. His stick would later on be burned.

And still Will slept.

An old woman sat in one of the many convenient shelters that were all over the city, her shopping cart left outside. Sipping her soup, she watched the television vacantly. Someone laid a hand on her shoulder. Suprised, the old woman looked up into the face of one of the female orderlies. The woman was suprised that the shelter took such good care of the elderly. The orderly helped the woman to one of the bathrooms, which along with toilets also had line after line of shower stalls. The orderly showed her to one and offered to help her. The old woman declined with a smile. Such a nice girl. The woman turned around and began to undress, but she stopped when she realized that the door hadn't opened and closed yet. The girl was still there. The old woman turned around to chastise the child, but what she saw simply made her gape. At least until the first claw struck her face. After that, she couldn't make a sound, since her throat was gone. The police would find the corpse already in a body bag, with the shower already cleaned up. They simply nodded as they listened to the accounts of what happened the orderly gave. Terrible what those junkies could do to people, wasn't it?



Will blinked and saw a pencil hovering in mid-air. Suprised, he flailed at it until he fell out of his sofa. When he sat up, he saw the pencil sitting next to him. Will scrambled to his feet and looked around. He was still in the same place, apparently. He was still alive, which meant that nothing had killed him while he slept. He saw the girl he had met earlier looking at him expectantly.

"Look, I don't have any money, so I can't pay you for the space I took up." He shrugged in his coat, seeming already to be drawing back into himself.

Great, now he owed this girl something. Something he had no doubt she would collect. No one did anything without wanting something back. No one.
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shaylamorris
Vargamour
Shayla was about to take the pencil and tap Will when he started to flail about. It startled Shayla who almost lost her contraction and loss the pencil. She had it land on the couch and waited for him to calm down. He looked around and then at her.

“Look, I don’t have any money, so I can’t pay you for the space I took up” He said.

Shayla didn’t move from the counter as a thought came in to her head. “You can repay me by just listening to what I have to say and telling me how some items I baked to sell are. I’m not going to preach about god I just want you to know a few things.”

Shayla still didn’t move as she was still keeping her word. She couldn’t help but feel for this man and wanted to help but how could she make him understand that she did understand.

“May I come over to the chair right there?” She point at a chair in the corner leaving Will a clear shot to the door.
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Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
"Ummm," Will played for time, glancing about the room. After he had decided that he would still have a clear avenue of escape if she sat where she indicated, he turned back to her. "Okay."
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shaylamorris
Vargamour
Shayla put a few meat pies on a plate, filled another glass with ice, got another bottled water. Putting them on the table as close to Will without braking her word she sat down in the chair. Shayla dusted some of the flour off her apron and began.

"I believe you Will because I’ve seen them too but I’m not one of them. I was almost killed by one but a friend helped me to get better but I’m still afraid. I don’t know why the police are not do anything but I can do something.” Shayla leaned from her waist and put her hands of her knees sending up a small cloud of flour. “Will I want to help you, offer you a job, and a safe place to live but it has to be your choice Will. I need a person who can help me with stocking and rotating bake goods. You can say in the back room and you would have your own key I won’t even have a copy.
I can pay you $7.25 an hour. I know you don’t know me but please let me help you.”
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Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
Will opened his mouth to refuse, but closed it again when he realized what she was offering him. It wasn't the place to sleep that attracted him. It wasn't the key. It was the money. If he wanted to keep the monsters from harming his fellow homeless he would have to find some way to fight them, and that would require funds. With more money he could get his hands on something, anything to use against the creatures of the night.

Realizing that she was still waiting for an answer, Will picked up one of the pies and took a bite. He chewed it for a moment and nodded his approval of the item. Swallowing, he washed it down with a swig from the water bottle. "I accept." He said as he capped the bottle.

"What do you need moved?"

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shaylamorris
Vargamour
Shayla watched as Will thought it over she hoped he would say yes. Suddenly he picked up one of the pies and bit in to it. He took another moment then had some water before saying yes and wanted to get to work. Shayla smiled at his enthusiasm. “Well first there’s the paper work and then we have to get you a uniform. After that we can move the bake goods ok?”

She started to get out of the chair but then she stopped. “Will is it alright for me to move behind the counter and get the paperwork. I made that promise to you and I won’t brake it.”

It sounded stupid as she was the boss but Shayla had given her word to him. If she broke that it showed she could not be trusted and that was not what she wanted.
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Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
Will was trying to think about what he would do with the income. He had seen some interesting guns in one of the local stores, but he would have to check them out later on. With an income, he could finally take things into his own hands. He would be able to protect the other people out on the street. He could make a difference.

She had said something. Was it alright for her to move? "Huh? Yeah, why not?" He said with a grin.
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shaylamorris
Vargamour
Shayla went and got the paperwork then walked back over to Will who had a grin on his face.

“What are you thinking of?” She asked looking for a pen in her apron. “You have a look like someone who has had an awakening?”

She sat down at the long table two chairs away from him and set the papers down. Taking a fruit pie she took a bite and waited for Will. “Well sir once you fill out these papers you will know all the secrets of making tea and baking.”
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Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
"Tea making you say? I can hardly wait." Will quipped as he signed his name onto the papers. "God, I hate beaurocracy." He slid the completed forms back to Shayla for inspection.

"I was just thinking about what I'm going to be able to do with my first check. I need to have a plan for my income, you know." He said in response to her earlier question.
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shaylamorris
Vargamour
(Sorry it took so long))

Shayla looked over the paperwork and smilled. “A plan is good. If you would like I could ask a friend of mine to come from the bank if that would help you.”

Shayla stood up and put the forms in a folder under the cash regrester before walking back to the table. “Will lets get somethings on the table right now.” She looked uneasy but this needed to be addressed. “We both know what is out there and the police can’t or won’t do anything about it so we have to protect ourselfs and the ones we care about.”

Shayla took in a breath as she tried to make up her mind about if she should tell him what she could do. “Starting right now I will always call before I leave my apartment for here or if I’m not coming in. If there is not a call I want you to call a few friends of mine and tell them what has happened, they will be able to help you if needed.”

She sat down again. “Now for the fun stuff. We’ll clean out the extra room and you can go to town decorating it. It’s small but you should be able to get a nice apartment out of it. It is my policy to let people to stay here as long as they wish even if they have not bought anything. If you think a person can not afford something then give it to them. I never want to see a person go hungry.” A little anger came across her face when she said that. “I’m sorry a nasty memory came across my mind but I mean it Will. I make three times more than what I need to sell. I just wish I could do more.”
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Will Forte
Human/Local Bum
"You don't need to worry about me. I'm already planning steps to take care of that." Will couldn't decide what to do with his first check. "As to the food thing...I'll keep your words in mind." Will would have to ask the Elders if they would accept food from her. They seldom took handouts, despite their circumstances.
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