Colin's posts

He received one message in return.

I love you as well. was all it said.

Ryker then looked at the phone in his hands, before sitting back on the couch.

"...hey." he then said.

'Yeah?' the other him responded mentally.

"...would alcohol do anything for me?" he asked.

[i['Yeah, probably.'[/i] the voice responded.

"Cool." Ryker replied.

'Keep in mind, I can make it worthless with just a thought.' the voice then warned him.

"...good to know." was all Ryker said with a sigh.

"I agree." Jake replied.

"But Vanessa does it." he told her.

"All other species are nothing more to her than resources and pawns for her to use to get to her end goal. Age, gender, it doesn't matter. We're all equally contemptible in her eyes." he lamented.

"But for that child to have been forced to undergo genetic restructuring... I cannot even imagine the pain he must have went through." he continued.

"Peyton, Vanessa Encrae is a monster, and they're lucky to have somehow escaped." he then said, before pausing and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"...even though they'll have a constant reminder of their time there..."

"....Vanessa Encrae." was Jake's answer.

"So young, yet that vile bitch subjected him and his friend to such horrors." he told her.

"I didn't witness it, myself, but I know what Encrae was like." he continued.

"And those kids would have been treated as nothing but animals." he growled.

"Lower life forms."

Lindsay just nodded as he continued to eat, and in no time at all, he had finished what he had.

"...seconds?" he asked.

"They really give seconds?" he asked them.

"They do." Jake replied.

"You just need to take your tray up and ask." he told him with a smile.

Lindsay nodded and smiled happily, before rushing to do so. Jake watched him go with a sigh and a smile, before his expression turned more serious.

"...poor kid..."

Lindsay just nodded slowly in response.

"Okay." he replied.

"I'll... I'll wait..." he said.

"In the meantime, eat." Jake told him.

"You need it." he reasoned.

Lindsay nodded again, before slowly starting to eat... but it quickly turned more voracious. It was clear that he was malnourished. Not to an alarming degree, but it was definitely concerning.

As he was laying there, he received a series of texts. From Ryker.

All I want is for you to be happy. it read.

Health or not, my worries or not, fill your life with the quality you deserve. If you like Aly so much, go and see her. the next one said.

We both know your time is unknown. Try and fill it with as much as you can. the last one told him.

"....scared?" Lindsay asked.

"She was... scared of you? Of people?" he asked further.

"Not fitting into your image of her, kid?" Jake asked him with a small smirk.

"...no. It's not." Lindsay admitted.

"Well, people change." Jake told him.

"And you really should meet Kiah. You should meet some family of yours." he suggested.

"....yeah...." Lindsay admitted.

Ryker was happy that Eke was pleased, but his smile dissipated when the coughing started again.

"I can afford it." he said.

"Like I said, my job pays me a lot, and I got a small paycheque because I started work close to a pay date. So they just gave me a smaller one, instead of tacking it onto my next one." he explained.

"But it was enough to get us both phones, and a plan for them." he told him.

"My number's already programming into it." he added with a large sigh.

"....what?" Lindsay asked.

"She... she has?" he asked.

"But... why?" he then asked Peyton.

"She's a nice person? When did THAT happen? Was that always the case?" he asked even further.

"Slow down the questions there, ace." Jake interjected.

"Let her answer the ones you've asked already." he told him.

"....sorry." Lindsay apologized.

"......" Lindsay was silent, and just continued to look away.

"You seem ashamed." Jake commented.

"Mother... mother is bad." Lindsay said.

"She gave us up... abandoned us..." he went on.

"................did Vanessa tell you that?" Jake then asked him.

Lindsay didn't respond, but his expression said that yes, she did.

"I... I... well... I..." Lindsay stammered.

"Maybe." he said, looking away.

"What's up?" Jake asked.

"...Fyranes are bad." Lindsay replied.

"Fyranes cause destruction." he went on.

"...well, my mother does, anyway..." he then mumbled.

"Who's that?" Jake inquired.

".................Rowena Fyrane......." Lindsay whispered.

Lindsay shook his head quickly.

"N-no." he said.

"I... I haven't." he told her.

"....why do you seem so terrified, kid?" Jake asked.

"Kiah's a nice girl." he told him.

"M... my last name... is... Fyrane." Lindsay then revealed.

Ryker returned the hug, but remained silent for a bit... before shaking his head and following.

"Ah, right." he said.

"Here." he told him, handing him a small box.

When Eke took it, he saw what it was immediately. It was a cell phone. Not just any cell phone, but the latest smart phone, touting an 'unbreakable' glass screen, and the latest in wireless innovations.

"So we can keep in contact." he said.

"It's already activated and good to go, along with screen protector and case." he added.

".........." Ryker was silent as he heard what Eke said.

"Great." he said.

"Flipping... just flipping wonderful." he growled.

"How long have you been like this?" he asked.

"Because this is NOT healthy. At ALL." he insisted.

"Condition or not, the fact that you're like this is bad. Extremely bad."