Colin's posts

"....ok, that's a better way to put it." Jackson admitted.

"They almost succeeded." he lamented, as he started to dry off.

"But thank you." he went on.

"So, uh... what now?" he asked.

"What do we do now that I'm free?" he asked her.

"Because they're gonna come looking for me."

Jackson was silent for a moment, before he looked down at himself.

"Oh. Eh-heh." he chuckled sheepishly.

"Thanks." he said with a small blush.

"And yeah, thanks." he told her.

"It's SUCH a relief to see you again." he said.

"You're... well, the reason I didn't go 100% insane." he admitted.

After a few seconds, Jackson stopped the water.

"Aw, cool." he said.

He then reached out from the shower, grabbed a towel, whipped it in with him, and then walked out, the towel wrapped around his waist.

When he did, Sierra saw two things. The first was that his body was covered in scars and scratches and wounds. It was like his body was a roadmap of pain and abuse. But she also noticed the second thing... all the abuse and pushing they'd put him through had shown results. He looked to be pretty strong and his muscles were well-toned. It was probably their effort to make him stronger, so he'd be more effective at dealing with troublesome individuals.

"Thanks, Sierra." he said to her.

"Who's there!?" she heard from inside.

"It is I, Sierra." she responded.

"Come in!" Jackson responded.

When she entered, she noticed it was steamy inside, and that Jackson had chosen to, indeed, take a shower. She saw his muted outline in one of the showers, as he cleaned himself.

"This feels amazing!" he exclaimed.

"I'd forgotten just how good it felt to get CLEAN!"

"I'll bring him here." he told her.

"And he'll explain everything." he said.

"It's not my place to go any further without him here, sadly." he lamented.

"In the meantime, go and check on Jackson." he told her.

"Bring him some clean clothes or something." he said further.

"And if he has any serious-looking injuries, let me know." he went on. "I will tend to them, for what little good that will do." he finished.

The man was silent, and looked at her.

"What is expected?" he asked.

"Simple." he said.

"You need to be persuasive." he told her.

"You need to be able to convince Hank that there IS impending danger." he said further.

"And stop things... before they begin."

"See, that's the thing." he responded.

"He was killed the day the school was attacked." he told her.

"But he is the root of them all." he went on.

"Hmmmmmmmm..." he mumbled further.

"No, I know this person can help." he then said, certainty in his tone.

"It all boils down to WHEN he is stopped. In every sense of that word."

"Hm." he mumbled.

"I wonder..." he said.

"Killing every single person will be a daunting task, and it may just make things worse." he told her.

"But... I might know someone." he went on.

"Someone that can help, and in a very big way." he said further.

"Someone that might be able to help you cut these people off at their source." he then said, which was confusing to her, as the source was already dead... she killed him the day of the attack. And it didn't seem to cut anything off.

"I agree with your sentiment." he responded.

"And yeah, it WON'T be easy." he said.

"Their power and influence is so ingrained and deep-rooted." he sighed.

"They may be too big to take down now." he lamented.

He then looked like he was thinking about something, and made his way to a chair, sitting down in it.

"Indeed." the man replied.

"Congratulations." he told her.

"You brought him back from the brink." he said.

"...so what now?" he asked her.

"You've saved him. Where do you go from here?"

"I have plenty of clothing here." he responded.

"Gloves included." he said.

"Shower's down the hall, first door to the left." he went on.

"Towels are in there." he finished.

"Right. Thank you." Jackson replied, before nodding to them and leaving the room.

"........finally saved him, huh?" the man then asked Sierra.

The man looked over towards them, and smiled.

"You must be Jackson." he said.

"I am." Jackson replied.

"Good to see you're finally free of that hell." the man replied.

"Yeah... yeah, it really was hell." Jackson agreed.

"Now. Forgive me for being forward, but... do clean yourself up." the man then told her. "You smell worse than some of the bodies I handle."

Jackson looked at Sierra and her new body, and nodded.

"Yeah." he replied.

"I do." he said, slowly accepting her hand.

When he did, he was silent for a moment, and stared at them.

"...been a while..." he mumbled.

"Been a real long while since anyone touched me, and it wasn't violent." he admitted.

"And... yes... I need to be cleaned." he agreed.

"............" Jackson was silent for a moment.

"Right..." he mumbled.

"That's... hm. Lonely." he commented to himself.

-

The male had just finished with something, when he looked over towards the handprint.

"Back so soon?" he asked.

"There's a body over there." he told her, gesturing to one under a sheet.