Colin's posts

The desperation Ty heard in her tone made his blood boil, but he managed to keep himself composed.

"Then you won't go back to her." he said.

"I'll make sure of it." he told her.

"I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you not only don't go back to her, but have the happy life you deserve." he then vowed, before he suddenly paused, and cleared his throat.

"Sorry, got a little... overly passionate there..." he apologised.

"But I meant what I said."

"I thought I heard that accent before." Ty commented.

"And on a vacation, huh?" he asked, before pausing. "Something tells me it's not much of one..." he said further.

"Tell me something." he then said.

"...is your Mama someone you want to go back to?" he asked her.

"Or is she someone that you don't want to be with?"

"Lunet? Rare name." Ty responded.

"A lovely name, too." he said. "It suits you." he complimented her.

"And look, I get it. This is probably VERY overwhelming for you, and you're not sure how to process it." he then said. "But I promise you I'm not doing this because I expect anything from you, or that I'm going to suddenly turn into the bad guy." he assured her.

"I was only with those robed bastards to try and stop their plans." he said.

"To which I did, but I had to save you as well. I'd never have forgiven myself if I hadn't."

After a bit more conversation, Ty ended the call, and they continued to drive. However, they then pulled up to a drive-thru, and Ty placed his order into the speaker that was there.

"Yeah, can I get a cheeseburger, a chicken sandwich, an apple pie, a bottle of water, and... a large coffee, 3 sugars." he said into it.

After telling him his total, he pulled up again, paid for the order, and waited. He was handed the coffee first, and placed it into the cup holder, and was then handed the bag of food and the bottle of water. Once he had everything, he pulled over to the side and handed the girl the bag and water.

"You can eat it, or choose not to." he told her, pulling out from the parking lot, and then driving down the road.

"As you probably heard from the call, my name's Ty." he introduced himself. "Tyson King." he said further.

"What's YOUR name?" he asked.

The man just sighed, before taking his phone out of his pocket, setting it up on the mount that was there, and pressing a call button. It rang for a few seconds, before another male answered.

"What is it, Ty?" he asked.

"That cult's been severely hindered." Ty responded.

"God damn it, Ty." the man growled. "I told you not to get involved with them. We needed to wait until we had hard evidence of them breaking mage or mortal laws." he went on. "Are YOU the reason there's a massive fire in the warehouse district?" he then asked snappishly.

"Yes." Ty replied. "But I did it to save a little girl's life." he said further.

"...I see." the other one responded, sounding much softer now. "Is she all right?" he asked.

"She's alive, but hurt and scared." Ty told him. "I'm bringing her to the Unit for medical attention." he said further.

"...very well." the man said. "Then I suppose your actions are justified." he reasoned. "I'll make sure the medical bay and Jake know of this. I assume you're on your way back now?" he asked.

"Yep. And I'll need a van to be disposed of." Ty finished.

The girl didn't really have much to add to this conversation. However, for what it was worth, the caller and the one on the other side DID seem genuine.

He was taken aback at he heard that, but then sighed, shaking his head.

"Sometimes, people ARE scum..." he mumbled.

"Listen, kid." he then said. "I don't know everything about your past, and I know my saying this isn't going to change anything overnight, but I'm not like the people who taught you to be like that." he told her.

"I'm offering you food because I want to. Because I'm trying to be nice." he said further.

"That's all. I don't mind about problems or costs or money. I don't expect anything in return."

"You're welcome." he responded, closing the door and making his way to the other side. He stepped inside and closed the door, starting it up and quickly driving away from the warehouse.

He was silent for a moment, before then sighing.

"I'm going to take you somewhere safe." he told her. "Somewhere that you can get treated and have your injuries tended to." he said.

"But on the way, let's go through a drive-thru and get some food." he suggested.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked. He knew she had sustained injuries, but this would be quick, and he had a feeling she was starving.

The man just sighed, and slowly made his way to the van that the cultists had brought her in.

"Please let them have left the keys, please let them have left the keys..." he pleaded aloud, looking inside the van... and smirking.

"Ah, good." he said. "Though I suppose when you're trying to bring about the end of all things, making sure you don't leave the keys in the van is... not a top priority." he reasoned.

"We're getting you out of here." he told her, making his way to the other side and setting her down into the seat. He then took the robe he was still wearing off, and draped it around her.

"Dry off on that." he said. "For once, the damned robe'll be used for something GOOD..."

By this point, the man had practically dragged himself outside, and saw that the girl was still on fire.

"God damn it all!" he cursed, before looking around and seeing a rainbarrel nearby. It had rained a few nights ago, so hopefully there was water inside it.

"Hey!" he called to her, but she did not respond.

He then forced himself to his feet, despite the immense pain he was feeling, and made his way towards her. He quickly lifted her up and, despite her squirming and panicking, took her over to the barrel and set her inside it, the water immediately dousing the flames.

Though she still hurt from their burning her.

The man looked at the girl, and saw she was lost... and how she actually couldn't SEE where she was going, or where to go.

"HEY! HEY, OVER HERE!" he yelled. "FOLLOW THE SOUND OF MY VOICE!" he called to her.

However, it seemed like he wasn't loud enough.

"Damn it!" he cursed.

"..." he was then silent, before looking towards the door, and narrowing his eyes.

'It's a long shot, but it's worth it...' he thought, aiming the gun at the door, and firing. He aimed for the hinges, and after missing a few shots, managed to blast the aging hinges off, causing the door to fall forward, and cool outside air to flow inside. He knew this would cause the flames to become stronger, and that'd be bad if the sprinkler system didn't turn on... but maybe she'd feel the colder air and rush towards it.

The gravitational effect of the flames had finally managed to catch up to her, and she fell to her knees, feeling the flames lick her arms, as the searing pain of them ran through her nerves.

However, at that point, a gunshot was heart, and a bullet whizzed past the leader's neck, severing the chain that the pendant was attached to, and causing two things to happen. The first was the leader then felt the effects of the flames, and collapsed in a heap, blood flowing from where the bullet had grazed him. The second was that the pendant fell to the floor and rolled up against the child's hand, allowing her freedom from the flame's effects.

"GRAB THAT AND RUN!" she heard the man that had tried to save her yell.

"GRAB IT AND RUN! RUN TO THE EXIT!" he yelled further.

He was still on the floor, and his voice was definitely that of pain, as the hand that was holding the gun was shaking, and he let it fall to the floor as well.

"Damn it." he cursed. "I shouldn't be moving while this isn't complete yet." he muttered, wincing from the pain of movement.

The cultists all covered their ears when she screamed, the ones closest to her showing faint signs of actual pain.

"Ah! Damn it!" one of them cursed.

"She'll get someone here!" another said.

"There's nobody out here!" the leader responded. "And even if there IS, no matter! The plan was to sacrifice ourselves alongside the girl, so if this warehouse goes up in flames, we shall still succeed!" he declared.

"Just keep her from escaping, and we shall summon him!" he finished, laughing out loud.

As he did so, the flames continued to engulf the area, their strange effect of paralysis starting to cause the cultists to drop to the floor... except for the leader, whose pendant was glowing now, allowing him to stand tall amongst the flames. He then approached the girl, and looked down at her.

"...well... everyone will die, except MYSELF." he chuckled darkly.

Her swings missed, as the one that grabbed her tightened their grip on her wrist. They then threw her forward, and she felt that she was close to the heat of the raging fire that had been created.

"It doesn't matter if this place burns to the ground!" the leader declared.

"Oh Great One! Accept this child! Accept her suffering!" he yelled to the heavens.

That's when she heard the one behind her.

"The agony from being burned will surely bring the Great One." they hissed.

The man didn't move. He was dead. And a heavy weight on the child now.

The one that had hit him, then reached under and yanked the girl out from under him... harshly.

"Come here, you little brat." they snarled.

"He may have fucked it up for a little bit, but we'll set this back up and get this done!" he declared, as he started to drag her back towards the flames.

"As long as YOU die... the ritual will succeed!"