Emily was in a good mood coming home from work that day. Well, she was usually in a good mood, but today was still special due to the promotion she'd received from work. Starting in two weeks, she would be on a trial period for the baking team at the shop she worked at. This meant actually more hands-on involvement with the process and more complicated recipes. So far she'd mostly been front counter and clean-up help, only doing simple things like cookies and sheet cakes. But now...now she was on to more exciting things like donuts, coffee cakes, pies, and breads
( ... )
The inside of the complex was just as pretty as the outside, though it wasn't as ostentatious as one might expect it to be. Morgan wasn't sure if she was expecting gold and teak and chandeliers, but the lack didn't make the building less beautiful. More cozy, maybe. Although at the same time - when you considered the hard stone floor - more cold.
The door creaked open behind her, faster than she could react. The woman skittered forward nervously a step, clutching the key to her chest. Another tenant had just stepped in, a perky young thing who didn't look like she had the money to live here. Unless she had somehow handed up with a key in her glove compartment one day?
Morgan blinked at the question. Did she live here? Well, not technically. She shouldn't be here at all, really; she should be in northern Oregon by now, ready to reach Washington if not already there. But she'd wasted a night crashing in her jeep at the gas station, and then all day trying to get out of the city
( ... )
While Morgan may not have been able to make sense of what was happening, a suddenly light of comprehension dawned on Emily's face.
"Oh, you're new, aren't you. Uh." Thinking about it now, Emily had never directly welcomed a new person before. Usually she just heard about or felt them soon after they settled into their places here, and by then they'd already been filled in on most of the strangeness that was Truth and Consequences. Emily bit her lip uncertainly, not sure where to start.
"This is all going to be really weird for you then. I'm not sure how to start explaining... Well." She smiled and held out a hand. "I'm Emily for starters. It's nice to meet you. What's your name?"
Oh. The inevitable introductions. Should she really be giving out her name, though? Was Emily even this girl's real name? Well, with the cute little apron getup and the angel shoulder wing things, there was a good chance it really was, but looks could be deceiving. Emily might even be in on the whole no-way-out-of-town thing. She might even been the ring-leader.
So what if that sounded like paranoid delusion. Morgan was allowed to be paranoid right now.
In the end, after a short pause, she decided to go ahead and give her name. Rather than shaking hands, though, she made a short, sharp gesture towards her neck, rather like the slit-your-throat gesture often used in movies, and pulled a small notebook pen out of her back jeans pocket with the other. A quick scribble, and she raised the paid for Emily to see:
Really weird and freak her out, huh? What, like everything else up to this point hadn't? Well, it HAD been weird, but if she really sat and thought about it she was more angry than freaked out. Freaked out denoted fear, right? She wasn't scared yet, so she must not be freaked out. Unless the room beyond that door (quite a nicely carved and solid door) was actually a torture chamber, Morgan didn't think she was going to get too freaked out
( ... )
There had been a lot of pictures in her apartment too, mostly in her bedroom. (Her N'Sync posters not counted.) All pictures she remembered except for one, small change in each one: her distorted face. She'd torn them all down and shifted through them later with scissors and a sharpie. Right now they were being kept in a shoebox buried in her closet; at least the ones with her in it anyway. Watching Morgan right now was reminding her of it.
She shuffled her feet just inside the front turn into the main portion of the apartment, feeling like she was invading on someone's private moment.
"Um, I can leave if you want me to," she said quietly, hoping not to wrongfully place herself in the middle of Morgan's current daze. "There's a few more things you want to know, I'm sure, but if you need a minute to take it in I can go."
Morgan's head snapped back up as the silence was broken, blinking over at the other woman with a combination of surprise (she'd forgotten Emily was there; how had she forgotten Emily was there?), suspicion (there was still no reason not to suspect anyone she met was behind this joke), and uncertainty (what was going on here?). No fear yet, though. The irritation at not liking the joke being played on here was buried under something that felt sadness, but there was no fear. Not freaked out yet
( ... )
It was how she came in, damnit. There HAD been a road there, which meant if it had been tried before, they just might not have been looking right. Maybe even Morgan herself hadn't been looking right; some roads were constructed sneakily like that. There was no reason why she shouldn't go back to check it out again, and maybe even talk (so to speak) with the clerk again. If he was still there.
Yes, she was going to try it. Morgan gave a short, sharp nod of her head and began folding the map back up with the ease of someone who actually used those things a lot.
Emily stepped back from the hood, wringing her hands nervously. What should she do? Should she go with her? What if...what if she did find a way out? If there was actually a way out of there then she could...Emily could...!
...Could what? Go back to wandering without purpose? To forgetting? She'd forget everyone she met here eventually. Gen, Tito, Abbot, Ryan (no, Ryan was okay)...Gray... Truth be told, Emily wasn't sure she was ready to leave yet. No home, no life and finally stumbling upon a place that actually seemed to want her... She didn't want to go. Not yet.
But others did. Others still had their family and homes beyond the undefined city limits of Truth and Consequences. If there was a way out, they deserved to know it. If there wasn't...well, she could at least make sure the new girl got home before curfew.
If she let her ride along, that is.
"C-can I come with you?" she asked meekly, keeping a few steps behind Morgan.
The driver's side door creaked open, swinging to a stop as Morgan paused to look at her companion. Come with her? What was this girl, stupid? Emily only knew her first name, had only been talking to her for, what, ten minutes, and she was asking to come along as if she really expected a complete stranger to be safe?
Maybe this girl really was what she seemed. There didn't look to be any place where she could hide much of a weapon in that work outfit, and besides, Morgan had her pepper spray.
After a pause, she nodded. What the hell? This was crazy enough already. Letting a perfect stranger into her jeep to find a way out of a city that had no exit couldn't possibly top out on her list of craziest things out there. Though it certainly was up there.
"Crazy" was a word that was currently going through Emily's head as well as she ran over to the other side to climb into the front passenger's seat. Where on earth did she think she was going, after all? Her, not Morgan, although she didn't know where Morgan planned on going either. But so many people here didn't deserve to be trapped, and while Emily had never taken an active role into finding a solution before, maybe it was time she did.
"Thank you," she said, buckling her seatbelt.
'I hope I don't regret this later,' was something she kept to herself as Ashwood disappeared the side view mirror as they drove away.
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The door creaked open behind her, faster than she could react. The woman skittered forward nervously a step, clutching the key to her chest. Another tenant had just stepped in, a perky young thing who didn't look like she had the money to live here. Unless she had somehow handed up with a key in her glove compartment one day?
Morgan blinked at the question. Did she live here? Well, not technically. She shouldn't be here at all, really; she should be in northern Oregon by now, ready to reach Washington if not already there. But she'd wasted a night crashing in her jeep at the gas station, and then all day trying to get out of the city ( ... )
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"Oh, you're new, aren't you. Uh." Thinking about it now, Emily had never directly welcomed a new person before. Usually she just heard about or felt them soon after they settled into their places here, and by then they'd already been filled in on most of the strangeness that was Truth and Consequences. Emily bit her lip uncertainly, not sure where to start.
"This is all going to be really weird for you then. I'm not sure how to start explaining... Well." She smiled and held out a hand. "I'm Emily for starters. It's nice to meet you. What's your name?"
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So what if that sounded like paranoid delusion. Morgan was allowed to be paranoid right now.
In the end, after a short pause, she decided to go ahead and give her name. Rather than shaking hands, though, she made a short, sharp gesture towards her neck, rather like the slit-your-throat gesture often used in movies, and pulled a small notebook pen out of her back jeans pocket with the other. A quick scribble, and she raised the paid for Emily to see:
( ... )
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She shuffled her feet just inside the front turn into the main portion of the apartment, feeling like she was invading on someone's private moment.
"Um, I can leave if you want me to," she said quietly, hoping not to wrongfully place herself in the middle of Morgan's current daze. "There's a few more things you want to know, I'm sure, but if you need a minute to take it in I can go."
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Emily's eyes turned up to her, sad and sorry. "I don't know," she answered softly. "No one does. That's why we're all here, because we can't leave."
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Yes, she was going to try it. Morgan gave a short, sharp nod of her head and began folding the map back up with the ease of someone who actually used those things a lot.
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...Could what? Go back to wandering without purpose? To forgetting? She'd forget everyone she met here eventually. Gen, Tito, Abbot, Ryan (no, Ryan was okay)...Gray... Truth be told, Emily wasn't sure she was ready to leave yet. No home, no life and finally stumbling upon a place that actually seemed to want her... She didn't want to go. Not yet.
But others did. Others still had their family and homes beyond the undefined city limits of Truth and Consequences. If there was a way out, they deserved to know it. If there wasn't...well, she could at least make sure the new girl got home before curfew.
If she let her ride along, that is.
"C-can I come with you?" she asked meekly, keeping a few steps behind Morgan.
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The driver's side door creaked open, swinging to a stop as Morgan paused to look at her companion. Come with her? What was this girl, stupid? Emily only knew her first name, had only been talking to her for, what, ten minutes, and she was asking to come along as if she really expected a complete stranger to be safe?
Maybe this girl really was what she seemed. There didn't look to be any place where she could hide much of a weapon in that work outfit, and besides, Morgan had her pepper spray.
After a pause, she nodded. What the hell? This was crazy enough already. Letting a perfect stranger into her jeep to find a way out of a city that had no exit couldn't possibly top out on her list of craziest things out there. Though it certainly was up there.
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"Thank you," she said, buckling her seatbelt.
'I hope I don't regret this later,' was something she kept to herself as Ashwood disappeared the side view mirror as they drove away.
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