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Post by Stella on Aug 14, 2006 16:12:09 GMT -5
OOC: Set directly after the "Outside" thread
The portal opening in Alfea's courtyard, Stella put a finger to her lips to signal to the two that they should be quiet. It was quite late at night and everyone would be asleep - and hopefully, they would remain that way because she was exhausted and if she could just escape a lecture about running off to search for Brandon by Faragonda until morning, she would be grateful.
As the trio navigated through the darkened halls of the school, Stella finally came to a halt in front of her room. Slowly opening the door so that it wouldn't creak, she motioned for them to follow her in; once the door was safely closed behind them, Stella flicked on the lights as she said, "You guys can room with me for the night and in the morning, I'll take you to see Ms. Faragonda. I would take you guys now but she's bound to be asleep and I'm afraid that if I wake her, she'll be in a less than pleased mood. Anyway," Stella continued as she gestured around her extremely large room, "make yourselves at home."
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Post by Random NPC on Aug 14, 2006 17:30:46 GMT -5
 : Angelique glanced at her boyfriend and clung close to him. "I'll stay where you stay," she said softly, looking up at him. "But I'd like it if we took a corner.." She was used to staying in a confined area and felt vaguely uncomfortable anywhere but. |
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Post by brandon2 on Aug 14, 2006 17:44:10 GMT -5
"We can take a corner," Brandon said before stifling a yawn, "Which one?" Brandon really didn't care he just wanted to go to sleep.
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Post by Random NPC on Aug 14, 2006 17:46:48 GMT -5
: "Any corner's good for me," she said softly. She'd be happy just to curl up next to him and sleep. After the events of the past few days, Angelique was sure she could sleep for the next week easy. |
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Post by brandon2 on Aug 14, 2006 17:53:23 GMT -5
"If we could trouble you for a blanket?" Brandon tentatively asked, Stella was already helping them so much.
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Post by Stella on Aug 14, 2006 18:02:20 GMT -5
Walking over to the trunk at the foot of her bed, Stella unsnapped it and then pulled out some extra bedding: a couple blankets and a few fluffy pillows. Handing them over and then leaving the two of them in peace, Stella strolled over to her window and idly ran a finger across a picture she kept of herself and Brandon on the sill. As she dragged her gaze away from it and out to the night sky, a spark of hope swelled in her chest. Perhaps Brandon had returned. Perhaps at this very moment he was sitting in his dorm room at Red Fountain worried out of his mind about her. Not hesitating for a moment more, Stella grabbed her phone and dialed Sky's number, immediately forgetting that she would probably be waking him.
After a couple rings, she heard Sky's groggy voice on the other end asking, "Hello?" Not bothering to apologize for waking him, Stella asked, her voice full of nervous anticipation, "Sky, is Brandon back yet?" At the long silence that greeted her, Stella's face fell and she quietly said, "Thanks anyway, Sky . . ." Hanging up the phone, Stella, not wanting to be around anyone at the moment, hurried toward her closet as she said to Angelique and Brandon over her shoulder, "I'm just going to get changed for bed."
The moment the door to her walk-in closet closed behind her, Stella crumpled to the floor, tears freely rolling down her cheeks. Now she knew for sure that something had happened to her Brandon; he wasn't the reckless type. He would never have stayed away from Red Fountain for as long as he had without telling someone where he was going. Never.
Feeling sick to her stomach, Stella curled up in a ball and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force herself to fall asleep. But it was no use; there was no way she was going to get any sleep that night. Or any night for that matter until Brandon was safe back in her arms.
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Post by Random NPC on Aug 14, 2006 18:07:58 GMT -5
: Angelique yawned softly and snuggled close to Brandon as they curled up on the floor in the corner of Stella's room. Her eyes fluttered shut and she was soon fast asleep. She was completely worn out after the events of the past few days. She hugged her teddy bear closely as she slept. |
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Post by brandon2 on Aug 14, 2006 18:14:07 GMT -5
Brandon shifted until he was comfortable and wrapped an arm around Angelique as she slept, something about the smells in this room were familiar, something was nagging him to figure out what it was but his exhaustion won and Brandon slept.
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Post by Stella on Aug 14, 2006 18:15:48 GMT -5
A half hour later, Stella finally dragged herself to her feet and with a heavy heart, she slowly undressed and then pulled a pretty nightgown on, the expensive material for once failing to bring a smile of satisfaction to her face.
Feeling unimaginably alone, Stella, in desperate need of a friend to lean on, silently slipped out of her closet and then, casting a backward glance at Angelique and her boyfriend, whose name, she made a mental note, she had failed to learn, to make sure they were okay, quietly exited her room. Padding softly across the hall, Stella tapped lightly on Flora's door.
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Post by Demeter on Aug 14, 2006 18:22:55 GMT -5
OOC: since I was tagged  Flora yawned softly and pushed her door open, her hair mussed slightly. She had been having one of those dreams again - the kind that left her red-faced and flustered when she had them before she had Professor Palladium's class. She brought her hand up to her mouth and yawned behind it. "Stella, what can I..." she paused to yawn. "Do for you at this hour?" |
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Post by Stella on Aug 14, 2006 19:10:52 GMT -5
Slipping into Flora's room, Stella plopped down on the floor as she said softly, her eyes still red from crying, "Brandon. He's gone. Just . . . gone. There's no trace of him or anything and I just don't know what to do. I tried to go out in search of him but that didn't accomplish anything besides getting myself lost . . . well, that's not entirely true. I helped a couple of people. Or rather I'm in the process of helping them." Pausing for a moment, Stella shook her head. "They're in my room right now; I figured I ought to let them sleep for a night before getting help from Faragonda because I certainly can't deal with them on my own." Thinking back on her brief trip to Lost Souls, Stella asked suddenly, "Have you heard of a Dr. Moreau?" Not waiting for an answer, she continued, "Apparently he's some mad scientist and he turned these people into . . . well, animals. They're not fully transformed; I think the girl, Angelique, is just 25 percent cat and the guy is at 75% dog . . . they're harmless, so it's not like I'm worried about them attacking anyone. I . . . I'm just tired. And I can't deal with all this stuff about Brandon and them at the same time." Giving Flora an apologetic smile, she finished, "I guess I just needed someone to talk to. Sorry for waking you, Flo."
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Post by Demeter on Aug 14, 2006 19:14:26 GMT -5
Flora bit her lower lip. The name wasn't familiar, but she had been doing research - piles and piles of research. When Tecna suddenly vanished from Alfea, she had taken it on her delicately built shoulders to be a research fiend. "At this point, no, the name's not familiar, but I'll probably be able to find something about him with in the week," she said, wrapping an arm around Stella. "Listen, since Bloom's still not back with us yet, you can dorm with me tonight," she offered.
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Post by Stella on Aug 14, 2006 19:27:57 GMT -5
Resting her head on Flora's shoulder, Stella felt as though a weight had been lifted off of her. Silent for a moment, she then said quietly, "Thanks, Flora. I think the sooner we can find out more about this Dr. Moreau guy, the sooner we can help Angelique and her boyfriend. They're really nice people and I want to help them get back to their families. Although, I have a feeling that that is going to prove easier said than done - neither one of them remembers much about their life prior to entering Dr. Moreau's lab. I think it's a side-effect of the injections they received, but I'm not absolutely sure. For all I know that creep could have done more to them than just turning them into human/animal hybrids."
Again lapsing into silence, Stella then said in a tiny voice that she rarely used, "I know you're going to think I'm crazy, but there's just something about Angelique's boyfriend that reminds me so much of Brandon. I can't explain it, but it's like . . . I don't know. Do you think that my mind is just playing with me? That I miss Brandon so much that I'm beginning to imagine him in other people so that maybe I'll miss him less?"
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Post by Demeter on Aug 14, 2006 19:31:39 GMT -5
"I don't know what to tell you about that," she said quietly. "Maybe your mind is playing tricks, or maybe Angelique's boyfriend is related to Brandon. Remember, we know nothing about his biological family save the fact that they gave him to Sky's family to be Sky's companion."
She gently stroked Stella's hair, trying comfort the shaken princess. "I'm sure he's out there and he's trying to get back to you. Why wouldn't he? He loves you, you know."
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Post by Stella on Aug 14, 2006 19:37:26 GMT -5
"I know," Stella said with a shaky smile as she thought back to all the good times she had shared with Brandon. "I'm one of the lucky ones; I have a wonderful boyfriend who loves me and most girls our age don't have that. Or if they do, it's not something that's going to last - like Bloom and Sky. They were so sure that they loved each other, but look how that turned out . . . but Brandon and me? We're different. We're going to last. He's the one; he's the one I want to spend my whole life with and the one I want to marry and I guess that's why it hurts so much to have him gone."
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