The Forgotten Zodiac

Quinn was already terrified. She couldn't move her legs anymore, James had her by the hair and teeth, and he was dragging her back to the institute, or so he said. Her chest was firing pain off like lightning, her scalp burned and her mouth ached from being forced open so much. But none of that mattered to her, she had to get away from this little monster no matter what it took.

A thought struck her. What if he dragged her to Lotis? The Iyoui would eat her! It was all too much. Quinn went limp, fear paralyzing her completely. She whimpered slightly, closing her eyes to try and shut all of it out, hoping all this was some sort of twisted nightmare.

Once James got Quinn out of the house, he withdrew the light from her legs and shoved her forward. "You can walk now, girl. Don't worry, I'm not letting you get away." He grinned at her maliciously, imagining the various ways he could torture her once he got her back to the Institute, the way he had tortured Michael. "I'll simply throw a knife through your back if you try to run. Don't try though. It'll be more work for both of us."

((Do they really have to go all the way back to the institute? I thought they took a few hours getting to this place from there. And that was by car.))

Quinn opened her eyes again. She had to, of course. She started forward, hugging her chest with one arm and using her free hand to wipe her eyes. If she screamed or anything to try and call for some sort of help, James would probably throw a knife at her, then, too. There was nothing she could do, really...but what was this kid going to do to her, besides feed her to Lotis? She stumbled along painfully, sniffing a bit. She decided to ask. "Wh-what are you going to do to me?" She asked quietly, trembling slightly.

((No, but James'll keep walking her until Michael wakes up and come to find them. James doesn't actually want Quinn though, so he's leaving a trail.))

James shrugged. "I'll do various things, probably. You'll be tested on by the scientists, of course, so what I do will hardly be that bad." He marched forward and grabbed Quinn's arm and dragged her forward, not intending to walk at her pace whether it was fast enough or not.

((That's lame. No torture is lame. But okay. :T))

Quinn let out another squeak of pain, nearly tripping but staying on her feet due to James pulling her along so much. His words didn't calm Quinn's fear, though. James might not do much to her, but what about Lotis?

((He'll probably cut her up some, to hear her squeal, but he won't get to the mental torture he put Michael through till they're at the Insitute, so never.))

The place where James was holding Quinn began to heat up. Light was forming and reforming under his hand, causing intense friction that, if he kept it up, would quite possibly burn Quinn. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon. I'm tired of this waiting. Hurry up." He stopped and realized he didn't know what her name was. "By the way, I'm James. You are?"

((Phooey.))

Quinn tried to pull her arm out of James' grip, feeling the heat he was producing. She blinked at him when he stopped. "Um...Quinn. Wh-why does it matter?" She sniffed, trembling a bit. By now, they had gotten surprisingly far from Malya's home. She wondered where the others were, and if they'd realize that she had been dragged away by someone else.

Werr was the first to wake up, naturally. He stayed in bed for awhile; he had been awake for a good bit already. He thought he heard Quinn at one point, but he had still been half-asleep at that point, so he had dismissed it. Now, though, he was remembering that little fact. She probably went back to sleep already, but it was possible that she was awake. In which case, she would be hungry and thirsty, but probably unable to get the stuff without help.

Werr sighed and sat up, thinking back on the day before. Malya had asked a lot of questions, although they had been in Russian so the others wouldn't understand them. 'Who are these people?' and 'Why did you bring them here?', and his least favorite comment, 'You really shouldn't have come here, Werr. That little local news stunt is all over the internet. I realize that this is a place to lose heat, but you've got too much on you now. Aren't you banned from this city, anyways?'

Ugh. For someone who flirted with him at every opporotunity, Malya was harsh. Though, she was right. Werr had put the one of the Snakehead's most valued stopping points at risk. With Malya's brothers being away, the protection around this place was limited. Werr pulled a notebook out of his pocket (he had bought it at a gas station when they had stopped) and started writing, completely forgetting about Quinn. First, his rules needed to be jotted down. All 147 of them. Secondly, he needed to write down everything he knew of the enemies at hand, including the FBI.

Werr, lost in his own thoughts, was possibly making poor Quinn's situation even worse, as the further she got from Malya's place, the harder it would be to find her.

About fifteen minutes after Werr, Michael woke up and rolled out of bed. Literally. After thumping onto the floor, he stood up, looked around, and decided not to try and go back to sleep. Instead, he wandered downstairs and headed for the kitchen, barely noticing the couch at all.

James shrugged and started moving again. "I wanted to know. You had to tell me." He grinned again, deliberately trying to freak Quinn out. "Someday you'll understand why I decided to ask you things that didn't actually matter. Then I'll kill you."

About fifteen minutes after Werr, Michael woke up and rolled out of bed. Literally. After thumping onto the floor, he stood up, looked around, and decided not to try and go back to sleep. Instead, he wandered downstairs and headed for the kitchen, barely noticing the couch at all.

James shrugged and started moving again. "I wanted to know. You had to tell me." He grinned again, deliberately trying to freak Quinn out. "Someday you'll understand why I decided to ask you things that didn't actually matter. Then I'll kill you."

Werr heard Michael go downstairs. After a few more minutes, he finally climbed to his feet and closed his book, deciding that what he had was enough for now. He followed Michael downstairs, somewhat surprised that Malya wasn't awake yet. She was always up and about, it seemed.

Quinn shivered, staring at James for a few moments before watching her feet again. She was barefoot, walking like this was starting to hurt...

Michael pulled the remains of the spagehti out and began eating it with his fingers. Not only did he have no idea where the silverware was, but he was sure making a mess would bother Malya and, by extention, Werr. Bothering Werr was always a plus.

At this point, James' hold was probably starting to hurt more than a little, as it had continued to heat up. He did intend to stop it, or at least change what he was doing once she admitted that it hurt, but currently she seemed to be being stubborn and not flinching, which was completely unaccpetable.

Werr made it down the stairs just in time to see this. He paused for several long seconds before raising a hand to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose. Of all the things... "You know, we have to feed Quinn something. And since Sylas isn't awake yet, and you can't be feeding her that anymore, I guess you'll have to make something." Werr turned around to see if Quinn was awake.

"Uh...Michael? Where is Quinn?" Werr frowned, noticing the lamp that was leaning on the couch. Odd...Malya would never leave such things lying around overnight.

Quinn was silent for a bit longer, until she couldn't take it anymore. "Please stop..." She trembled, reaching up with her free hand to try and pull James' hand off. "Stop i-it..."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Heat burns my hands clean, she could totally eat this." He stuck his head around the corner, wondering why Werr would ask such a stupid question. "She's right- Oh... Oh dear." He shoved the noodles onto the counter and looked around nervously, then ran to the front door which was slightly ajar. "Werr? Vrach shut the door, right?"

James grinned and pulled his hand off, then reached around and grabbed her other arm. "Now you can walk backward. This'll be fun. C'mon, we aren't slowing down." In fact, he was marching faster than before, dragging Quinn along in case she tripped.

"We in the Snakehead know better than to leave doors open," Werr growled, not even caring that he had just given the name of his past organization away. It didn't matter anymore. "She wouldn't have left of her own accord, would she?" He paced for a few moments, thinking. He turned to the stairs and called up, "Malya! We have an emergency!"

Of course, Malya came charging down the stairs in her violet silk pajamas, looking like she had just gotten out of the bed. "What?" She blinked, looking around.

"Quinn's been taken. We need you to drive, as neither of us can without breaking laws."

"Who the heck cares about laws? My guest, taken from my home? I will not have it!" She didn't even bother to get dressed before charging outside. "Is this everyone who's coming? Just you two?"

Quinn squeaked in surprise, stumbling along even easier now that she was being forced to walk backwards. "W-why are you doing th-this?" She cried, feeling the soles of her feet being rubbed raw from walking on this rough pavement.

Michael stuck his head out the door and bit his lip. "I should come, but would they be safe here? I mean, there's an Iyouis after us, judging by the lack of blood all over you living room, this wasn't him, so it's James." He nodded to himself. "If it's James, I should definitely come. If worst comes to worst, Timothy will snap and kill people till Sylas stops him, so we're fine."

James shrugged. "It's my job. Besides, it's fun!" He grinned again, but stopped to give Quinn time enough to stand up. "Again, someday you'll understand, and on that day, I'll kill you."

((I just had. The best. Idea. Ever.))

((Tell me. Or don't. But don't forget it. Write it down. -nodnod-))

"Vrach is still here, you forget. He's not as good of a shot as I am, but he can incapacitate someone. And he knows how to fix it, too. They'll be fine." Malya shook her head.

"I'm going. I'm not letting that girl get hurt anymore than she already is." Werr frowned unhappily.

"Your job?" Quinn shivered again at his grin, but looked away this time. "Freak..." She mumbled before deciding to focus on walking backwards at such a fast pace without tearing her feet apart.

Michael grinned. "Not everyone is actually a sniper in their spare time. Not that I don't like it, I whole-heartedly approve, but still. Making assumptions is dangerous, and I'm not risking my brother without your word that they'll be protected. This way hunting you down and killing you when it all goes wrong is justified." As strangely dark as that sounded, he probably meant it. Messing with Tyler was not something one safely did, but neither was messing with Quinn. She was one of the group. No one touched his group, because that led to more touching of the group, which was unacceptable.

James jerked her, annoyed at the 'freak' comment. It might be partially true, but, in his mind, this wasn't that bad. He'd seen freakier. "My job. I'm an agent, remember? And I'm not a freak. What about the Iyouis? Compared to them I'm quite nice."

((James should fall in love with Quinn, in his freaky, sadist way. He's already being nicer than normal, what with letting her stop and everything.))

"Understood." Malya took his threat quite seriously, but she had complete faith in Vrach. She headed out the door and climbed into the driver's seat of a red mustang; it was perfectly waxed and cleaned, hardly a speck of dirt on so much as the windshield. Malya was worse than Werr was about these sort of things.

Werr pulled open the back door and climbed in, quickly snapping his seatbelt in place while Malya started the engine.

Quinn didn't answer. It was true; she did prefer anything compared to being eaten alive, but that didn't mean that this wasn't unpleasant. "Werr said he wasn't like that...he told me that he planned to give the kids a chance to go quietly, but you and Lotis fouled that up before he could help anyone!" Quinn shook her head, still watching her feet.

((You mad genius you. Yes times a billion.))

((He can leave living squirrels with skinning knives out for her. His way of sending her flowers. Write her notes in blood. The poor, sadistic freak. Also, Malya should take that threat seriously. He would kill her, and Werr. He already doesn't like Werr.))

Michael hurried out of the door and clambered into the car, extremely out of place in such a clean environment. He shuddered to himself. The last place he'd been that was this clean was the Institute, and Snakehead was the kind of name they would use for a recovery team. Agents was slang that had evolved among the Gifted and the Institute-workers had picked up for themselves. On the other hand, this would get him closer to Quinn no matter what, and they had a much higher chance of escape together.

James shrugged. "Werr lied. I mean really, would you expect him to tell you the truth about something like that?" He kept moving and, in fact, slowed down more than he sped up. "The truth is that I did what I had to to keep both of us alive when Lotis wanted to kill us. I offered him a job with the Institute's kill-squad and he didn't kill anyone but the girl. It was hardly my fault, and the whole thing was Werr's idea."

((That sounds emotionally traumatizing. PERFECT.

Malya's never been one to overestimate someone.))

Werr reached over Michael and pulled his seatbelt into place for him. Once Malya heard the second click, the car shot backwards, turned easily, then shot forward again like a speeding bullet. Malya wasn't playing around. This was deadly serious to her.

Quinn stopped again. "Wha...bu-but, that can't be true! W-Werr was injured when he came to us, how d-do you explain that?"