[Sodium_noir] At the Temple

[Liz Oleksyn]

Jack, Christine
Spirit Entity, Orphan Mage
Temple of the Five Dragons
Late evening

 Minutes later, Jack is dressed and the pair are
making their way to the street outside.  He's very
much looking forward to a night out and the promise of
adventure and potential debauchery, especially in the
company of Christine.

"So... s'pose we should ring for a cab, yeah?  I can't
imagine this Sinclair party is taking place anywhere
in this vicinity."

"Through there!" Christine says pointing at a gap
between two buildings. She's not sure if she
remembered seeing a cab office on the way over or if
it was a random flash of foresight, so she quickly
took Jack's arm to pull him along. Better to do than
think about it.
 
They cut through the alleyway, coming out into a more
active section of Chinatown. Brighter lights and more
commerce. True to her word, there is a Taxi office
just across the road and they head towards it. 
 
In the cab, Christine appears flushed and excited. She
slides across the seat and makes herself comfortable,
simply telling the driver 'Sinclair mansion, Dusk
Drive!" That much she knew from Mara, and the cabbie,
an old Oriental man, seems to know where they are
going. A cross town fare, just what he wanted for his
last fare of the night.
 
As they pull away, Christine lets out a puff, digging
into the gap between the door and the seat. Her hand
comes out with a wallet, unisex and rather worn. She
shows it briefly to Jack and then opens it. Inside is
an driving license, money, credit cards and an ID for
some company. Christine draws in breath as she reads
the name of that company; Melcom Industrial.
 
She knew the name all too well from her work with
Mara. Reading down she gets the owner’s name - Dr
Alison Beauchamp, Biochemical Division.
 
Before she can speak, the blinding pain hits her.
Another vision, another tumble through Time brought on
by touching the ID card. She grips the front seat
hard, Jack hears her teeth grinding. And then it is
over, as quick as it began. And Christine is panting. 
He grabs her arm, not understanding where the pain is
coming from, not knowing how to stop it.
 
"I ... I ... STOP HERE!" she almost yells at the
driver. "Sorry Jack, I ... You're on your own from
here. I just ... I need ... Sorry I can't come." With
that she yanks at the door handle, to no avail.
Eventually realising it is locked, she fumbles with
the mechanism to unlock it. "This can't wait Jack, I
have to go. You can't come so just go find Mitsuko and
Aurora, I'll be OK really!" And with that the door was
open and Christine fled into the night.

Jack was halfway out the door of the cab, ready to
follow, but her instructions were clear, even if the
reason behind them wasn’t.  He simply stared at her
retreating figure, until the darkness swallowed her.
 
"We still go Uptown?" The driver asked in a monotone
voice.

The man’s words brought Jack to attention.  Confused,
disappointed, and concerned for Christine’s
well-being, it took a few moments for him to collect
his thoughts.

“Yeah, that would be...no, wait a minute.  There’s
someplace I need to stop first.”  Jack gave him the
address of the Biltmore, hoping the driver wouldn’t
mind passing through the hellish neighborhood before
heading to the swank Sinclair residence.

(insert driver’s response)

Jack sat back in the seat as the cab pulled away,
still peering into the place where he last saw
Christine.  His heart was pounding.  This felt wrong.

(tags)

(joint post by Spikey & Liz)

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