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Post by Aeron De Lestra on Jul 24, 2017 23:19:28 GMT -5
The light shining upon the screen faded as the glow from the smaller lamps lining the walls steadily grew. With a groan, Aeron stretched his limbs as he stood, taking a moment to look at the seats in the theater around him. Aside from his, all of the other seats were vacant. He was used to this, preferring to watch movies only days before their removal from the theater's lineup. This tactic kept him away from the public, which meant less distractions.
Humming a part from the score that had stood out to him, Aeron walked into the brightly lit lobby, a clear contrast to the outside world. Though the night held little light, the Regal Plaza sometimes resembled a suburban Las Vegas, lights cutting through the night. Crown Theater, the name being merely a coincidence, had its own spotlights to shine into the sky on top of the bright sign above its doors. Aeron had felt out of place the first few times he had come to the Crown, between the bright lights and the large crowds made up of people from several surrounding towns. It wasn't long, however, before Aeron discovered the occasional appearance of his friend Shaye at this particular hang out.
Shaye was an intense person at times, Aeron knew this well. She was younger than Aeron, but she had an old soul, a compliment he seldom gave. Shaye was wise beyond her years, though she did let her youth cloud her judgement from time to time. He enjoyed the childlike energy she often radiated, but it was her large heart that ultimately won his favor. Because of this, he found himself enjoying her company, something he had nearly forgotten how to do over time.
She had expressed no interest in this film, so he had decided to go alone. He had needed time away from his life, with or without her. Ambrose had punished him severely for upsetting her, and Aeron just needed an escape, however temporary. This need seemed to consume him more and more often as of recent, with his escapes becoming harder and harder to find. His mind rarely found the quiet he searched for, though tonight things had gone well.
"Perhaps I shall give Shaye a call, see if she'd be interested in grabbing a bite to eat." Aeron muttered to himself, glancing at the pay phone near the cinema's exit. Pulling up a mental map of the plaza, he made notes of the places he could meet up with his friend for food. Having decided that he would indeed like her company, he put his quarters in the machine, and punched in the numbers he knew well.
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Post by -|Shaye|- on Aug 7, 2017 6:42:05 GMT -5
An uncharacteristic hush fell among the group that gathered around the table, but the haze of smoke and smell of beer were as strong as ever. In seemingly one motion, Shaye brought her own bottle to her lips and upended it, planting it back down onto the table beside her. She grabbed her stick from its resting place against the wall and strode back to the pool table, twisting it in her hands as she stared down the 12. Sinking the final stripe would have been easy enough, of course, if not for the pesky 8-Ball standing defiantly between it and the cue.
Pulling up the front of her tank top to avoid giving anyone too much of a show, she readied the pool stick in her hands and bent forward over the table, narrowing her eyes as she prepared her shot. Despite her concentration, a heavy sigh escaped her as she dropped her stance and stood upright once more. No good. Even fully extended, her reach fell short. With a few curses uttered under her breath, she shifted her hips and brought a leg up to the side, nearly lifting her rear end up onto the table as she readjusted.
"'Ey! One foot on the floor, Shaye!"
"Chris," She shot an indifferent glance over her shoulder to her own personal living rule book, blinking in exaggerated slowness at his obvious command. Her eyes shifted down to the floor, then back up to him, pointing at her clearly rooted foot as she did so. "What do you call that?"
"I'm just saying!" he called back defensively, unable to contain a chuckle as he brought both hands up in false surrender. "It wouldn't be the first time, short stuff."
"Oh, ha ha." Though Shaye rolled her eyes at his teasing, she couldn't help but feel the corners of her mouth twitching up into an amused smirk. "Keep it up and you'll see where else I can plant my foot. 12-Ball, far right corner pocket."
She turned quickly back to the table, her smirk evolving into a full blown grin when she heard Chris and several other friends laughing at her fiery retort. With a small shake of her head, she leaned back down and steadied her aim for what would likely be the deciding shot. She drew in one last deep breath, and with a loud clack of the cue ball, sent the fate of the game out of her hands. It bounced off the left side cushion and collided with the 12-Ball just as she'd intended, sending it off toward the foot of the table.
"Damn it!" Several sympathetic groans echoed Shaye's disappointment as the 12 bounced just off to the side of the corner pocket, leaving the cue in perfect position for Chris to send the 8-Ball sailing easily into the left side pocket. As he approached the table to do just that, she raised a hand up in defeat to stop him. "Let's just call it. That hurt bad enough."
"Aw, poor thing," he consoled jokingly with a laugh, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in for a light squeeze. "You want a rematch?"
"Nah, I'll let you enjoy victory for once," Shaye ribbed as she dug a hand into the back pocket of her shorts. Pulling out a folded up twenty dollar bill, she held it out half-heartedly to him between two fingers.
"Well, in that case," He began, plucking the cash from her hand. "Next round's on me."
Before Shaye could say no, the buzzing in her purse stole her attention away, and in the seconds it took to get to it, Chris had already made his way back up to the bar. Pulling her phone out of her bag, Ke$ha was kind enough to tell her that the place was, indeed, about to blow, and also that some random number was calling her. On closer inspection, she realized that the number wasn't unknown at all, and was, in fact, very familiar.
"Haven't they torn that thing out yet?" she asked promptly after answering his call. "Why even have a cell phone if you're not going to use it?"
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Post by Aeron De Lestra on Aug 7, 2017 16:47:51 GMT -5
"Oh Shaye, must you shower me with your sass as soon as you pick up the phone? Is it so wrong of me to enjoy a small sense of nostalgia when using a payphone? Plus, cell phones die often enough, it's good to have a payphone around if anyone needs to make a call." Aeron had a small chuckle at her outburst. She was a child of the technology age, and seemed to have no appreciation for the origins of that tech. "Remind me to tell you about the radio sometime. I think you might like it, it plays music!" He shot back jokingly. He had already felt better, but Shaye certainly brought out a sense of humor he rarely felt around others, especially Ambrose. The words might be similar, but the feelings behind them was as yin and yang.
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Post by -|Shaye|- on Dec 27, 2017 12:51:47 GMT -5
"Ah yes, the radio. The pinnacle of musical invention," Shaye retorted sarcastically as she readjusted the strap of her purse over her shoulder. "Because why would I ever want to listen to music I actually like and without static? Alas, sadly, like you, I'll probably only ever find one in an antique shop."
Despite the hard time she gave him, Shaye had to fight to suppress a giggle at their banter. The constant back-and-forth jabs had become a recurring theme of their relationship, oddly conveying a mutual affection they held for one another. Though his features belied youth, his soul carried years that she couldn't even begin to imagine. Talking to him was what she figured it might be like to talk to her own grandfather, if she'd ever gotten to know him. He was wise in things she didn't understand, but lost when it came to evolving technologies. Whenever he did finally manage to master a new invention, it had already been long replaced. Still, he was funny and he was kind, at least where she was concerned. They were polar opposites in most ways, and yet somehow, they still seemed to compliment each other well.
"So, how was the movie, old-timer?"
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Post by Aeron De Lestra on Dec 27, 2017 16:13:59 GMT -5
With a smile, Aeron shook his head. "Shay my dear! The absolute PEAK of musical invention was the phonograph to be certain! Imagine, being able to hold music in your hands! But I digress, the movie! It was exactly what I needed, coupled with a rather pleasant soundtrack. If you'd care to join me for a meal, perhaps you could swing by the record store and pick up a copy?" As he finished speaking, Aeron realized he hadn't paid the slightest bit of attention to the world around him since getting on the phone. This realization came too late as the sound of a blade cut the phone call short.
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Post by -|Shaye|- on May 9, 2019 4:55:01 GMT -5
"Record store?" Was there even a record store nearby? Shaye furrowed her brows and gazed out the bar's front window, trying to recall what kinds of shops were in the strip mall across the street. It was only after staring out at the parking lot for longer than she cared to admit that she realized that it didn't matter. Night had fallen outside without her even realizing it, and it only took a quick glance at the "11:08 PM" on her phone to confirm her suspicions. Relieved that she wouldn't have to run an extra errand, and even more relieved that she didn't have to tell Aeron she was clueless, she brought the phone back to her ear. "You know what time it is right? Why don't you just download it? ... Aeron? ... Hello?"
"One Gypsy for the losing lady," Chris teased, holding the new bottle out to her as he returned to the table.
Shaye would have rolled her eyes or shot back a snarky one-liner if she didn't feel guilty for what she was about to do. Instead, she wrinkled her nose and put on her best puppy dog eyes.
"Actually, I'm gonna have to take off." Tucking her phone back into her purse, she grabbed her jacket off of the back of her chair and quickly threw it on. "Business calls."
"Business? Since when do you have business?"
"Shut up, you know what I mean!" Though she scolded him, she couldn't help but smile. After slinging her bag back onto her shoulder and making sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she gave Chris a quick but tight hug and a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you later!"
"Later." He turned away to rejoin the rest of the group, shouting, "text me when you get home!" over his shoulder before handing her beer off to a cute blonde in a plaid button up.
Shaye pushed the heavy wooden door open, giving one last wave to her bar buddies before stepping out into the crisp, cool night and making her way to her cherry Honda Civic. Though she hadn't let it show, she was worried. It wasn't like Aeron to just cut off a call like that, or at the very least, to not call her back after a call dropped. She quickly pulled out her phone and dialed back the number he had called her from.
He was probably fine; It's not like technology was perfect. But with a busy signal in her ear and a lead weight in her gut, she cursed what her mom had always called her "gift of intuition" and immediately routed her GPS to take her to the Crown Theater.
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Post by Aeron De Lestra on May 9, 2019 10:23:18 GMT -5
"Damnit! Now they're going to take these phones out! They probably don't make enough to warrant being replaced." A quick glimpse around revealed the lack of people. The plaza was dead. All of the shoppers had gone home, and the movie theater had finished up its last round of movies for that Wednesday evening, with the few attendees having all left straight away, so Aeron was alone with his attacker. Good.
This time, his senses were focused. He heard the blade as it slashed the air, likely aiming for his neck. They really like to go for the neck. Aeron jumped forward, putting distance between his attacker and himself. Landing on his hands, he flung his body to the side and used its momentum to turn him to face this threat. He confirmed his suspicion. Hunter.
Sometimes they traveled in packs, this one was alone. His sword was neck level, still following through the space Aeron's once occupied. In addition to a motorcycle helmet that prevented Aeron from seeing his face, he wore several other weapons; a couple of pistols in holsters, throwing stars, another katana in addition to the one he was swinging, and a number of knives. The armored neckguard was the telltale "hunter" sign, in addition to the carried personal armory. As if more weapons meant deadlier.
Aeron knew the plaza well, having studied its nooks and alleys just in case he found himself in a similar situation here. He took of towards the alleyway between the theater and the stores of the plaza where most of the trashcans were. There were also few security cameras there, so it was the perfect spot for a quick escape. He passed the few doorways near this end, and hopped to the roof of the dollar store before taking a running leap up to the top of The Crown. The telltale sound of metal scraping against brick drew his attention to the grappling hook that had just caught onto the edge of the brickwork that surrounded the roof. He followed the line coming from the grapple over the edge to see the hunter starting to climb.
"Are you really going to make me kill you?" Aeron shouted down to the man as he climbed. He bent over, pulled the hook off of the brickwork, and tossed it back over the side, listening to the satisfying thump as the hunter fell to the ground. "I wish Shaye had been here to see the failure of this technological marvel." He said to himself with a small laugh. "Are ladders too old school for you?" He called out to the hunter below as he struggled to get back up after the fall.
Suddenly, he was falling. There was a pain that shot through his chest, following the path of the bullet that had shoved him off the roof. "Seriously? A... sniper... too?" he gasped, though no one could hear him.
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Post by -|Shaye|- on Jan 28, 2020 1:47:33 GMT -5
"You have arrived at your destination."
"No shit," Shaye shot back at the annoyingly helpful disembodied voice, tapping furiously on her phone to make it shut up. Wasting no time, she turned off the ignition and grabbed the pepper spray she kept tucked in her purse as she exited the car. She didn't necessarily need it, but it did come in handy against the occasional hunter. Or bad date. Plus, it definitely helped in keeping up appearances.
The plaza was beyond dead, with no loitering patrons buzzing in chatter and no neon lights to breathe life into the theater, the central hub of the entire square. The peace and quiet might have been nice, if it weren't so eerie.
((Blargh... More to add, but I must return to edit later... xD))
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