Earned in Blood

[Megami*]

The boy kept coming toward her, paying no mind to the things she had yelled at him. As he approached, he smiled at her... actually smiled. It was almost eerie, how only moments ago this young man had slaughtered Fred Hughes in cold blood and now, he was actually making an attempt to be friendly.

"That boy tried to kill me, so naturally, I had to fight back.

That boy tried to kill you? Have you completely lost it? You're the one who attacked him. Fred fought back to protect me... to protect us. You killed him. You single-handedly managed to take the one person on this island who didn't leave me away from me. Wretch.

The words pent up Lyndi's mind would not formulate into a coherent sentence. Instead, she shot an almost sinister-looking glare at Cody. As his hand touched hers, she jerked away, still clinging onto the flashbang for dear life.

"Don't you...ever... touch me," she mumbled audibly. "You killed him... and now you're trying to persuade me that it was Fred's fault? You think I'd willingly go anywhere with you after you just murdered him? He's gone, and it's all your fault! Now, you act like you're some kind of knight in shining armor. Are you insane?!"

Lyndi's light blue eyes met Cody's, she staring at him with a look of fierce hatred and rebellion in her eyes. Gritting her teeth lightly, Lyndi began to back away from the boy. This was ridiculous, and she was getting out of here, whether he liked it or not. Fred was gone now, and that in itself was enough to tear a hole through Lyndi, but the full brunt of this fact had yet to hit her, she did not want to believe it was true. Despite that, she now looked his murderer in the eye.

[OnceForgotten*]

The girl stared at him, her beautiful blue eyes reaching up to him like pools of crystal clear water. She began speaking again, saying mean, hurtful things to him, and as he touched her she stepped back, hissing at him.

She obviously liked that boy...no matter.

"I came here for you. I wanted to find you, to see you." Codys face filled with a deep sadness.

"I...ever since...I feel different now...Your the first person who I have felt anything for...in a long time" Cody finished nervously, as if he was speaking to a girl for the first time.

"My emotions...they are weird. When I should feel sad, I am happy. When I should be angry, I am calm. It makes no sense." Cody leaned in, emphasizing his point. "You are the first time on the island that I...That I have gotten something right."

He stepped back, a look of expectancy on his face. He had never opened up to anyone in such a way, and for some reason he felt as if it was the right time, that this girl was the right person.

"So...I'm not asking you to like me, or even trust me. Just trust me when I say this...I will not kill you." Cody stood stonefaced, watching her reaction.

[Megami*]

Continuing to stare at the boy, her expression became less rebellious and somewhat more confused. What in the world was he talking about? He... came for me? He's insane. Continuing to inch away from the menace in her company, Lyndi could no longer contain her anger with the boy. She did not want to. If it got her killed, then so be it. Not one to think that far ahead, the possibility had not really crossed Lyndi's mind.

"Who ARE YOU?!" Lyndi shrieked. "What's wrong with you? I don't even know who you are! I don't know anything about you. How do you know me? How the hell can you feel anything for me?! You don't know anything about me!"

If this boy had not given Lyndi the creeps before, he was certainly doing so now. He had come here, slaughtered Fred, and now he was trying to confess his love to her? This boy truly was a maniac. She needed to leave, and quickly. Her eyes darted around, looking for some way to escape. If she pulled the pin on the flashbang...

"I'm not going to warn you again... leave me alone. I WILL use this," to emphasize her point, she held up the flashbang. "What have you done to prove to me that you wouldn't kill me? You took Fred's life in cold blood, you were on the verge of killing Samsa. You just... you just expect everything to be okay? Fred was right... you ARE crazy."

[OnceForgotten*]

Kill her.

That was the first thought that flitted through Cody's mind upon hearing her reaction. A darkness passed over his features, and anger began to build inside of him. His hand shot out, gripping her neck. He began to put pressure on it, but, in a massive lesson in self restraint, let his hand go slack, and reached his hand around to the back of her neck. He used the leverage to pull her towards him, to where her face was only inches away from his.

"Such EVIL things you say." Cody whispered. "There is no reason for that."

"Now, you are going to come with me. I gave you the choice option. Now, you have no options." Cody looked at her, speaking softer still.

"Capiche?"

He then leaned his face in quickly, kissing her. As quick as he did, he pushed, sending her staggering backwards in shock.

"You have 2 minutes to get anything you need. I will follow you."

[Megami*]

Lyndi's eyes widened as the hand wrapped itself around her neck. He's going to kill me now... this is it. Much to her relief, Cody's hand released its deathgrip on her throat. Perhaps this was just a demonstration of the power he held over her. At this point, Lyndi knew things were starting to look grim. This boy was a force to be reckoned with, not someone she could take down in hand-to-hand combat. Then again, she never thought that in the first place.

As Cody's lips pressed against her own, though, a surge of anger rushed through Lyndi. Almost before she knew what she was doing, she brought her knee up quickly, slamming it into the much stronger boy's crotch. Go! Get Elsie and go! Pushing herself away from the boy, she once again attacked the boy, this time, aiming for his knee. In the process, she dropped the flashbang grenade safely back in Fred's bag. If only she would have known what awaited her next, she would have used it then.

Spinning away from the boy, Lyndi took off in a sprint, trying to get away from him. Stumbling over a few rocks, she tried to maintain her balance and not collapse into the dirt around her. She could not die... would not die like this. What he would do to her if he took her with him, she could only imagine. Lyndi could not let that happen. She would not go with him, no matter what. Albeit somewhat slowly, Lyndi was making progress away from her potential killer... a faint smile crossed her face as she ran...

You don't know the meaning of hard to get yet...

[OnceForgotten*]

As the knee came in contact with his crotch, Cody winced and buckled. He watched the girl begin to run away, and began to panic.

I can't lose her! She is coming with me!

Cody quickly removed the gun from the front of his pants, aimed at her, and fired two shots low, hoping to hit her legs.

"Get...Back...Here..."

[Megami*]

I'm really doing it. I'm going to escape! I'm going to get away from this maniac. Elsie and I are going to be safe! That's it, Lyn... keep running. Just keep running. She repeated it to herself over and over again. However, the sound of gunshots ringing out from behind her told her that she was not out of the woods yet. If she only knew...

The first bullet fired from Cody's handgun narrowly missed her leg, instead lodging itself into the ground only inches away from where her foot had been. The second one, however... the second bullet pierced into her calf, lodging itself deep inside. Lyndi cried out in pain and felt her leg buckling underneath her.

For a moment, it felt as though she were flying. The second her body connected with the ground, though, it was apparent that she had fallen. The pain in her leg was immense, and tears once again streamed down Lyndi's face, this time from the agonizing pain in her right calf.

Her eyes scanned frantically around. Oh, how she wished that this was all just a bad story, and that her knight in shining armor would appear to save her from the big, bad wolf. Alas, Lyndi Thibodeaux had been doomed from the time Cody Jenson had appeared at the lighthouse, and she had not even known it.

Now, I've pissed him off. I'm dead for sure. I'm sorry, everybody. It looks like I won't be making it back home. Fred... I... I let you down, I know. You died fighting for Elsie and I so we could live, and now... it looks like I won't be far behind. Mom, Daddy, Jared... I love you all so much. I'm so sorry.

Biting down on her lower lip, Lyndi lay helplessly on the ground. Blood oozed from the wound in her calf, and from her knees which had been skinned and bled lightly from the rocks she had fallen on. Wimpering quietly, Lyndi waited on the maniac who had shot her to deliver his final blow...

[OnceForgotten*]

Cody watched as the girl fell, a bullet peircing her calf. He calmly approached her, saddened a bit by the fact that he had to shoot her to get her to go with him.

She is just confused right now...I'll give her some time, she will surely see things my way...

Cody placed the pistol back in his pack and stared down at the girl, who was silently weeping on the ground. He reached down and grabbed the back of her shirt, leaning over her prone form.

"Get up. Here, I'll help you."

[Megami*]

Tears continued to stream down Lyndi's face as the maniacal young boy approached her from behind. She was going to die now, there was no doubt in her mind about it. Clenching her fists tightly, she prepared herself for the final blow. Perhaps he would be merciful and just shoot her in the head.

Much to her surprise, Cody Jenson did not end her life at all. Rather, she found him demanding her to rise to her feet. As he did this, he pulled upward on the back of her pink hoodie, practically forcing her up from her sprawled out position on the ground. An immense pain seared up from her leg as she stood, unintentionally placing pressure on her calf.

Glaring at Cody, a look of hatred and resentment had taken over her normally kind features. Now, she stared angrily at the boy. Part of her wanted to ask why he had not finished her off, but she strayed away from the question. If she inquired as to why her had not killed her, perhaps he would do so.

"What now?" she choked out quietly. "I'm not good enough for a mercy killing? You want to torture me first, you sick bastard? Do you get your pleasure from hurting others, trying to intimidate people?"

Lyndi trailed off slowly. At this point, her leg was killing her, and she was trying to avoid putting any more pressure on the area than she had to. Shifting her weight slightly, she waited on Cody's response. Should she keep aggitating him, he probably would do his worst.

[OnceForgotten*]

Cody gave her a condecending look.

"Shut up. If I was going to kill you, I most definatly would have done it by now."

Cody grabbed her arm and began pulling her towards the woods at the front of the lighthouse. He began to feel a headache coming on, and something new. His stomach was feeling queazy. He let go of her hand for a second, stumbling a few feet away. He broke down into a fit of wet coughing, covering his mouth with his good hand. When it was over, he noticed the smattering of blood that covered his hand, but dismissed it as inconsequential. Wiping it off on his jeans, he returned to where Lyndi was standing. (or leaning in pain, though he could not see that perspective)

"Right now whe have to leave, go somewhere safe."

"I wont ever let anyone hurt you."

[Megami*]

Then why don't you do it? Just end it now, save me some grief. You've already taken everything else away from me, what's next?

A searing pain wretched up Lyndi's leg as Cody drug her along, forcing her to walk on her leg. The bullet which had been embedded inside of her calf ached severely, and blood continued to pour out from the wound. As Cody released her momentarily and started coughing, the thought occurred to her to run.

However, Lyndi reluctantly decided against this move. There was nowhere to run, and in her current predicament, she could not run fast enough anyway. She hardly noticed the blood on the boy's hands as he wiped it off on his jeans. However, she shuttered to herself at his last few sentences. As she was dragged into the woods, Lyndi cast one last look back at the lighthouse.

It was a place where she had lost so much. There, Callum Hadley had left the group. Vince Samsa had joined their alliance only to inevitably destroy it. Fredrik Hughes had lost his life in a vain attempt to defend his comrades. And finally, that left Elsie Darroch. Was she still inside? Was she safe? She and Lyndi had been close friends for a while now, but given the circumstances, Lyndi might never see her again. All these thoughts raced through Lyndi's mind as her captor drug her deep into the woods.

[OnceForgotten*]

Drowning in my sleep...

Cody Jenson coughed heavily, sending a spray of pinkish phlem on to the dirt of the path as he walked. He held tightly to Lyndis shirt, half pulling, half dragging her along. Occasionally he would take a look back to make sure she was still attempting to move with him and would give her a word of encouragement.

"Come on...almost there..."

He cleared his throat, which seemed to accumulate fluids at an alarming rate lately. It was becoming more and more difficult to exert himself over long periods of time, and he found himself having to rest often. It also did not help that his headache had become a full blown migrane, which seemed to come in heavier waves each time. He was sore and hurting in several places, none worse than the throbbing pain in his head.

Get to Loretta...

Finally he could see the glimmer of light reflecting off the metal on her tank, and he broke out into a brisk trot, pulling Lyndi along. When they reached the bike, he sat his bag down quickly, pulling out one of the bandages that he had accumulated in his pack. Removing his jacket and laying it down on the seat of the bike, he began wrapping his chest, where a bruise had already begun to form over his left ribcage area. He could immediatly feel an improvement, and whatever was bouncing around in there was held in place by the compression wrap. He then threw the jacket back on, and nodded for lyndi to get on the bike.

"Hold my shoulders. Don't touch my chest. We're gonna go to the woods, I have a spot that I have set up from before. We can plan something there."

Cody then hopped on the bike, giving it a quick kick. The reliable old thing roared to life as quickly as always, and with that, Cody and Lyndi left the lighthouse.

Together.


((Continued in: And so it Begins...))