This Old House (Kaienah & Cherri)

[Cherri Tart]

It smelled like rain.  Overhead the stars winked out one by one as dark clouds rolled in.  A bad night to be out, lost in the woods, her bike miles down the road after suddenly coming to a sudden halt.  A dead engine wasn't so bad.  Not unless you were in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the Virginia Hills. 

Thunder rumbled, miles off from the sound of it, a sharp blast of electricity illuminatiing the road ahead of her for a brief moment, revealing the outline of a small town.  Strange, but one would have thought there'd be street lamps or at least lit windows upon the street that ran down the center to prove it's existence, but when the sky darkend again, it was lost from veiw. 

Off in the distance, however, she spied what must be a farm house.  She couldn't see the structure itself, but there were lights that most certainly mean someone dwelled within.  To reach it, she would have to leave the road, but surely, there would be a path of some sort to guide her. 

Ominously, the night rumbled again, sounding almost angry above her.  If she wanted to stay dry, she would have to hurry....

[Kaienah]

The woman hadn't realized that it was this far in. It had seemed so much closer from the road.

She damned the rain. And this cursed side road MapQuest had so conveniently placed her on. Short cut it had said. Takes of a good two hours it had said.

Bullshit.

She had been trudging through the forests, hearing little animals scurry about their normal routines about the trees and ground. It was somewhat weird how her presence did not disturb them

She hoped that the source of light had inhabitants; it would shed light on this part at least. Why was this place out her to begin with? It was all strange.

She kept her riding gear on, the rain already pouring down on her small form. It made it a bit harder to move quickly but it kept her from getting phenomena from the damp cold of night.

She bolted through the tree line and stopped, looking around. No lamps. No lit windows. Not a sign of life but the light hovering all about what looked to be a farm house.

She walked cautiously. She knew Bent Mountain. There were dangerous animals around this part. Wolves were the most common and only the unlucky few ran into a bear.

She was more concerned with a pack of wolves than anything at the moment.

As she got closer she took her helmet off, long blonde hair spilling down to her waist. “Hello!” she shouted out to the seemingly deserted town.

She hoped someone was here. 

[Cherri Tart]

She was met with silence, at least at first, that drew on for an unnatural length of time, and then...  the rusted creak as a door swung slowly open.  The sign above it read 'Mike's Repairs and Parts', and a pale face peered out at her. 

"You shouldn't be here."  His voice was strained, sounding nervous.  "Not tonight of all nights.  Go away before..." 

Before he got a chance to finish, a low rumbling filled the air.  This time, however, it was not thunder that sounded, but the dull roar of engines.  The door closed quickly, and the sound of a bolt being thrown was the last thing she heard before the night was filled with the thunder of a dozen motorcycles bearing down the street towards her in an uneven file, sliding to a stop about 20 yards from where she stood.

A booted figure, it's hair flowing long and white to frame a pinched face, peered at her, the headlights of the motorcycles behind him illuminating the street. 

"Well, young missy."  the rider spoke, his words a drawl.  "Come for the initiation, then?" 

Behind him, someone snickered. 

[Kaienah]

The silence was driving her away and then old man spoke.

He looked so afraid. So pale. She was about to ask is she could use the phone when the noise filled the air.

Her bones trembled as the bikes rolled up. The lights shone bright on the small rundown town. She narrowed her eyes as it attempted to blind her.

She took an involuntary step back as the man spoke then steadied herself. She would not back down to these punks. She had come to far and been through a hell of lot more in the last months and this was not going to be one of them.

She hoped she wasn’t biting off more than she could chew but she took a breath and spoke loudly and clear. “No. I was just leaving.”

She knew that it wasn’t going to be this easy. Nothing ever was when it came to her luck.

She had heard the laughter in the background as the apparent leader had addressed her.

She had a gun on her, but it wasn’t going to help that much when there were so many.

She wondered what the old man had meant by, “ Tonight of all nights.” She tried to keep her face blank but knew the fear would seep into her emerald eyes eventually.

The tree line was in sight still. If she ran she could make it. There was the possibility that if she ran they would shoot her. But they might anyways. She kept a steady pace.