[ARPC] The Bag Lady

[Simone Leclaire]

This was stupid and pathetic, sitting on the floor like this. But there was absolutely nothing that she could do, because her legs just point blank refused to co-operate right now. But she was safe, the police were on their way, and she'd managed to get some money from her purse and had been brought a large coffee that was being swiftly necked. It didn't take long before the police arrived, as they'd been nearby after following Ripper for so long and so far through the park. She was helped into a chair as she gave her statement, describing what she'd seen and heard the crazy man say, how she'd saved the woman - and they confirmed that she had been found and was well and being tended to in the hospital. She went on to describe the painfully thin woman, how she'd thought she'd been a captive as she was so skeletal - but when she'd gone to help, she'd spotted the gun and then just run for it. She did her best to describe the shiny handgun that she'd seen on the ground, and someone sketched an image of it that she confirmed looked like it.

She was still shaking all over, so badly it could be seen, so the police insisted on taking her to the hospital down the road in Westwall. She protested, tried to say that she didn't need to go - all while wondering how much it was going to cost her - but they insisted. So it was, that moments later she found herself in the back of a police car, winding through the streets on the way to the hospital. She was taken in by the police, signed in, and then whisked away to a cubicle by a kind nurse who was whittering on about the ordeal the 'poor love' had been through, how shaken she must be and how there was nothing to worry about anymore.

Simone had thought that it would be irritating, annoying even, but actually - after all she'd been through - it was really nice and comforting to hear her chat away and expect no answers. So it was, she just lay back in the bed she'd been put into, let herself be undressed and then dressed again in the hospital gown before being hooked up to machines to check her heart and body out to make sure she didn't collapse again. Closing her eyes, she just listened to the ambient noises around her, and tried to push all that had happened to her tonight, out of her mind.

[Phoenix]

Watching the scene inside the cafe unfold, OwlNix was oddly resentful of the little human sipping her coffee. God, she missed coffee. Patience had been something that Phoenix had never excelled at, yet here she sat, watching the human and her surroundings as if she had all the time in the world. If her beak had allowed it, the little owl would have smiled.

Unfortunately that peaceful reverie was broken by the pounding of feet against asphalt, far off but rapidly closing in. That cocked ear twitched as her head swiveled a near 180 degrees in the direction of the runner. Ripper - Ugh. '******* go away,' she hissed at him once more, 'You're really pissing me off. You know what happens when you piss me off.' Of course she had no delusions of what a non threat she was in this particular form, but she wouldn't stay this way forever. She wished she'd eaten something so she could puke a pellet at him or something, but that would be childish. At least he opted for a tree that wasn't hers.

Once she was sure he'd settled in as well, she resumed her observation of her target. The police were an unexpected hiccup, but she'd manage. As soon as the woman was escorted to the police car, the owl took wing and followed - stoplights made this feat shockingly easy, though she dreaded having to break into the police station. That would... The redhead didn't want to think about it. Thankfully, she didn't have to. As the car drew up to the hospital, a veritable hoot of laughter escaped her. Perfect!

Talons clenching and unclenching, the owl circled down into the bushes across the lot and landed. After hopping down from branch to branch until she reached the ground, the woman returned to her standard form. Tugging the shadows about her form, she made her way across the deserted street and into the bustling hospital. It was no surprise that the place was crawling with wounded and shocked patients after what had happened. ****... Where to start?

Her eyes skimmed the crowd of patients being admitted; all police escorts seemed to be headed in one direction, and so she followed the steady stream of nurses, orderlies, doctors and patients flowing through the veins and arteries of the hospital. Having to wait for someone else to open a door to take a look dragged out the process, but she came upon her target only minutes later. The tattooed woman lay in the standard hospital bed, and Nix almost felt a stab of pity. Almost. Practicality tempered the nonsensical emotion as she leaned against the wall, silently observing for a moment before letting the shadows fall away from her form.

"I was never going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you now unless you scream."

If she did scream, she had her energy on call to simply vanish into the darkness and lurk in the corner until the nurses came to sedate her. Then they'd have a lovely conversation.

[Simone Leclaire]

She had just begun to relax, the rhythmic beep soothing her in a strange sort of way, when the voice broke through and made everything in her tense. She'd heard that voice not that long ago, been up close to the one who controlled it, and seen the gun it wielded. She'd never been a screamer, she just wasn't that sort of girl - because that sort of girl needed a slap and told to grow a pair, in her opinion. But she couldn't just lie there, because lying there meant being an easy target - and she wasn't the easy sort of girl either! Slowly, her eyes opened and she turned her head to look at the one who stood there and took in every detail she could, so she could relate it to the police.... if she was lucky enough to have that opportunity.

"Excuse me if I don't believe you 'Shriek'. But why exactly are you here?"

She slid her legs from the bed, the opposite side to the one the woman was on, and then got up. All without taking her eyes off the woman for one moment. The machines had lost their slow, steady beat and had instead gained in momentum, a complete give away as to how Simone was really feeling beneath her cool, calm exterior. All the while, her mind was going over the room, trynig to remember what was in there and what might possibly be used as a weapon. However, from what she could remember, there was little in there that was grabbable other than the curtain.

And so it was, as she stared the woman down, her fingers wrapped around the curtain as stealthily as she could - thinking that if she were lunged for, she could use it as a blanket to try and cover the woman over so she could make a run for it. She was still moving, still baby stepping away, and she pretended to stumble, putting her other hand out to the wall to steady herself while actually pressing the nurse call button to try and attract attention. She was very glad that these buttons never sounded in the room, and only sounded at the nurses station, with a little flashing light outside the door to indicate which room should anyone be passing..... which they were, and would be within the room in seconds.

[Phoenix]

The woman's movements didn't escape her notice; maybe she hadn't screamed, but Nix sure as **** was paranoid enough to realize that movement didn't usually mean anything good. As Simone moved, Nix moved to stand behind the door - or behind where the door would be should someone walk in. It would be easy enough to slam it shut if the woman opted to run, and would also give her a nice heads up if a nurse came in. Time enough to vanish into the shadows, at least.

"To talk," she stated, keeping her voice nicely hushed and giving a roll of her eyes. "I know you saw the gun. That's problematic for me, as you may very well know, but lets be honest here: getting rid of that nutcase was community service. I said I wasn't going to hurt you and I meant that." As she spoke, her eyes roamed the room, taking in every possible weapon or exit. Since they were on one of the upper floors, there really only was one way out.

The anger from earlier had leaked out of her, leaving the Shadow emotionally drained. Her shoulders slumped as she leaned against the wall, idly picking at her nail beds. She really didn't have the patience for this **** anymore. The game of cat and mouse wasn't fun. "I have a proposition for you, if you'll hea--"

The door opening cut her off mid-word. Phoenix yanked the shadows about herself in response. She didn't wait for Simone to react before stepping out of that corner. If there was pointing and investigating, Nix wanted to be on the other side of the room, preferably between the Simone, the 50something nurse with salt and pepper hair, and the door.

[Simone Leclaire]

The woman spoke to her, tried to say she only wanted to talk, tried to say that seeing the gun was a problem - which in Simone's mind basically said 'I shot the guy, you're a witness, that's a problem'. The only proposition she could think she might have been offered was, 'stay quiet or die' - and she didn't much fancy the second option. However, her ploy had worked and the alarm had alerted a nurse who came in and.....

"Holy ****!"

She exclaimed as the woman vanished from sight as if she'd never been there. It was like something out of Harry Potter, like the woman had an invisibility cloak or some magic spell or something. Well, one thing was for sure, if this was Harry Potter, she was Gryffindor while Shriek was one hundred percent Slytherin! The nurse had obviously said something, and she looked at him n a confused manner, having no idea wat he'd asked - however she could guess.

"I, uhhh, my head. It's thumping. I think, I panicked. Someone in the hall looked like someone from the park is all..."

The nurse nodded and said he'd bring her some pain killers, and a little part inside of her groaned and wondered how much she'd be charged for what would cost 20p in the shop at home. There was no way she could tell him she was seeing things, pretending she was in Harry Potter, and going out of her mind. So she kept shtum and climbed back into bed as he left to get her the pain pills - wondering if she had in fact imagined it all. Because crap like this didn't happen in real life!

[Phoenix]

Someone in the hall looked like someone from the park? Nix barely managed to stifle a snort. This poor, confused human. As soon as it was perfectly clear to her that the human didn't intend to flee or beg for help, Nix simply ensured she was well out of the way of the equipment. Thank god the hospital was night-time darkened, otherwise this would have been a damn difficult feat.

Once the nurse had vacated the room, Nix was in the awkward position of having to either reveal herself once more and subsequently waste energy the second he returned or...

"You know, I really didn't want to do this whole talking at you while invisible thing because I'm aware of just how bloody creepy it is, but he's coming back, so... deal, I guess." A mental note was made - Improve bedside manner. "You should maybe ask to unhook that monitor befo--"

Annoyed, she cut herself off and fell silent once more as the door opened. Thankfully, the man seemed oblivious to her presence as he carried the little cuplet of pills to the woman laying in bed, along with a plastic glass of water. It occurred to the Shadow that she didn't know the woman's name. Yes, she should ask.

[Simone Leclaire]

"Damn right it's creepy!"

She grumbled under her breath as the nurse came in and gave her the pills. So this was what going insane was like was it? Hearing voices, seeing people who weren't there and then watching as they vanished. Maybe it was just shock, and these headache pills would help her get rid of all of the symptoms and she'd be normal once more. Hopefully. Maybe. Who knew.

The nurse stayed and chatted, checked her heart rate and the records and frowned as he saw the period where Nix had appeared. He said if it had been well, he'd have removed the machines to let her get a peaceful night's sleep. However, as there was an agitated blip, he would leave it on for further observation. She nodded her head, smiled sweetly, carried on the conversation as if there were nothing wrong and thanked him for his help. Once he was gone, she looked around and whispered.

"Are you real?"

And then waited.

[Phoenix]

Patience, Nix... Patience.... No, definitely not her forte, but now that Tattooed Human seemed to have calmed her ****, she was far more relaxed. Even waiting for the bloody deaf nurse to leave wasn't as excruciating as she'd expected. When the door finally swooshed shut behind him - Joseph, said his name tag - Nix finally let her shadows fall away, a laugh on her lips.

"Of course I'm real," she snickered as she stepped over and dropped into one of the uncomfortable, ugly little armchairs provided for visitors. "My name is Phoenix. I'm not half as bad as you think I am, really. Murder is sometimes necessary - a psychopath with a gun qualifies, especially one in the middle of a shooting spree." Her nails drummed thoughtfully against the wooden armrest as she pondered her courses of action. "Unless you'd rather I'd left him to keep shooting. The police here are quite slow." A single brow arched as she watched the woman. No, she really doubted that that was what she wanted.

"Like I said... proposition. I could leave you be. You're in shock - nobody's going to believe a word of what you say even if you do yap, which I don't think you do. You'll be medicated or locked up or ignored. Anyway, that's option one. Option two - I could kill you and leave it at that, but I already said I don't like murder." She paused, tipping her head to the side. "Option three is more fun. I kill you, but you don't stay dead. Thoughts?"

[Ripper]

Door were always opening and closing as delivery people, doctors, and staff made their way in and out of the constantly busy west city hospital. Ripper followed in unknown with a flashing ambulance courier and its team of paramedics as they hustled their wounded charge through the emergency rooms, making a direct bee-line as they were hurried in to operate.

Ripper kept up a pace slowly behind them as he followed their wake down the very brightly marked green arrows that led their way to a newcomer. From that department the rest of the hospital was split up in a hub connected by brightly lit passage ways and halls marked with ward and room numbers populated by busy nurses and family visitors.

Alright, this lady would have a private room and possible a police escort if what he had overheard from the arresting officers was the truth and also if the name the woman had given was also the same one the police had used when they checked her into the hospital.

The vampire avoid crowds and scanned while peering at whiteboards for that one name Simone Leclaire until he saw those word written upon the room door of where a nurse was just returning. Ripper slipped in behind nurse and crept around to stand inside behind the angle of the door as he listened their conversation unfold.

[Simone Leclaire]

"**** me!"

She exclaimed as the woman appeared and the voice came again. he stared in dumbstruck silence at her, just listening and letting her speak, storing it away and trying to process it all in chunks.

"Right. So.... Phoenix? That's not a name. What's your real name? Yes, option one is probably what would happen. It's why I didn't say I'd seen you to deafo there."

She nodded towards the door, where the nurse had vanished through having apparently been completely oblivious to everything that had gone on inside the room seconds before he'd walked in.

"Option 2 - You, uhh, didn't say you didn't like murder. You just said it was necessary sometimes. There's a difference. Option three..... What. In. The. ****?"

Yeh, insanity had found her. That much was obvious. Now, should she embrace it, or reject it? That, was definitely the question!