A Matter of Time [OPEN]

[Oscar Grayling]

• I can feel time. I can feel it touching my skin. I can feel it applying pressure to my brain; I can taste it on my lips, I can see it, smell it, hear it. They think that I’m crazy and maybe I am.

-+-

Oscar’s room was small.

A man obsessed with time, he’d once commanded a classroom of students. Quantum Theory was his favourite. Dark Matter. Multiple Universe theory. Time travel, philosophically. Why do we perceive time only as going forward? Why not backward? Why not all at once? On other plants, with different fields of gravity, did they experience time the same we humans did?

Yes, Oscar Grayling believed that aliens existed; but they weren’t aliens. Not really. They were just beings, physical or immaterial, just like us.

But now, he didn’t catch the bus to work. He didn’t walk through the park with his suitcase full of papers to grade. He didn’t share a house with a wife who’d divorced him, or pick out the brilliant students from the mediocre in a shiny lecture hall.

The sciences. They liked to throw all their money at the sciences.

-+-

• Vampires. Right? Who the hell would have thought it was possible? Vampires. They defy time. Time kills everyone, in the end, but not them, oh no. Vampires! How do they do it? I want to find out. I wanted to. But how am I going to find one in here? Impossible. I have to get out.

-+-

Oscar behaved. He took his meds—they knocked him out, most of the time. They made him feel numb, like he was constantly high. Shouldn’t they make him feel normal? That was his theory. Normal. He should be a normal functioning human but the drugs made him feel worse. There was nothing wrong with him. Not at all.

He took his meds until he didn’t anymore; he behaved until he’d lulled everyone into a false sense of security. And then he stopped taking his meds. They stopped looking so hard, they got slack.

Less numb, more focused, he could pay attention to their schedules; he could pay attention to the ones who clearly liked their job better than the others.

-+-

• One. Two. Three. GO. Time. It was all a matter of time. Of perfecting time. Time lapses, stretches, wanes. Escape… it was only a matter of time.

-+-

Except it didn’t quite go as planned.

White pants, white t-shirt, bare feet and Oscar was running. He laughed as he ran, blonde hair a nest upon his head. There was a security guard behind him, though he’d got too complacent. The guy wasn’t very good at running. Oscar had always been good at running.

He used to run every morning, before work.

It was nice to run again.

He ran to the spot in the fence that was weakest. He’d cased the joint. He’d made sure. The part of the fence where there was a tree, right up against it; he scaled the branches and slipped over the prison-like brick obstruction and then—

—home free.

He didn’t bank on the security car careening around the corner; still, he assumed his freedom. He ran.

He ran until the car caught up with him and overtook him, until it skidded to a halt in front of him.

He ran until he was tackled to the ground—there were two of them.

”NO!” he shouted, and then laughed.

”Time! Time set me free! I have to go get the answers,” he said, voice growing more gruff as he struggled and kicked. His head flew back. He was pretty sure he broke a nose. There was shouting and curses.

And yet, still he laughed.

They weren’t going to take him. Not now. Not again.

[Meara]

Meara had gone out for a stroll, mainly as an excuse to enjoy the late summer evening. Despite living here for a year, she was still exploring all the nooks and crannies of town to try to scope out all the best busking spots. Tonight, she turned right out of the 8D Mall and moved off towards the southeast. She wound her way past bars, shops, and a temple before moving into a fairly nice residential district. She recognized one of the bars, it was where she had recently gone to train with the wraith. Getting a better look of it now, she thought perhaps its stoop would be a great place to busk. People around here had to have some money as the houses weren’t run down or derelict.

However, the serenity of the early evening was broken abruptly by the screech of tires and the sounds of an altercation. She turned her head in the direction of the noise, and hurried along that way. As she approached the truck, she let her eyes run over the text identifying the vehicle before they turned to look at the two men struggling with a blonde haired man in white on the pavement. She only vaguely had remembered there was a mental hospital out this way, apparently called Winterbrook Insane Asylum. She watched the struggle for a few minutes as a frown started to crease into her features. Even if the man on the ground was possibly escaped, based on his carrying on, it was no excuse for the wardens to treat him like a common criminal by pinning him to the ground.

Without thinking, Meara walked past the truck and stood a few feet away from pile of humanity on the street. Her fists balled up into little fists as she narrowed her eyes and screamed at the wardens in an attempt to intimidate them.

“Let him go!”

Select your opponent: Other NPC
Select difficulty of task: Moderate
Type of task: Intellectual
Opponent: -
Reason for roll: Intimidate
You have succeeded in your endeavor.

[Oscar Grayling]

I do not think I’m insane, no. Does any insane person think that they are insane? I know that my ramblings are out of the ordinary, yes. To be thrown in with the others with screws loose, however—I wasn’t that bad, was I? Vampires exist, for Christ’s sake! Isn’t that enough to send anyone into a spiral? Or does no one really listen? Of course they don’t. Hah. No, why expect it? They’re too involved in their own small lives, their smartphones and their nine-to-five jobs, the mundanity of existence which, to some, is comforting. But there’s so much MORE to life. So much…

-+-

The voice came out of nowhere, and even to Oscar it was terrifying. So small and yet larger than life. It was an otherworldly roar that had even him throwing his arms up over his head to protect him from some unknown force, even as the guards released their bruising hold. Quieted, Oscar crawl-shuffled backwards, bright eyes on his wannabe-captors as he took their distraction for his advantage.

The guards stumbled over their words as they took in the woman standing before them, her small hands balled into fists. They were confused. She didn’t look at all threatening, but they neither of them could explain why they felt so intimidated by her.

“Ma’am, we have to take him back to the asylum…” one of them stammered. Oscar stilled behind them, curiously focused upon the woman. He was not as intimidated as he should be, his own mind whirring and crashing to catch up with the situation.

“He got out. He’s not well…” the other said, placatingly. To which Oscar rallied.

”I’m perfectly fine!” he bellowed, now standing, completely unaware of the blood soaking through the white of his attire, torn at the elbow and dripping from the heel of his palm. He’d hit the ground hard when they’d tackled him.

”You understand, don’t you?!” he asked, now looking at the woman who’d demanded they let him go. He was indebted to her, wholly. ”You… you’re different, aren’t you?” he asked. He couldn’t be sure, no. Of course not. And the guards thought he was absolutely bonkers, so they wouldn’t take his words seriously. But he paid them no mind. None at all. He was focused only on the woman, taking a small step back as one of the guards reached out to try to grab him.

[Kira]

Kira had so many things running through her head. What would be next at The Majestic Lounge? Songs, dances. Another month it would be October...again. She had been here for 6 years now. Engaged for...3? Now Reggie was all like, so let's start planning this wedding. She understood that 3 years was a long engagement period but he had been missing for a year, in the shadow realm it seemed. She never could track him down. Either the nightmares he had or Warrior within her kept her from tracking him. Though as soon as he got back and they talked for awhile about what happened, the conversation went to the wedding. She had no idea what to do, she knew this would come sooner or later but it still didn't help she was still completely nervous about it.

She had been meaning to say something on the Misfit board. She was going to need help. She really needed Lexy. She didn't know anything about planning a wedding. She told him a handfasting would be better, she at least knew more about them. When asked about her favorite season, she had said spring though winter was also pretty. And the man of course picked winter.

Kira ran a hand through her hair, finally stopping to look around. Where was she? She had been walking with no purpose or place in mind. The commotion caught her attention. They weren't cops so what the hell was going on? Eyeing the car. Asylum? There was still an Asylum here? She suppose she never really paid that much attention. However, knowing there was still an Asylum made her wonder if that's what happened to Nimrod. She didn't think about the man that much but she still felt the need to protect the man. He was more or less a child, even though he was most likely 50 plus years old. After hearing the horror stories of what he went through, she wasn't sure she would trust any Asylum,

She tilted her head as the men got caught off guard by the girl. She grinned, that was pretty funny. She quickly moved over to the group. She grabbed the arm of the man who was about to grab the runaway. "Who gets to say who is unwell? I know a man who is completely harmless but since he was different his family had him locked away at a place like yours...treated him like ****...worse than ****." she growled. "And now he's bleeding.." she added, looking over at the man in white. "I suggest you leave before we have the media and police over the mistreated of a patient."

She would have asked them about Nimrod but she had no idea what his real name was. Although, she wasn't sure if he knew what his name was or if there were any files that said what it was either.


Other NPCs/Objects
Moderate
Persuasive
Intimidate
Succeeded

[Meara]

Meara herself was a little surprised with how effective her powers were becoming. She hadn't expected her demand to be so, well disarming. She took a few more steps forward, putting herself between the man on the ground and his pursuers. Normally the petite woman would have no interest in protecting the stranger, but lately Meara had found she was more willing to stick her neck out. It was the right thing to do, yes? To make humans less afraid of vampires. Then maybe less of them would turn towards the path of the paladin, she thought. So why not show kindness?

She was about to calmly tell them some manner of silver-tongued lies to get them to go away, but Meara realized she was not alone after her outburst. Blue eyes watched curiously as a blonde woman strode over to the wardens, moving to intimidate them in to dropping their pursuit for fear of bad PR. On closer inspection, Meara realized she had met this woman before at the shop. Kira was her sire's dear friend and she had heard all about the performer that way. She however would not say her name out loud, in case she didn't want to identify herself to these men. Meara's pink lips upturned into a smirk as she leveled her gaze to the wardens. "You know she's right, there has to be several business security cameras that caught the whole altercation. You'd be out of a job."

With her argument given to the men as to why they should go, Meara looked over her shoulder at the escapee. The smirk previously worn was replaced with a warm, welcoming smile. "I'm sorry if I startled you. I know a place I can take you to get a fresh set of clothes and some bandages. We can talk more there. Alex won't mind." She deliberately mentioned her sire's name, knowing the other woman would pick up on where she was speaking about and follow them there. She had heard the man's other question, but Meara planned to wait to address that once they were out of harm's way.

[Oscar Grayling]

Meant to be.

That’s what Oscar assumed. There was something about these two women that was different and he was almost brimming with excitement at the possibility of finding out whether he was right or not. There’d been warnings in the past, yes. Time, they’d said, though it was a man-made construct was also inconsequential. It wasn’t tangible and it wasn’t something he could capture and dissect.

Vampires were real and he’d spoken to the academia at the Harper Rock University before he’d been locked up. They believed it. They lived in this city filled with the undead and some of them had witnessed things they could no longer deny. But to go chasing after them to ask them questions that they might not even be able to answer was suicide. They cautioned Oscar to be smart.

Oscar had not been smart. The incident that had got him locked up had only been a case of mistaken identity on his part; he’d asked the wrong questions of the wrong person and they’d all concluded that he ought to be locked up, so as not to ask those questions of the right person. It was for his own good, they’d said.

But now he was free, and the men who’d been sent to capture him were slowly backing away. Oscar had never truly believed in fate. It was not proven. But he did feel as if some omniscient presence had reached out of the heavens and delivered to him his freedom in the form of two women who might finally be able to answer his questions.

“Righto, ladies,” one of the guards said. He had kids. He didn’t want to lose his job. There was a voice inside telling him he wouldn’t, but everything else was telling him he’d prefer not to risk it. “He is an admitted patient still, however, and someone will come looking for him. You keep that in mind, hear?” he said. The other guard tugged at his colleagues sleeve and the two slunk back to the van. Oscar grinned.

”Thank you,” he said, first to the redhead then turned to the blonde. ”Thank you,” he repeated to her also, before bouncing once on the balls of his feet. ”I’m really not crazy,” he said, though the wideness of his very-blue eyes and the out-of-place grin might have said otherwise. ”I didn’t belong there. I’d happily go somewhere else,” he said, clearly very interested in the suggestion of fresh clothes and somewhere else. Somewhere he could ask all the questions he liked.

[Kira]

Kira watched intently as the guards backed off. They were right though, this man would have records. He got locked up somehow for a reason but maybe it was a dumb reason. She wondered if the records were on a computer, somewhere a good enough hacker could get rid of them. Pushing the thoughts of how to 'clear' the man aside for now, she looked to the other girl.

She grinned when Alex's name was brought up. "Indeed, she won't." she said, the mall also had a first aid station if for some reason Alex didn't have everything. She hoped Lexy was there. She turned her attention to the man now, was there really such a thing as a sane person anyway?

"Are you okay?" she asked, the blood was a worry. The last thing they needed was a vampire who couldn't control their hungry to show up. "My name is Kira. Let's get going.." she said, she started to head in the direction of the mall.

[Meara]

Meara leaned over as Kira spoke to loop her arm through the man’s at the elbow to turn him to head back towards the northwest where their destination would be. She was confident that they could all walk and talk. Meara gave a soft smile as the woman introduced herself, and then let her blue eyes drift up to meet the escapee’s own blue eyes.

“I’m Meara. It’s nice to meet you.” The words spilled over her lips with just the slightest hint of a Southern accent, now discernable that she wasn’t trying to be intimidating.

The redhead was going to stick to surface streets, not wanting to run the risk of the train having cameras that would allow the facility to locate the young man next to her. She wasn’t initially sure why this guy, who seemed to be well, more together than some of the deranged individuals she met while busking, had been in the hospital. That job, while extremely fun and fulfilling, had been very dangerous for her at times. Stalkers, harassment, and the like. Enough to make someone extremely paranoid to the point of madness. So she sympathized with the man’s condition, whatever it was or what caused it.

As they continued their cross-town walk she turned her attention back to the boy. “You mentioned that you thought I understood something, might you elaborate a little bit?” Meara inquired, gently, so she could get at what the man meant when he spoke to her at the outset.

[Oscar Grayling]

Oscar grinned like the cat that got all the cream; he was in the company now of not one but two… were they both the same? Were they what he wanted them to be at all, or was he just being far too optimistic? What were the chances that he could have run from the asylum to find a vampire or two, only to have been rescued by them?

At first he had considered it fate. Now he was second-guessing, actually trying to calculate the odds in his mathematical mind. Introductions had been made, however, and a question had been asked.

”Time.”

He blinked.

”Oscar, I mean. Oscar, my name,” he said, glancing between them again. Neither had given their surnames, Oscar followed suit.

”Time, it doesn’t touch you. It flows around you, it ignores you,” he said, eyes still wide as he made the enquiry; it wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement.

”It’s just that… I have never seen someone as small as you scare someone that easily. Without weapons. Just… am I right? I’m right, aren’t I?” he asked, as if a question of time equated to whether the girl was a vampire or not. Again, he blinked. Could she be? How old did she look? In her twenties, perhaps. And the other? The same. Oscar himself often tried to pass for younger than what he was, and oft-times succeeded. Whether he could now, dressed in whites and looking a little worse for wear, he assumed he must look every day of his thirty-four years.

Such is the damage that Time does.

Such is the damage that I hope to hereafter prevent.

[Meara]

She listened with great interest as Oscar explained his theory about time. What a profound statement, Meara thought to herself as she contemplated the truth in his words. They did not age, at least not most of them, though Alex told her there were variants within the species that did age, or de-age. But for the vampires bent time, space, the environment, and their own bodies. Meara decided she very much liked his metaphor, and because it was so soundly reasoned, she couldn’t help but think he was likely not insane.

As Oscar asked his next question, she couldn’t help but smile lopsidedly. She had to admit, it was a pretty cool trick what she had done. She was assuming that the thing he was wanting to know if he was right about was if she was different. Meara had never attempted to explain this to a human before, but well there was a first time for everything. Her eyes glanced over to Kira, as if to say here goes, before she turned to Oscar to address his question.

“I am small, but I am mighty!” She playfully flexed one of her waif like arms in jest before chuckling at her own silliness. “But yes, I am different. Maybe not as different as others like me.” She knew that her flavor of vampire was the most human like, and she had passed as human more times then she could count.

“However, as you eloquently described, time and space pay me no heed. But that’s our little secret for now, yeah?” Meara knew full well it was likely a bad idea to publically out herself, despite the ongoing attempts to improve human and vampire relations. She however thought at the young man walking with her would likely honor her request as she had just saved his hide.