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Post by Kaelyn Halifax on Sept 9, 2009 18:18:12 GMT -5
"Kaelyn... Sam would never - ever judge you for what you did. If anybody can help you to realize what you did was not your fault - it is him."
"Why...?" she questioned softly,"That man probably killed someone's mother or father. Took away someone's daughter for sport because I gave him the knowledge to do it. I can't see how any shifter would forgive me for that..."
"I can't, with any good intentions, let you go through this alone. Especially when I can only do so much. Please Kaelyn, I really think talking to Sam will help you. You can trust Sam.. I promise. He can understand and relate to you more than anybody can. Just.. give him a chance will you? Please?"
Kaelyn's shoulders stooped down further as she released a sigh of defeat at Brandy's suggestions. She didn't even know how to help herself...let alone anyone who could. "I've only been free for two weeks... I don't even know what date it is or how to keep myself from screaming when I hear the sound of boots on a wooden floor. I don't know if anyone can help me."
"But," Kaelyn forced out defeated, "you've stuck your neck out for me by just letting me live here. IF you trust him so much, I guess I can too. I just can't promise that I'm not going to be scared stiff when he comes over."
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Post by Brandy Berry on Sept 9, 2009 18:40:26 GMT -5
"Why...? That man probably killed someone's mother or father. Took away someone's daughter for sport because I gave him the knowledge to do it. I can't see how any shifter would forgive me for that..."
"So? Did you pull the trigger for him, did you hold the knife for him? Do you not think the knowledge is out there to kill people, to steal, to pick locks? Do you think because you end up leaving open a page on the net suggesting how to cook chicken that it is your fault when somebody does it? Kaelyn, you are way too hard on yourself."
Brandy was staring at her cellphone, her skin was crawling as she itched to open it and text him to come over right away. But she had to make sure it was alright with Kaelyn, as much as she wanted to - she couldn't force Kaelyn to trust Sam the way she did.
. "I've only been free for two weeks... I don't even know what date it is or how to keep myself from screaming when I hear the sound of boots on a wooden floor. I don't know if anyone can help me."
"But," you've stuck your neck out for me by just letting me live here. IF you trust him so much, I guess I can too. I just can't promise that I'm not going to be scared stiff when he comes over."
"I trust Sam with my life."
That was all the coaxing she needed. She opened her phone, texting two words to him. Please Come.
That was all he needed, and he would be here. She closed her phone and put it back into her pocket. At that moment, she had placed her hand on Kaelyn's shoulder and knelt down so that Kaelyn could look at her and know that Brandy was being genuine.
"I know it's going to be painful, but when Sam comes.. please explain everything to him exactly the way you did to me. I promise you, everything will be alright."
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Post by Sam Merlotte on Sept 9, 2009 19:46:05 GMT -5
1:45pm. The lunch hour rush at Merlotte's was long over and Sam was catching his own break. Choosing to sit at the bar instead of in his office. Biting down on a Lafayette Burger, Sam felt a vibration in the back pocket of his jeans. He didn't get calls that often on his cell phone so out of curiosity he pulled it out to check the caller ID.
The name read out on the screen. Brandy the message Please Come.
Brandy? What the hell? Sam threw the questions out in his head. Something had to be wrong for her to text him, not call, and for it to sound so urgent. Sam went into the kitchen to look for Lafayette, but instead found Terry Bellefleur the other cook and generally all round quirky guy.
"Hey uh, I just need to pop out for a few things Terry. I'll be back as soon as I can." Sam cringed as Terry grumbled. "Tell Lafayette and if there's any major problems, call me on my cell okay?"
Sam didn't stick around to hear any more of Terry's complaints. Brandy needed him and he would be there as fast as he could. Jumping into the cab of his truck he sped his truck out of the employee car park and headed for the duplex. His mind ablaze with possibilities of what could be wrong. Hoping no-one was hurt or in danger.
Before long he had pulled up to the side of the road, disembarked from his truck and reached for his spare key. "ah sh*t" he pulled a face as he realised Brandy and Kaelyn had both sets of keys. Sam balled his fist and knocked on the door.
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Post by Kaelyn Halifax on Sept 9, 2009 20:04:18 GMT -5
"So? Did you pull the trigger for him, did you hold the knife for him? Do you not think the knowledge is out there to kill people, to steal, to pick locks? Do you think because you end up leaving open a page on the net suggesting how to cook chicken that it is your fault when somebody does it? Kaelyn, you are way too hard on yourself."
Kaelyn almost flinched at those last words. It was almost madness that she felt the weight and the responsibility of all those deaths on her shoulders, but she did. It was like the guilt moved in ripples. Each death splashing down like rain on the pool of Kaelyn's consciousness and the chaos of all those ripples crashing into each other transformed into one giant tidal wave of guilt.
"I trust Sam with my life."
...but could Kaelyn do the same? It was obvious in the way that Sam worried for Brandy that he cared deeply for her. He'd barely spoken to words to Kaelyn and he had no reason to care about all the wrong that plagued her. Despite agreeing to see the man, doubts continued to swell in her breast as she warily eyed Brandy's cell.
"I know it's going to be painful, but when Sam comes.. please explain everything to him exactly the way you did to me. I promise you, everything will be alright."
"I...have to do it again?" It wasn't just the memories in her head that scared her... Just a moment ago, it was like that time spent in the darkness had imprinted itself on her very body. Her body remembered along with her the sights, smells, the way the padded floor was horribly scratchy, and the weight of that metal wrapped tight around her wrists and ankles. It was always horrible...
In what seemed like no time at all, there was suddenly a knock on Brandy's front door. Kaelyn's body reflexively scooted backwards on the floor and pulled herself deeper into the blanket shrouding her shoulders. This had been the one thing she'd been hoping to avoid.
Kaelyn could only pray that Brandy had been right.
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Post by Brandy Berry on Sept 9, 2009 20:17:15 GMT -5
"I...have to do it again?"
Brandy frowned, taking her hand away from Kaelyn's shoulder. She knew it was going to be painful for her, so the least she could do was tell Kaelyn why she felt that she should share her story again.
"I'm sorry, but yes.. if you could. Because, it's not my story to tell."
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. That had to be Sam right? Why was he knocking and not just coming in? It was probably her fault, her text didn't really leave much for him to go by did it?
"That has to be him. I'll make us some tea it will help calm the nerves.. I hope..."
Brandy stood up and made her way quickly to the door, opening it quickly to see Sam standing there with a look of worry in his eyes. She closed the door behind her, half way, and wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you.. for coming. I'm sorry if I worried you Sam, I just.. I just found out something about Kaelyn and, I really think it is important that.. she talks to someone who can actually understand what she has gone through. I feel that you can help her, in a way I just can't."
That was it, that was all she told him as she pushed open the door and went to the kitchen to start making the tea. She had a feeling Kaelyn heard what she told Sam, and she wanted Kaelyn to know that whatever Sam said to her.. was entirely him, and had nothing to do with Brandy.
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Post by Sam Merlotte on Sept 10, 2009 4:30:09 GMT -5
The door swung open and there stood Brandy, her face etched with worry. She threw her arms around him tightly. She was relieved about something or just that he came to her so quickly.
"Thank you.. for coming. I'm sorry if I worried you Sam, I just.. I just found out something about Kaelyn and, I really think it is important that.. she talks to someone who can actually understand what she has gone through. I feel that you can help her, in a way I just can't." Brandy's words just spilled out frantically. Like she had to get it all out or she would just burst.
Sam put a finger over her lips. "sshhh. Now calm down and tell me what the problem is." Sam's brow knitted together and followed her into the kitchen. "Your text had me real worried. Help Kaelyn? Help her how?"
Sam didn't know this girl from Adam, but Brandy had taken her under her metaphorical wing. All Sam knew about Kaelyn was she seemed lost, lonely and very jumpy. Oh and she was a shifter like him. He just couldn't place what kind of Shifter she was. Definetly didn't have the confident aura of a Werewolf.
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Post by Brandy Berry on Sept 10, 2009 8:27:50 GMT -5
"sshhh. Now calm down and tell me what the problem is."
Where did she remember this scene from? Oh right, when she was panicking over Derek. As usual, he was trying to calm her down with a soft voice only this time it had worked a bit more effectively when they didn't have a vampire trying to track them' down. She took in a deep breath as they walked toward the kitchen.
She glanced over at Kaelyn, who she could see against the wall and terrified. She was all hunched over, a blanket tightly around her, and all Brandy wanted to do was hold the girl and tell her it would be alright.
"Your text had me real worried. Help Kaelyn? Help her how?"
".. By listening to her, by hearing what she has to say. By being.. you. There is something she told me, about what has happened to her.
This was Kaelyn's story. There wasn't much Brandy could say without letting the story flow out of her lips because she said something stupid or by mistake. Brandy had her hands on the kitchen counter, but she had body pivoted toward Sam.
"It's.. shifter business hun. And before you get all mad at me, I promise you that she already knew. Her story, has torn me apart and I asked her to talk to you. Call it my witch sense, my intuition or whatever, but I really think the only one that can help her right now... is you."
Brandy had began to fumble around the kitchen, trying to find everything to make tea. Why was finding a simple kettle suddenly so difficult?
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Post by Sam Merlotte on Sept 10, 2009 14:06:56 GMT -5
".. By listening to her, by hearing what she has to say. By being.. you. There is something she told me, about what has happened to her.
Sam arched an eyebrow. Told her something? Sam was completely bewildered as to what he could possibly do. "Brandy, I don't know what I could possibly do."
"It's.. shifter business hun."
Sam's eyes widened.
"And before you get all mad at me, I promise you that she already knew. Her story, has torn me apart and I asked her to talk to you. Call it my witch sense, my intuition or whatever, but I really think the only one that can help her right now... is you."
Sam's eyes softened. He felt a little stupid. Of course she would know, he knew she was like him after all.
"I'm still not sure what I can do. But I'll do what I can." Sam kissed Brandy on the forehead. "Where is she?"
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Post by Brandy Berry on Sept 10, 2009 14:22:39 GMT -5
"Brandy, I don't know what I could possibly do."
Brandy did.
"I'm still not sure what I can do. But I'll do what I can."
Brandy nodded as he kissed her forehead. When he asked where she was, Brandy had leaned over the counter and pointed to the lump in the corner.
The lump of course, being Kaelyn terrified out of her mind and pulling the blanket around her because she couldn't seem to get warm enough. Brandy made a note to turn up the heat anyway, even though it was surely just Kaelyn's nerves.
"She has come to know that blanket even more personally than I have"
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Post by Sam Merlotte on Sept 10, 2009 14:37:02 GMT -5
Sam followed Brandy's hand as it pointed to a bundled up body, wrapped up in a blanket. Sam couldn't help but feel pity for the young shifter. She looked traumatised.
"She has come to know that blanket even more personally than I have"
Sam nodded and gave Brandy a grim smile as he walked carefully over to her. Not getting too close, this girl plainly needed her personal space. But close enough if she needed, he was there with a comforting hug.
"Hey" he said to her in a soft tone. "Brandy asked me over to help. So whenever you're ready to talk. I'm here to listen." Sam sat back, his arms draped over his knees. He wasn't about to put undue pressure on Kaelyn. But he needed to impress that he was here to help. "You can trust me." he gave a small smile.
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Post by Kaelyn Halifax on Sept 10, 2009 18:35:42 GMT -5
As soon as Sam made an entrance into the room, Kaelyn's flight-or-fight instincts nearly drove her to leave the safety of Brandy's blanket and flee out the door. It took a lot of convincing herself mentally that Sam was here to help and not cause her bodily harm to remain glued to the floor.
Their hushed voices floating from the kitchen calmed her a little. There were no sudden spikes in tone and there was no inflection of anger that she could sense. Once the voices stopped and the slow footsteps towards her started up, Kaelyn did her best to make herself seem as small as possible.
"Hey", the closeness of his voice caused Kaelyn to flinch, "Brandy asked me over to help. So whenever you're ready to talk. I'm here to listen. You can trust me."
It took her a minute or to of getting used to Sam's close proximity to even speak up. Pulling the blanket back from covering her face, Kaelyn's flitted to Sam's face fearfully and then to the ground beside him. "P-Please don't hate me after I've told you," she spoke softly,"I never meant for any of it to happen..."
Kaelyn tried her best not to stutter as she rehashed her ordeal to the shifter in front of her. Through the recounting of the kidnapping, imprisonment, torture, starvation, and ultimately her broken confessions of telling her capturer what he wanted to know; Kaelyn fought hard to keep tears from leaking from her eyes. Just as she had thought before, telling it all over again was just as hard as it had been the first time.
"...I can't remember how I got free. I burned down that building with his body still in it and took his car. I don't know how long I was there. I...actually don't know what year it is." she admitted sadly. "It felt like an eternity, but when I sleep I always go back..."
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Post by Sam Merlotte on Sept 10, 2009 19:43:40 GMT -5
Kaelyn began to talk. Cautiously at first, which was understandable considering all that was burdening her. Sam sat quietly, giving her all the time and space she needed to get it out into the open.
"P-Please don't hate me after I've told you, I never meant for any of it to happen..." her words were as fragile as she looked. He didn't say anything, only shaking his head to disagree. She needed complete silence to get her thoughts together. No need to charge in bull headed.
Sam's eyes watched in sadness and horror as Kaelyn recounted her past. The shifting, the kidnapping, the mental and physical torture, the nightmares. All the while continually blaming herself. Once she had gotten it all out of her system, Sam began to speak. Keeping a mental note to stay calm and gentle.
"You know, this isn't your fault. What he put you through, was evil. Pure evil." Sam looked at the wererabbit with compassionate eyes. "You can't be blamed for what happened. Lesser people would have told him everything to save themselves the pain." he inched slowly off the chair and sat up against it on the floor.
"Don't torture yourself Kaelyn. You've had enough of that already don't ya think?"
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Post by Kaelyn Halifax on Sept 10, 2009 20:32:43 GMT -5
"You know, this isn't your fault. What he put you through, was evil. Pure evil. You can't be blamed for what happened. Lesser people would have told him everything to save themselves the pain."
Where she expected yelling and even violence there were consoling words and understanding. The impact of the fact that her fears had not been realized shattered her control. Tear drops began to fall on Brandy's carpet as she cried in relief. "I-I thought for so long... H-He always thanked me. Every time he came back from a kill he'd thank me."
"Don't torture yourself Kaelyn. You've had enough of that already don't ya think?"
Kaelyn nodded silently as she tried to dry her cheeks with the back of her hand, being mindful to not get Brandy's blanket dirty in her messy state. It was as if the veil had been lifted and the light of rationality began to filter in. She'd spent so much time in fear of retribution when there had been none to receive.
"I was so worried," she confessed with a hiccup.,"and I ended up still being trapped by my own fear...even after I'd finally gotten free of him." She shook her head in disbelief and suddenly she felt so drained. After riding a constant roller coaster of emotions, she was just tuckered out.
"For the first time...in I don't know how long, tonight I won't feel ashamed to shift..."
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Post by Brandy Berry on Sept 10, 2009 23:15:05 GMT -5
Brandy tried her best to stay in the kitchen, she had been focused on the delicacy of brewing real green tea leaves in a kettle she wasn't positive on how to work. Occasionally she would shift a glance toward Kaelyn as she explained her story to Sam, but she would look away once she remembered that real green tea took a little work.
She had three cups set up, crushed green tea leaves laid in the bottom of each one. The kettle finally appeared to work (duh, she should of realized there was an on button!) and she tapped her slender digits against the counter-top while she waited for the whistle.
"Don't torture yourself Kaelyn. You've had enough of that already don't ya think?"
"I was so worried and I ended up still being trapped by my own fear...even after I'd finally gotten free of him."
The whistle blew, the top of the kettle threw itself backward as a rush of steam flowed into the air. How odd Brandy felt that moment mesmerizing as she leaned over to unplug it.
"For the first time...in I don't know how long, tonight I won't feel ashamed to shift..."
Brandy placed the cups of tea on a tray, along with a cute little honey bottle shaped like a bear. With a thought she picked up the tray and carried it off to the living room, sitting it down on the coffee table.
"I made some green tea. Please, help yourselves"
Brandy picked up her own tea cup, holding it gently in her hand as she looked at Sam. She didn't say 'thank you', but her eyes did...
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Post by Sam Merlotte on Sept 11, 2009 12:29:51 GMT -5
"I was so worried, and I ended up still being trapped by my own fear...even after I'd finally gotten free of him."
Sam gave her an understanding look, smiling at her and shaking his head a little. "I can understand you being worried. This guy had gotten so deep into your head. But there's nothing to be afraid of anymore and as you say, you're free of him now. Try not to live in the past."
"For the first time...in I don't know how long, tonight I won't feel ashamed to shift..."
Sam threw her a cheeky sidelong grin. "Oh don't ever be ashamed to shift, certainly not in front of me. You can be proud and discreet, I'm living proof of that."
Sam heard the clinking of crockery and smelt the scent of tea and took a deep inhalation of breath. Absorbing it all in. "I made some green tea. Please, help yourselves" Sam turned his head upwards and round to look at Brandy. She gave him a look of gratitude and he nodded and smiled back at her. "I can't stay too long, gotta get back to the bar. Terry'll be having a sh*tfit if he's left too long on his own."
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