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2024-10-29 19:42:56Clay moved heedlessly as Jade pulled her to her feet and out of the study .
She noticed faintly that there was no one this time to guide them as they left the dimly lit residence , the butler could not bear to hustle them out ? Or he simply had better things to do ?It seemed they trusted them not to steal or vandalise their properties .Clay was still not conscious of herself but her surrounding was suddenly larger , clearer , almost too large and clear , it seemed lethargic .
Clay was noticing things she hadn't noticed when they had walked by earlier .The cameras , the doors to the passages on the walls for the servants so they would not be seen and lastly , the prickly feeling that came from knowing someone was definitely watching you .That was probably why they had not thought they needed any escort as they left .Clay had detected all of this irregularities but her head had decided to process one thing at a time .
She had long since packed topics concerning the house aside , uncaring of what they did or did not do and whether they chose to watch her or not .Since this was a bust , she had began to prioritize and right now , the message it was ringing was loud and clear .How the hell was she going to save her sister ?
Clay could think of no legal means of acquiring a million in less than a month .
She had prepared no contingencies for this situation or at least any contingencies that could make up for a million dollars .She had known it might be hard to convince them , but she had not anticipated the outright cold refusal that they had been subjected to .And most of all , Clay hated herself for sounding so entitled when she was right , they had nothing to do with each other .They might have the same blood flowing through them and look like two sides of a coin but the Westbrooks owed them nothing .Jade was looking at hee , she was scowling and her lips were moving ,
Clay squinted as she tried to focus on what she was saying to her ." ...you look deranged ", She stated.
She adjusted her stance and rolled her shoulders , she felt deranged .
" What does that have to do with any of this ?" , she asked her .
Jade giggled , covering her mouth with her hand .
" You look like she just broke your heart . I can't imagine how you would look like when you actually get your heart broken ", She confessed as she giggled some more .
She laughed some more and Clay only frowned as she tried to recount any of the other things Jade had been saying .
She realized she had been insulting her since they exited the study ." At least I have a heart that could be broken ", she whispered .
It crept out of her mouth before Clay could even think of what she was saying.
Clay clamped down on her lips , waiting for Jade's reaction , unable to believe that she had deliberately bee that insensitive .She waited for her to laugh and hit her or just say anything .Even an insult , a jab would suffice but she remained silent .Clay realized then that she had been dealing with their aunt's rejection that way .
She had been so noisy because she was stunned ." I am sorry , I did not mean it that way ", She tried to apologise .
She whispered as softly as she could and Jade's grip around her fingers tightened , she still remained quiet .
Clay sighed , she was exhausted ,they had finally reached the sculpted gates from earlier , still without encountering any other person that lived there .
It was strange to think that they would not escort guests out , at least for security purposes." I really do not want to die and be left to rot in some mus..ty coffin ", Her voice came out soft and broken .
Her voice was high and had broken at the last part , tearing at Clay's heart .
Clay bent to reach her eye level , she knelt down and wrapped her hands around her .
She was going to assure her and tell her how she would never let her die .That was at least what she intended to tell her .But , the words had clung to her and would not be let out .She sniffed as her eyes suddenly became teary and her mouth speechless.
" Oh, baby ", she whispered when nothing else would come out.
She began to sniffle harder , trying to hold back the barrage of tears and emotions .
Jade patted her back , whispering into her ears as she tried to calm down ." This is quite unneeded , I am the sick and dying one that should be crying right now . Clay , I am really okay so stop , I would hate for my last memories of you to be ugly ", She replied .
Clay smiled despite herself , her parents used to say the same too , that she was an ugly crier .
" Stop talking about dying ", She repeated .
Jade scoffed at this and took a step back to take a look at her face before replying her .
" I am only spewing facts and you ..."
She stopped and held unto Clay's arm , she took a deep breath and screamed her heart out and just kept on screaming .
Clay immediately grabbed her and whirled around to see what had frightened her and caused the screaming.
Something or someone rather in a strange black coat stood behind them , he was leaning awkwardly to the side , his eyes on them .Most people would have been uncomfortable when a child was screaming before them but he seemed rather enthralled .
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Clay held Jade closer .Jade's one weakness was horror movies and their characters but she had still loved to watch them .She only watched the older ones with their horrid make-up and effects and this man in front of them looked like he had stepped out of The phantom of the Opera , the 1943 adaptation. " Jade , it is just someone in a black coat , he is no phantom ", she hurriedly tried to explain , scared that she would get a panic attack .Jade stopped screaming and moved around Clay to peek at the man that had still not taken off his coat .Clay was beginning to wonder if the man was a highway robber and this was a robbery ." You are right . I thought for a second that he was some grim reaper here for my soul , I was going to tell him that was it too early to be picking me up already", Jay whispered with a giggle .Clay drew a blank to the reference , she would have to filter her books and movies once again .The stranger took a step forward and Clay took a step backwards , pull
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When Clay still did not react to her cousin's announcement , her cousin cleared his throat and shifted forward , his mouth almost resting on Clay's earlobe as he whispered yet again and with more theatrics ." Actually I am here to help you save your sister's life ".Clay stared at James who was supposed to be her cousin .He was smiling like an unhinged mad man and Clay knew that she should be running the other way and not listening to what this madman had to say .Clay did not like this one bit but if it could help Jade in any way , she would listen to it ." How do you intend to help me save Jade ? Your mum refused to help and you do not particularly seem like you are willing to whip out a million ", Clay stated the obvious .It finally clicked , the reason she was so unsettled with the look on Jame's face .He looked like the junkies that lined the way to their home .They looked depressed every second of their lives and only changed their expressions when they realized where the
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JamesJames watched as his cousin settled back in her seat without asking further questions about what she had just agreed to or what consequences were attached to them . When she had even signed the papers , James had expected her to protest when she read the clause on bodily harm or loss of body parts but she had just read through and signed , she had asked James no questions when he had been prepared to practically dish out answers .He sighed , he was in no place to be showing empathy , especially after getting his poor cousin to sign it .He had not approached his cousin out of the goodness of his heart .He knew why he had come for Clay .Clay was his only chance of getting Westbrook if he wanted to ever do .The car stopped moving and the partition came down .Saul's voice came through the small Telecom device ." This is the stop the child asks to be let down", he announced .James watched as his cousin's eyes lazily opened , her eyes shocking him again .It was like looking
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James's car was already packed around the block .Had he even left in the first place ?Clay stopped to look at the car for a few moments , deep down , she felt a reluctance to walk further to the car but Clay felt guilty for even feeling reluctance to a means that could save her sister .She sighed softly and brought her hands to run through her hair , she looked at the sky and inhaled before she began to walk , blanking her mind because thinking of anything would cause her to consider turning around and going back to her sister .She reached the car and wondered if James could see her but she had no time to consider that so she raised her hands to the window .Clay rapped gently on the window and heard the smooth click of locks opening before she opened the door .She entered to find that almost nothing had changed , she took another look at James though and realized that everything about him had changed .He was seated exactly where he had sat earlier but he had left alright .His
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Clay was in a state were she was awake enough to feel her body and the cool air on her face but she wanted to enjoy the bliss of sleep for a bit longer , so she still kept her eyes closed and her body lax.It had actually been a nice rest for Clay .Usually , hee dreams were plagued with her parents and how their faces had looked when Clay had been called to identify their bodies or on worse days , he was plagued with Jade's face joining her parents in that cold room .But today had been different , maybe because her sleep had been drug induced , she had dreamt of absolutely nothing .She had to remember to thank her cousin for that .A loud siren went off , jarring Clay from her lax state .She opened her eyes and sat up , she shook her head to clear the remainder of the sleep from her eyes .She was on a makeshift bed in a small room that looked like a cabin .Where the fuck was she ?She wanted to pay more attention to what lay around her but the siren was buzzing in her head , lou
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Clay was still in the position she had fallen to when the woman had been shot .She had stopped looking at the woman after a while but that was futile .Her terrified blue eyes had stuck and Clay could feel her face queuing behind her parents faces , waiting to haunt her when she slept .Clay slowly stood up .She had been unable to think properly since the attack but it made sense now .A game had to have an element of hard achieved survival and the weird mutation was here to make that possible .Okay , it did not change much of the game plan except that she had to make sure the mutations did not come near her .She filed that away to add to her theory on the gameverse .Clay did not want to think about the only thing that she actually needed to think about .The Temperature of the woman's blood , it was too large a factor to be ignored. Temperature did not in any way affect aesthetics , so of course , it had no place in the virtual world .But , this was also by the Westbrooke's ,
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Clay had never understood why people were interested in slow motion or why certain scenes in movies , especially romance and blockbuster movies were portrayed in slow motion .But that was all in the past.Clay was now a changed woman who believed in the science of Slow motion and understood why it existed.The things that tended to change your life always came at you slow because you felt that you were dreaming .Those things might also want to end your life ,then the slow motion was you asking for more time or simply watching your life crumble before you .For Clay , all she thought of was Jade's eyes , cold and lifeless like the woman earlier .Clay did not close his eyes like people facing their own slow motion endings usually did , she wanted to but her eyes intended to watch just how it happened .It never did happen though .Just as the revolving gun opened fire , the girl from earlier flew over Clay .She pulled her down while pulling out the pin from another of the green gren
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" Come with me ".June turned around and began to walk off the streets , Saul followed her and Clay did too , after picking up her earlier discarded backpack .June stuck to the sidewalk , looking carefully at each house they passed .Eventually , she stopped in front of an average looking suburban house with an overgrown garden of poppies and hydrangeas .She turned around while pointing at the house ." Here , let's check out this place ",She suggested.Saul nodded and Clay remained unresponsive , their words about the game still grating heavily on her.They crossed the flower bed and headed for the door , there was no porch , gate , fence or security of any form .June turned the door knob and pushed the door but it wouldn't move .She took a step back and kicked the door but the door still did not budge ." Anyone have any sharp objects ? Pins ? Needles ? ",She asked as she looked around.She sounded frustrated as she asked and Clay noticed her hand itching towards the pistol that
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She could hear it all .She had heard everything that had happened from all of them but for some reason , she just could not wake up ." How is she doing ? Is she any better ? ", Saul asked Jade .He had learnt the hard way that she hated to be spoken to like a child ." No , the doctor says she is perfectly fine , I am beginning to think she is using this as an excuse so that she does not have to face me and everything I have to say to her and trust me , I have a lot ", She said sneering ." Yes , I do trust you ", Saul told the child who turned to glare at him too .They had all thought that getting a heart transplant would slow her down or at least keep her quiet for a few days but that was not the case .She claimed to be waiting for her sister to wake up so she could give her a very hot piece but she was here every second , holding her hands when she thought that they could not notice , it was obvious that she missed her sister the most .She had been asleep now for two weeks and
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Clay was bereft with emotions as she looked at June's face .She was too young , too young to have ever been exposed to such a harsh life , too young to be here but most of all , she was too young to be getting cold in her hands .She was too young to be dead , a tear slipped out of Clay's face and on to hers .Strangely , when she thought of June , there were no sad moments , thinking of her only brought smiles to her face .CLAY !!!The automated voice thundered behind Clay once again and she came back to the situation on ground .She remembered Jared and the autobots and the people that were still taking cover behind the ledge .June had died to protect them , she could not let any harm come to them and foil June's sacrifice now .Clay carried her gently and put her in Saul's arms , patting Saul's shoulders as she stood on her feet and turned around to look at Jared .She almost grimaced as she watched Jared limp his way out of the autobot's face .The autobot had done quite a numb
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Saul was weeping softly as he caressed her face , not even noticing that Clay had joined them until Clay pulled her out of his arms to wrap her again in her own vest .She opened her eyes when she felt the jerk and saw that it was Clay , her eyes were glassy and unfocused like she was blindly doing whatever it was that she was doing.June held up her arms and Clay looked at her , realizing that she was conscious before grabbing her fingers ."Why ? why ? why would you come out , you knew it was dangerous ", she cried softly , unable to control herself .June smiled , sputtering softly ." Yes , I knew but he was going to blow all of us up and I could not allow that , I wanted so badly to be your deputy and a little sacrifice should not have been scary to me ", She told her , her voice lower than a breath ." I never made you my deputy , you are lying ", Clay cried out , short of words ." Does it hurt ? ", She added a second later , hoping that the adrenaline her body was providing wa
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Clay had realized one minute into her struggle with Jared's new sleek autobot that the autobot had not been built for a fight .It was slower than all of the autobots that Clay had fought before and since it had opted to struggle with Clay Instead of whirring out one of its famous weapons from its hands , it was safe to assume that its arm was probably just a normal bot arm that was incapable of transforming .Clay realized that the Autobot was infact only there to keep her busy and away from the two other autobots that stood in the middle of the field .They stood still and did not bother to go after June and the others .They also could not approach it seeing that its hand was a frigging shotgun .The other two autobots that stood in the middle of the field felt like some part of a sinister plan to Clay because he had no idea when they would begin to shoot or if at all they would shoot , she could imagine that June and the others were also ill at ease ." What do you want with them
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AND THEN THERE IS VASQUEZ , I COULD NOT EVEN BRING MYSELF TO HATE HIM BECAUSE HE WAS JUST TOO GULLIBLE AND PITIFUL , TRICKED INTO A GAME , TRICKED INTO A LIFE , DISRESPECTED BY June AND Jared , OHH , THE LIST IS ENDLESS BUT I WILL END HERE FOR NOW !I HAD MIXED FEELINGS WHEN I FOUND OUT ABOUT JUAN'S BOMB BECAUSE I KNEW HE DID NOT INTEND TO OF COURSE KILL YOU ALL , I THOUGHT ABOUT TWEAKING THE BOMB TO KILL YOU GUYS BUT THEN I REALIZED THAT THE REST OF THE GAME WOULD BE TOO BORING SO I JUST ADJUSTED THE POSITION OF THE BOMB .HONESTLY , I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT ALL THE THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU DYSFUNCTIONAL LOT BUT I AM HERE TO KILL YOU ALL AFTER ALL .CLAY , I AM SURE YOU MUST HAVE NOTICED THE BOMB RESIDING IN THE CHEST OF THAT AUTOBOT YOU ARE CONTROLLING , I SHOULD THANK YOU FOR THAT , BUILDING THE BOMBS ARE USUALLY THE HARDEST PARTS OF MY JOB HERE BUT YOU MADE IT SO EASY WITH ALL OF NUGGETS OF INFORMATION YOU WERE WILLING TO DROP .THE BOMB IS SET TO GO OFF AS SOON AS THE GAMEMASTER
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They all watched as the Autobots began to fall to the ground.June had run out from behind their cover while Clay worked and had released the people that were being held and began to scream commands to everyone that was gathered there along with them , including the ones that were not their teammates."Go to the autobots and make sure that they stay down , we can not afford for the Gamemaster to gain control of them again!!!", She was yelling as she ran.The people seeing as Dean had taken the initiative and now June, also trying to make sure that they survived, ran out to help .The ones with guns shot at everywhere they knew to shoot at to prevent the autobots from returning to their feet while Saul shared grenades so that they could easily spread out and maim as many autobots as they could reach .This was going on smoothly when another whirring began.They all turned to where the whirring was coming from and watched as another autobot came from behind them .This one was different
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Clay turned around and beckoned for the others to come closer ." Okay everyone , we have no foreknowledge of what we are literally running into , but we need to stick together as much as possible ,like I said earlier there will be a bomb or most likely several that have been positioned in different places , they will all be self made bombs which means that they will not have much in terms of range but it also means that we might be unable to disarm them without Jared doing so himself . So, when we get there , depending on what the situation looks like , we will be splitting ourselves up to effectively locate the bombs . Lastly , we know nothing about Jared's plan so , when we can try to remain as alert as possible incase there are autobots lying in wait ", Clay said , wondering if she had gone through everything she needed to ." Ricky and Alberto lead the way , we are running down to the arena , all the way .Everyone , please stay safe ", Clay told them and stood back for Alberto an
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As soon as Clay made her point,the others froze and paused all the movements they were making like they were being held at gunpoint while their eyes followed all of Clay's movement .Clay had immediately gotten on her feet after she spoke and had proceeded to run to the middle of the church where she had left her bulletproof vest and the rest of her stuff earlier.She began to dress in a hurry , tucking her guns into her vest and swinging the satch that contained her arrows over her back in record speed,it almost seemed like she had been doing that all her life.The rest of the team watched her in perplexity while she dressed and when she was done , she turned to look at them, get eyes fleeting over each one of them that was staring at her ." Why aren't you guys preparing ? We need to be out of here as soon as possible or do we not? ", She asked as she looked at their faces .Juan finally stepped forward ," You said it was a trap and he is going to release the bomb in the arena , if
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Saul could hear voices .Of course, he was surrounded by people so hearing voices was not such a big deal but the voices he was hearing were too harsh for whatever he was hearing to be okay.Saul jumped on his feet and turned around." Do you hear that ? ", Saul asked the others to be sure he was not the only one hearing the voices as he turned around to the doors of the church ." Hear what ? " June asked as she looked around , looking for what was supposedly making noise and confirming that it was indeed just Saul that was hearing these voices.She could hear nothing but she also knew just how sensitive to sound Saul was so she followed him when he stood up and began to walk towards the doors after him.The others also turned to see what Saul and now June were up to .Saul threw his hands forward and opened one of the large doors of the church that led to the room that the others were in and the sound of Clay shouting immediately filled the air .Saul immediately rushed inside,follo
