Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light
If You Can Meet with Triumph and Disaster and Treat Those Two Impostors Just the Same
Tuesday, January Twenty Ninth, 12:34 P.M….
Ricky’s POV
“Chris have we made any headway?” I asked him quietly. We were all crammed at the front of our bus. I impatiently tapped my foot, waiting for news that might not come just yet.
“Yes, actually. Patience, Richard. I’m waiting for a phone call.” Chris shot me a warning look. I huffed and fell into the seat next to Ghost. The front of the vehicle was silent, concentrated on a signal for the screamer’s device.
“Virgo will be fine, don’t you worry. If she’s anything like her sister, then she’s going to fight back. Rory doesn’t take shit from anybody, and I don’t think her sister will either.” Ghost patted my knee. I sent him a thoughtful smile, fiddling with a device in my own pocket.
They still didn’t really know about the iPod. If they did know about it, they didn’t really pay any mind to the electronic.
Rory had given it to me, but I had found it on the floor. Originally, I packed it with her in the bag, but it must’ve fallen out. Now, it was resting in my pocket at all times. I had charged it and it was off. I had no clue what the password was, but I didn’t want to pry and lock myself out of the device. What would possibly be the password?
Chris’ phone went off.
The six of us all leapt up at once. Chris set the phone down, sliding to answer and throwing on the speaker phone. Ghost bit at his nails nervously. Balz slid down in the seat next to Chris. Those two were the ones really heading up the operation: search and rescue.
“Hello, this is Chris.” Chris spoke calmly, but his hands twitched. I knew he was nervous because that was his anxious habit. He tapped out a beat against his thigh.
“Well ‘ello, mate. I heard you had a call up about the newest arrival.” Oli’s voice spoke clearly through the speaker. If I could, I would throttle him now. The chatter on the other end of the phone died down.
“Yes, actually. We recently sold Orion Greening off to Sleeping with Sirens-“
“ORION! RORY! HELP ME!” Virgo screamed out against the other side. The pleas were quickly quelled with vicious shouts for the fifteen year old to shut up and be quiet. Sounds of whips shattering the air and landing on her back caused muffled screams to resonate.
I looked to Ryan and Vinny. Both looked about to cry. Vin looked away. Ry put his head in his hands.
“I apologize about her outburst. She’s...not quite trained yet. And speaking of Orion, were you pleased with her?” Oli questioned. Chris closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. No doubt he was having flashbacks to her being here and the little revenge mission she accomplished.
“Yes, we were, actually.” He mumbled. I wanted to scream and run away. This was torture. Thank goodness Rory wasn’t here.
“Well, then we have a little surprise for you. Our newest pet here is actually the sister to Orion Greening. Her name is Virgo. They have a little astronomy fetish, don’t they?” Oli snickered. I clawed at the inside of my palms, keeping from ending the conversation and throwing a phone out the window.
“Oh really? When did you acquire this one?” Chris asked with fake enthusiasm.
“The Greening parents were recently divorced. The dad was in hospital with alcohol poisoning. Drank too much, I guess, poor bloke. Mom living at home, can’t find a job. Dad moved elsewhere, left for the hills, must be.” Oli rambled. I closed my eyes and sent good thoughts Rory’s way. She would be devastated when she found out.
“Oh, that’s too bad. Well, when do you think she’ll be sellable? Can we see her?” Chris cut straight to the point. The silence that ensued was unbearable. All I could hear in the background was a weak, “Please, let me go….master.”
Oh god, she was broken.
“Oh, soon, soon. We want to get her out as soon as possible. I heard you did a great job with Rory. Do you want to take her on?” Oli asked. The whimpering stopped. It broke my heart into a million little pieces of dust.
“Oh, we’re thinking about it! We have high hopes that she’ll be a more permanent pet this time around. Is there a possibility we can meet you soon?” Chris asked hopefully. More silence. Balz looked at us each in turn. I couldn’t meet his eyes.
“I heard you’re in the Nevada area. We’re just a little south of Reno. Meet up?” He questioned.
“Yes. Tomorrow?”
“Easily done. We’ll meet you in a small town called Spurs at noon. Sound good, mate?”
“I’ll see you there.” With that, Chris hung up. We all released bated breaths. The screamer looked shaken. Vinny and Ryan plopped down in the driver and passenger seats, already looking at the GPS for a way to quickly get to Spurs, middle-of-nowhere, Nevada.
“They’re too close to Rory for comfort.” Balz mumbled. Ghost shook his head, scrolling through what looked to be like texts on his phone. Vic?
“No, PTV is in Oregon by now. They have a show in a couple of days. They should be fine.” Sola commented. Slowly, I pulled the iPod out of my pocket and fiddled with it. The bassist sent me a questioning look. I brushed it off and turned to Balz and Motionless.
“Okay, but what are we going to do when we meet with Oli and the boys? We can’t just dive in there and calmly walk out with Virgo. With all the bus repairs, I don’t know how we’re going to buy her either!” Chris raised his hands in frustration. Balz smirked, staring down at his phone. When he looked back up, his eyes glowed with a knowledge unshared to the rest of us.
“Maybe we don’t have to buy her.” Balz nodded to me. I furrowed my brow, confusion racking my brain.
“What do you mean?”
“I have a feeling that iPod isn’t yours.” The keyboardist shrugged. I blushed and laid the device down in my pocket.
“Yeah.” I grumbled. Chris shook his head, but didn’t say a word. The hum of the tires spinning on the pavement made me yawn. The sun on my face and the mental exhaustion was just wearing me down.
“Okay, so who else might know Rory’s password? Virgo. If we can sneak the iPod to her on the bus, she can unlock it and we can talk back and forth. We’ll relay messages to her, check in, and whatever. Until we can find the funds to buy her or another way to free Virgo, we can use that to communicate to her.” Balz suggested.
“You’re a genius!” Ghost cried out. Chris nodded, lips twisted in a smirk of approval. I saw Ryan and Vin talk quietly up front, but they didn’t seem upset. Why hadn’t we thought of this yet?
“You guys don’t give me enough credit.” Josh chuckled. Chris lightly punched him on the shoulder. They shared a smile.
“Hey, credit is given where credit is due.” The screamer nodded. I looked at the iPod. This had better work. We were all relying on Virgo not getting caught with this in order for it to work.
It was our only chance.
“Hey, how is Rory doing?” I asked Ghost. He turned from the screen of his phone to me as I stretched out on the couch. Sliding the device into his pocket, he let me kick my feet up across his own legs. I closed my eyes as he talked.
“She’s good, according to Vic. She and Mike fought, she beat him up apparently, Mike relented. Both made up. Everything is better.” Ghost added. I didn’t open my eyes, but frowned.
“Mike, as in Mike Fuentes?”
“Yeah. She and him got pretty close. Vic says watch out for drummers. They’re woman stealers.” Ghost chuckles lightly. I sigh as he pats my leg soothingly.
“Don’t worry about Rory too much, dude. She loves you, and you know that.” He reminded gently. I nodded and tucked my arms behind my head.
“I know, I just hope that whoever Rory ends up with, they’ll treat her right. As much as I love her, I know that if she chooses someone else, they better take care of her, love her with their whole heart, and protect her against dark.” I smiled at the thought of the sweet little girl. My girl, or the one that I want to call mine.
“But Rory loves the dark!” Ghost whined.
“I know, but I want her safe. That’s all. If Mike can protect her and treat her well, that’s more than I’ve ever done.” I admitted sadly. Who was one of the ones that bought her? Me. Who was one of the ones that didn’t treat her like a human? Me. Flashbacks to the time that Ryan ticked me off and I tried to forcefully kiss her haunted me. That wasn’t Ryan that time. It was ME.
“Aw don’t pity yourself, Rick. We’re all not perfect. We all have flaws. Don’t beat yourself up over what you did or didn’t do.” Ghost kicked my legs down as he stood up. “Besides, who was the only one she completely trusted? Yeah, that wasn’t us.” And he left.
Ricky’s POV
“Chris have we made any headway?” I asked him quietly. We were all crammed at the front of our bus. I impatiently tapped my foot, waiting for news that might not come just yet.
“Yes, actually. Patience, Richard. I’m waiting for a phone call.” Chris shot me a warning look. I huffed and fell into the seat next to Ghost. The front of the vehicle was silent, concentrated on a signal for the screamer’s device.
“Virgo will be fine, don’t you worry. If she’s anything like her sister, then she’s going to fight back. Rory doesn’t take shit from anybody, and I don’t think her sister will either.” Ghost patted my knee. I sent him a thoughtful smile, fiddling with a device in my own pocket.
They still didn’t really know about the iPod. If they did know about it, they didn’t really pay any mind to the electronic.
Rory had given it to me, but I had found it on the floor. Originally, I packed it with her in the bag, but it must’ve fallen out. Now, it was resting in my pocket at all times. I had charged it and it was off. I had no clue what the password was, but I didn’t want to pry and lock myself out of the device. What would possibly be the password?
Chris’ phone went off.
The six of us all leapt up at once. Chris set the phone down, sliding to answer and throwing on the speaker phone. Ghost bit at his nails nervously. Balz slid down in the seat next to Chris. Those two were the ones really heading up the operation: search and rescue.
“Hello, this is Chris.” Chris spoke calmly, but his hands twitched. I knew he was nervous because that was his anxious habit. He tapped out a beat against his thigh.
“Well ‘ello, mate. I heard you had a call up about the newest arrival.” Oli’s voice spoke clearly through the speaker. If I could, I would throttle him now. The chatter on the other end of the phone died down.
“Yes, actually. We recently sold Orion Greening off to Sleeping with Sirens-“
“ORION! RORY! HELP ME!” Virgo screamed out against the other side. The pleas were quickly quelled with vicious shouts for the fifteen year old to shut up and be quiet. Sounds of whips shattering the air and landing on her back caused muffled screams to resonate.
I looked to Ryan and Vinny. Both looked about to cry. Vin looked away. Ry put his head in his hands.
“I apologize about her outburst. She’s...not quite trained yet. And speaking of Orion, were you pleased with her?” Oli questioned. Chris closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. No doubt he was having flashbacks to her being here and the little revenge mission she accomplished.
“Yes, we were, actually.” He mumbled. I wanted to scream and run away. This was torture. Thank goodness Rory wasn’t here.
“Well, then we have a little surprise for you. Our newest pet here is actually the sister to Orion Greening. Her name is Virgo. They have a little astronomy fetish, don’t they?” Oli snickered. I clawed at the inside of my palms, keeping from ending the conversation and throwing a phone out the window.
“Oh really? When did you acquire this one?” Chris asked with fake enthusiasm.
“The Greening parents were recently divorced. The dad was in hospital with alcohol poisoning. Drank too much, I guess, poor bloke. Mom living at home, can’t find a job. Dad moved elsewhere, left for the hills, must be.” Oli rambled. I closed my eyes and sent good thoughts Rory’s way. She would be devastated when she found out.
“Oh, that’s too bad. Well, when do you think she’ll be sellable? Can we see her?” Chris cut straight to the point. The silence that ensued was unbearable. All I could hear in the background was a weak, “Please, let me go….master.”
Oh god, she was broken.
“Oh, soon, soon. We want to get her out as soon as possible. I heard you did a great job with Rory. Do you want to take her on?” Oli asked. The whimpering stopped. It broke my heart into a million little pieces of dust.
“Oh, we’re thinking about it! We have high hopes that she’ll be a more permanent pet this time around. Is there a possibility we can meet you soon?” Chris asked hopefully. More silence. Balz looked at us each in turn. I couldn’t meet his eyes.
“I heard you’re in the Nevada area. We’re just a little south of Reno. Meet up?” He questioned.
“Yes. Tomorrow?”
“Easily done. We’ll meet you in a small town called Spurs at noon. Sound good, mate?”
“I’ll see you there.” With that, Chris hung up. We all released bated breaths. The screamer looked shaken. Vinny and Ryan plopped down in the driver and passenger seats, already looking at the GPS for a way to quickly get to Spurs, middle-of-nowhere, Nevada.
“They’re too close to Rory for comfort.” Balz mumbled. Ghost shook his head, scrolling through what looked to be like texts on his phone. Vic?
“No, PTV is in Oregon by now. They have a show in a couple of days. They should be fine.” Sola commented. Slowly, I pulled the iPod out of my pocket and fiddled with it. The bassist sent me a questioning look. I brushed it off and turned to Balz and Motionless.
“Okay, but what are we going to do when we meet with Oli and the boys? We can’t just dive in there and calmly walk out with Virgo. With all the bus repairs, I don’t know how we’re going to buy her either!” Chris raised his hands in frustration. Balz smirked, staring down at his phone. When he looked back up, his eyes glowed with a knowledge unshared to the rest of us.
“Maybe we don’t have to buy her.” Balz nodded to me. I furrowed my brow, confusion racking my brain.
“What do you mean?”
“I have a feeling that iPod isn’t yours.” The keyboardist shrugged. I blushed and laid the device down in my pocket.
“Yeah.” I grumbled. Chris shook his head, but didn’t say a word. The hum of the tires spinning on the pavement made me yawn. The sun on my face and the mental exhaustion was just wearing me down.
“Okay, so who else might know Rory’s password? Virgo. If we can sneak the iPod to her on the bus, she can unlock it and we can talk back and forth. We’ll relay messages to her, check in, and whatever. Until we can find the funds to buy her or another way to free Virgo, we can use that to communicate to her.” Balz suggested.
“You’re a genius!” Ghost cried out. Chris nodded, lips twisted in a smirk of approval. I saw Ryan and Vin talk quietly up front, but they didn’t seem upset. Why hadn’t we thought of this yet?
“You guys don’t give me enough credit.” Josh chuckled. Chris lightly punched him on the shoulder. They shared a smile.
“Hey, credit is given where credit is due.” The screamer nodded. I looked at the iPod. This had better work. We were all relying on Virgo not getting caught with this in order for it to work.
It was our only chance.
“Hey, how is Rory doing?” I asked Ghost. He turned from the screen of his phone to me as I stretched out on the couch. Sliding the device into his pocket, he let me kick my feet up across his own legs. I closed my eyes as he talked.
“She’s good, according to Vic. She and Mike fought, she beat him up apparently, Mike relented. Both made up. Everything is better.” Ghost added. I didn’t open my eyes, but frowned.
“Mike, as in Mike Fuentes?”
“Yeah. She and him got pretty close. Vic says watch out for drummers. They’re woman stealers.” Ghost chuckles lightly. I sigh as he pats my leg soothingly.
“Don’t worry about Rory too much, dude. She loves you, and you know that.” He reminded gently. I nodded and tucked my arms behind my head.
“I know, I just hope that whoever Rory ends up with, they’ll treat her right. As much as I love her, I know that if she chooses someone else, they better take care of her, love her with their whole heart, and protect her against dark.” I smiled at the thought of the sweet little girl. My girl, or the one that I want to call mine.
“But Rory loves the dark!” Ghost whined.
“I know, but I want her safe. That’s all. If Mike can protect her and treat her well, that’s more than I’ve ever done.” I admitted sadly. Who was one of the ones that bought her? Me. Who was one of the ones that didn’t treat her like a human? Me. Flashbacks to the time that Ryan ticked me off and I tried to forcefully kiss her haunted me. That wasn’t Ryan that time. It was ME.
“Aw don’t pity yourself, Rick. We’re all not perfect. We all have flaws. Don’t beat yourself up over what you did or didn’t do.” Ghost kicked my legs down as he stood up. “Besides, who was the only one she completely trusted? Yeah, that wasn’t us.” And he left.
Notes
Hello everyone!
Sorry that it's been a week. Again, I'm trying to do updates more on the weekends. School during the week, typing during the weekends.
As this story is slowly coming to an end, (and yes, the finish will start to commence soon!) I am so thankful for all you wonderful readers and comments. Literally, they make my day every time I see them. You guys have stuck by my side through all the trials and tribulations, like when the sudden appearance of copy cat stories appeared. Your support has really given me new hope in the community of readers on these sites. I can't say thank you enough!
So I want to try getting readers into this story once again. If you read Eternal, you already know I did one contest. (BTW, I'm putting Eternal on a little bit of a temporary hold. I have ideas for that, but I want to focus on finishing these stories so I can make Eternal great, and not just 'ehhh, okay'.) But I've made a final decision...LET'S DO A CONTEST!
Rules are on the next chapter. Good luck, wonderful people!
Stay beautiful :)
Hahaha thank you! Sorry I was watching Jane Eyre with my mommy
5/10/15